On Death and DYEing....

Last night, Mr. U so poignantly remarked to Teenager with lots of stuff, "You know that you are a geek when your gadget dies, and so do you."

Well, I am such a geek, I guess.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to sync and charge my IPhone on the computer. It told me that I had an update to download... and so I did. I figured it would take some time and so I left it for a bit and when I came back, the screen looked like this.....



It didn't look good!!!! In fact, it looked as good as dead!!!!

Nothing I did seemed to remedy this! I could only make one call Para Emergencia!!!!!



(and I don't even speak Spanish LOL!)

....and from then on, my day took a downward spiral of gloom and doom. I tried all kinds of things more than once but to no avail! My ship was sunk!!!!! I was panicked!!!!!

I set up an appt with an Apple tech to call me in the evening but I was lost without my gadget!

I couldn't eat (like that ever happens!).

I was really grumpy!

But I didn't stop trying and for some reason, after awhile of freaking out, something I did (probably had tried it at least twice before) worked! I plugged in my IPhone after redownloading something to my computer and "DING"....."your IPhone is activated."

I could breathe, I could eat! I had cheated death once again!!!!!!!!!!!!

So.... now I can go on DYEing!!!!!!

After my post about my experiences dyeing fabrics....



I have had a variety of questions about how I dye fabrics. Well, I am no expert, but I am happy to share my way with you all.

Today, I will show you all the equipment/materials that you might need. Now, I have to tell you that while I am not endorsing Dharma Trading, in my vast experience (yeah right!!!) dyeing fabrics, I have found their catalogs (print and online) to be helpful and you can pretty much buy all you need there. I hear that Procion dyes are also very good.

Let's get started....

First you need fabric...

I bought many yards of PFD (prepared for dye or dyeing... not sure which!).

Synthrapol is what I use to prewash the fabric and then to wash the fabric again, once it is dyed. Not very expensive, so better to buy more than you think you need.



Disposable gloves are a must to keep your hands clean....




Table salt (I read somewhere not to buy the kind with iodine)....





Soda Ash Fixer......



to be used in the solution for your dyes.

Canning jars are great for dyeing small amounts of fabric and I think that the small spaces make for great variation in the dye in one piece of fabric (does that make sense?).




Just don't use these jars for canning your summer harvest after they have been used for dyeing!!!

Alternatively, you can use plastic bags...



A wash basin is helpful for holding multiple bags of dyeing fabrics but certainly not essential...




Also good for storing your dye supplies when not in use!

Plastic measuring spoons and cups....



By the way, I buy a lot of my supplies at a dollar store!

Face masks ....



Apparently, you don't want to inhale the dust from the dye powder and fixer. I do my dyeing in our garage in the summer where it is well ventilated but still use the masks when there is powder in use!

And last but not least..... the dyes.....




While you gather your supplies, I am going to enjoy our hot sunny day in upstate NY....



They seem to be few and far between this summer!

And just to whet your palate.....



.. a little project I started this morning with some of my hand dyes instead of going to the gym!

Stay tuned for the how-to......