After the discharge paste dries, then you iron it on the silk setting with as much steam as you can get. It shows up pretty quickly. (But smells like warm old tuna) The stencil, I think, is beautiful. The discharge results are pretty good. It didn’t take out as much color as I was hoping. This was my first project, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I also don’t know how this scarf was dyed or even for sure what the fiber content/finsih is (the tag says 100% wool). You can see it well in the photo, but the weave is very open and kind of transparent, so I folded it up on itself to get a good picture. You can see if I put it up against white…

it nearly disappears. It is gorgeous but totally subtle. I am going to add some more to this scarf (although I am not sure what yet). Next experiment is to try it on some scraps of my handdyed cotton.

Hello Spoonflower visitors! My fabric design “Wild West” is in the Spoonflower fabric contest this week. Visit the blog, vote for your favorite, and the winning fabric will be available by the yard in the Spoonflower etsy shop.

I am also running a special in my etsy shop in celebration. Go check it out!

Erik and his Aunties.

Uncle Andy reads Erik a story.

“Who are you strange people?”

On the two very coldest days all year, I cleaned out my Textile Mobile. The Textile Mobile is the big 1981 retired dairy delivery truck that is the symbol of our outreach programs at the Textile Center. It is a beast, but it has been my beast for many years now. This summer it died. We held on for a while, debated about fixing its many broken bits and finally decided that it was time to retire it. I kept meaning to clean it out and send it on its way, but with one thing and another it never happened. Then out of the blue, we got an offer from someone wanting to buy it and haul it away. So, in the -30 degree wind chills, some kind souls on my staff and I emptied it out and got it ready to go. I don’t even want to think about how cold we were. We blew kisses to it and waved goodbye as it was towed out of the lot this morning.

Santa Reindeer Pattern from fuzzymitten
Holiday Potholders from KitchenSpice
EcoFriendly Wool Table Runner by CherryLaneJane
Prancer Necklace by LizMathews
Mini Christmas Soaps by daisycakes
Mr Rudolph Earrings by chatnoir
Randolph Christmas Slug by Marthaland
Rudolph Hair Clips by marymarsh

Lucy thought that peeking out through the Stone Arch Bridge was very cool. Every time Andy would look over the edge she would stuff her head through to see what was so interesting. My inlaws were here for the weekend and we took a long walk from our house to downtown Minneapolis.