New hand dyed thread "Raspberry Sorbet"

A new dye batch just added to my Etsy shop has bright raspberry and other red to pink shades in it. I wanted something almost as intense as some flowers I've noticed recently, such as these shrub roses. I like the results, and I think it's a keeper! 

Dye being hand painted onto the thread.

Dyed and cured thread in the rinse bath.

Being Different at the Bead&Button Show

 My favorite remark that someone said to me at the Bead&Button Show "Meet the Teachers" event was "I've been looking all around and seeing similar things over and over, but at your table I'm finally seeing something different! Marvelous!"

 Well, encouraging comments like that are what keep me going! Bead&Button Show is a very, VERY big gathering, and sometimes being someone who does something different from the mainstream can feel a bit lonely. The few other "fiber" people there voiced similar laments. But, hey, my tatted jewelry drew "oohs and ahhs", curious questions, and stories of long ago relatives. People did love the hand dyed thread and bought some even though they weren't sure what they would do with it :)

 Some people who bought my hand dyed thread last year stopped at my table to show what they had made with it! A bead crochet necklace using clear crystal beads that allowed the hand dyed colors to show through, and a bead crochet bracelet with some areas without beads to feature the thread.

 The show and classes take up the Wisconsin Center convention facility in downtown Milwaukee, as well as 2 hotels plus some classrooms at the Milwaukee Technical College. The event lasts 10 days.

One of the students in the tatting classes that I taught, proudly showing off her very first tatted earrings!

It's not done yet! Friday, June 10 I'm going back to do some shopping :)

Another "Garden Afternoon"

The thread dyed well, although some of the size 10 in this batch didn't get much of the yellow. The dye colors do tend to run together while they are wet, but serendipity is something I consider part of the charm of hand dyed thread.

My tatting basics class at the Bead&Button Show has 2 people signed up - both of them from overseas; one is coming from the other side of the planet, literally. Golly, I sure hope they didn't travel all the way to Milwaukee just to take my tatting class! Seriously, I'm hoping that it's just one of the many engaging activities they will be enjoying at the event. I live only 6 miles from the convention center hosting the show, so that's why I applied to teach there. 3 people have signed up for the advanced class.

Pendant is my original design, shuttle is from Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane

So, of course I had to practice the project for the advanced class in order to be ready to teach it. I gave it a try in red, white, and blue, and I like the result. So much so, that I don't think I'll show the students this version! They'd complain that I didn't put those colors in the kits! Well, unless they read my blog or look at my Etsy shop they won't see it. People who sign up for live classes are usually not online followers.

I'll list the pendant on Etsy when I finish some earrings to match. Oh, and the pattern for this pendant will be included in a new book that should be out later this year. The pattern uses curled rings, folded rings, and tatting a ring around a bead.