County Kerry Pamir (and Hokkaido Wildrose)

There is one mama out there who, although being born Russian, has a Celtic soul. Her two little daughters are half - Irish then, and she loves especially one part of Ireland, where there are sights and nature spectacles happening every day like nowhere else...
You have probably seen her on many babywearing pictures, and definitely if you happen to know Ellevil wraps:)

So, when she sent me her Pamir, she asked for it to be dyed with the use of specific shades which would remind her of the County Kerry in western Ireland everytime she looked at it.
The colours chosen were: deep bottle green, grass green, golden yellow, peachy pink, purple and grey. Because the order of colours originally was not specified, I had to think of a way to arrange them all in a harmonious way on this special wrap. In the end I decided to go exactly this way, which resulted in a very nice palette-except the grey which, as it often happens when applied on purple base, turned auberginey-smokey purple. I showed it to the mama just in case she wanted to keep it, in the meantime preparing the dye for a redip of the supposed-to - be -grey rail. Buth the smokey aubergine was accepted so I could leave the dye for another wrap:)

So that`s how County Kerry Pamir was created and is currently on the way home...







Natalia also sent me her Natibaby Hokkaido beige with hemp for transformation, which she wanted light pink, similar to Indio Wildrose maybe.
Off to the stripping bath it went upon arrival then, coming out absolutely stunningly beautiful. Creamy white with slightly vanilla cast-I fell in love instantly.




But no sentiments here, it had to be dyed:)




So a subtle yet distinctively pink Hokkaido also went home, and I have got myself one as well, and as soon as it arrives , it`ll become a creamy white goodness:)

I truly hope Natalia will like her old-new wraps in real life and will present us with some amazing wrapping pictures!

Zara She Luna

It`s funny how things work out sometimes, as if there was a larger plan beyond...
On the night of 15th June a major astronomical event took place in our hemisphere-the total central lunar eclipse, when the shadow of Earth passed through the moon.
Of course, sky above London was covered with heavy clouds, so I didn`t get to see it, even though I was up.
So I finished dyeing a wrap instead, just trying to imagine how things look above...
Strangely, the wrap I was dyeing-a Zara She, had the colours chosen to reflect as far as possible one special phase of the moon...because celestial bodies and their misteries are familiar subjects in the household of Ellie, who sent the wrap:)
The wrap for dyeing initially was supposed to be a linen 55, but in the end a silky Zara was chosen, and I can`t imagine a better candidate for this particular dye job, especially given the natural phenomenon that occured exactly when I was working on it.
Coincidence, you say, but "there are more things in heaven and earth, (...) than are dreamt of in your philosophy"...

So here goes, the shimmery She Luna:

GD: Moss Eos

Eos was a godess of dawn and that`s what I thought about when one mama asked me about specific colours for her linen Moss.
Deep hot pink and intense sky blue have created the effect of a fresh morning somewhere where the skies are clear and pure:)
This wrap will soon be flying home to Malaysia...

GD: Rosalinde Anhelo

This is one of the few Rosalindes that I`ve kept at the back of my wrap wardrobe; I started working on a grad on it over a month ago, but couldn`t decide on the final colours until just recently. And because this is summer already (well, almost -here, in Britain...) and a lot of plans and longings ahead, I`ve given it this particular name-Anhelo, which in Spanish means "longing". Because it`s good to dream and make the dreams come true!
This gradation, created with Dharma`s Tangerine, Hot Pink and a mix of purples, is on the way to a lovely mama and her little son in Germany now.

GD: Ecru Pfau Atacama

Another EP and another pleasure with dyeing it!
This one was sent to me by my friend Marta, who is expecting her second baby this summer.
I offered to dye a wrap for her some time ago as a "baby shower" gift and recently she`s found a perfect wrap for it, a lovely linen Ecru.
As she left the colour choice with me, I thought about a certain place on Earth that would appeal both to her husband and her, as they`re both biologists, very fond of various reptiles:)
So that`s how the Ecru got a name: Atacama, a desert with striking temperature differences and unbelievable life forms.
I know it`ll receive a lot of love!

GD: Fuchsia Fog Azur

Another Azur arrived for transformation with the request of strong hot pink and dark grey. While it`s relatively easy to achieve the former, there are often considerable problems with the latter. However with a little help of Jet Black dye added to Charcoal Grey it was quite possible this time-I think the grey is in fact dark here, and I hope the mama who the wrap is on the way to will be pleased...

GD: Iceberg Hemp Indio

Lovely Celia sent me her newly purchased silky soft old hemp Indio to be dyed some not very aggressive blue colours. She agreed to leave one rail natty so I could go from there with some Wedgewood Blue (which I love and regret not being asked to use more often!) to finish off at the other rail with more "blue mille" colour.
The effect reminds me of an iceberg floating in the ocean, with white cap turning icy cold blue in the shallow water, then becoming darker the deeper it goes.
Totally fit for summer!:)

GD: Lake Michigan Ecru Pfau

One of the sweetest US mamas asked me some time ago to grad - dye an Ecru Pfau for her, which arrived from Prague:)
She was torn between the colours of sunset above Lake Michigan which is a very special place on Earth for her, and those I used dyeing Royal Ecru Pfau as well as Pamir Jewells.
So - I did the sunset and it looked like this...



...and later on I removed the sunset colours and applied some from the opposite palette:)







Now Larissa has more of a Michigan Lake crispy morning impression rather than sunset, but that`s just as well. In such surroundings I reckon time of the day is not important...
Have a lovely time breaking the feathered beastie in, Larissa!I hope you`ll like it in person.

GD: Zara June Sunset

A little girl was born yesterday, just when I was finishing this gradation for her mother, Claire.
When she sent me the wrap, she asked for "sunset" colours with the intensive purple somewhere; we worked on it so that the purple found its` place on one of the rails.
It reminds me of one of those summer evenings, when the clear skies turn into caleidoscope of bold colours just before the night falls.
I love June and I am wishing Claire and her tiny newborn treasure many snuggly moments in this wrap.

GD: TSN Summertime

"
Summertime and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high
Oh your daddy’s rich and your ma is good lookin’
So hush little baby, don’t you cry
One of these mornings
You’re goin’ to rise up singing
Then you’ll spread your wings
And you’ll take the sky
But till that morning
There’s a nothin’ can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin’ by "

George Gershwin`s Summertime is by far one of the most beautiful songs ever, and I especially love it performed by one of my favoured artists, Ella Fitzgerald. I equally adore it sung by Janis Joplin. Both absolutely stunning...just close your eyes and listen for a moment...

Ah well. Life must be good if there are still things that can bring us joy, right?:)

This Tussah Silk Nino was sent to me by one Polish mama who won the gradation slot I offered in a certain charity auction. Ewa is currently expecting another squishy and decided it`ll be a girl;) So, being a green colour lover, of course she wanted the wrap dyed green in part, as well as a bit cheerful sunny yellow and candy pink.
I dyed it using both procion mx for cotton and acid for silk dyes. The acid dye was actually turquoise, but it reacted later on with green, yellow and pink of the cotton threads, thus turning into interesting shades of green and purple on the silk threads. All in all, Ewa has ended up with a 6 colour wrap:)
I immediately thought of Summertime when I was dyeing this wrap. There was no other option for a name straight away, even though I tried...

GD: Iris Azur

No, this time it`s "Iris" not after a flower, but a certain Didymos wrap, that was so dear to one UK mama, that she wanted its` colours recreated on a more toddler-worthy one for her beautiful daughter. Whose name is ...also Iris:)
So, an Iris gradation on a linen Azur for little Iris to remember Didymos Iris. Sounds a bit confusing, but it`s quite simple really.

Creating this gradation however wasn`t that easy, as there were changes of plans and hiding emails on the way, but in the end, a proper grad was born and I think it is being already loved in little Iris`s family:)

Here are a few photographs: