The first weld plants are beginning to ripen. Here is a picture of some hanging up to dry.

Weld is the plant on the right, the other is flax for linen thread. Flax is growing like a weed in the hay pastures this year, where last year there was none. The shutter by the way is painted with woad.

The weld plant is ready for harvest just before the flower shoot really gets going. Here the buds are still tight and the plant is still relatively compact, if left to grow they would probably have shot another foot or so ...

Lots of you have joined the Ravelry Group, but many of you are not members of Ravelry so I have created our very own Yahoo Renaissance Dyeing Knitting Competition Group Just click the link to join.

You do not need to be taking part in the competition to join, you just need to have a lively interest. Perhaps you want to see how people approach these sort of things before you take the plunge next year.

Graphics will be coming soon!

For those of you on Rss Feed this is to let you know that the search is on for the three top Renaissance Dyeing Designers of 2008.

You will also find: Renaissance Dyeing Design, a group on Ravelry.

There are three categories to go for: lace, non-lace and anything knitted with 5 skeins.

The three winning designers will:

• Receive a cash prize of $100 or the equivalent in their own currencies.
• Their designs will be made available as a PDF on the Renaissance Dyeing web-site.
• They will receive 90% of the revenue from all patterns sold.
• They will retain their ...

Our natural dye extract range is soon to be enlarged by three new shades: Mulberry, Cochineal and Valonia Oak. They will be up on the website as soon as they arrive in a day or two. Meanwhile here are a few photographs of my samples and experiments. Please feel free to leave any comments below.

A Selection of silk and wool threads dyed with Mulberry Dye Extract. Underneath is a silk hanky which will be exciting to spin and at the top is a pair of socks that I cold mordanted with alum and then painted with mulberry and cochineal ...

I thought you would like to see what Jane Dew and the Staircase Stitchers have been doing with Renaissance Dyeing's naturally dyed crewel wool.

I have made the images as large as possible so you can have a good look. The work is truly inspiring. Do feel free to leave your comments below and I will pass them on to Jane and the Staircase Stitchers.

This is view from the bottom of the curtain stretched on the frame. The hills at the bottom and the main tree trunks are stitched straight on to the curtain fabric while it is ...

In case you were wondering about the prolonged silence coming from Renaissance Dyeing, it is because I have been away teaching in Ruskin Mill in England for 6 weeks.

I am celebrating my return to the soft Pyrenean pastures with a new Thanksgiving shawl kit in shades of madder, for the same price as the indigo kit, that is €65,00.

Madder is a root which has been used for dyeing reds, pinks, corals and browns for millennium. It is the source of all those gorgeous reds and browns in Persian rugs. Madder is very fast to light and washing ...

The new Thanksgiving shawl kit, designed by Sharon Miller of Heirloom Knitting with naturally dyed wool from Renaissance Dyeing will be on sale by the end of the week.

The kit will include a printed pattern by Sharon Miller with written and charted instructions plus seven 250m hanks of naturally dyed wool in indigo.

As you can see in the picture on the right the design was inspired by the delicate feathering of a birds wing, the different nuances of our naturally dyed lace-weight wool perfectly lend themselves to the creation of this feather light shawl.

The kit is now ...

Some of you may have noticed that I was away from the dye-house in October. I was in Marlborough, England where I met with David and Margaret Redpath. It was so lovely to see them again and even in a short lunch time meeting there was so much to glean from their vast knowledge of natural dyeing.

After lunch we met with Susan Pearson of the Merchant's House in Marlborough with whom we had come to discuss the natural dyeing of wool for their 12 sixteenth century chairs that are being renovated by a group of volunteer embroiderers.

Here ...

Arriving in a day or two, ready for autumn and those even chillier winter days, the new Renaissance Dyeing harlequin shawl kit.

It is a simple neckerchief size shawl measuring 120 cm / 48 ins across the top and it is 60 cm / 24 ins long. Harlequin is fine and light and is designed for everyday wear.

It is the combination of an easy traditional pattern and an intarsia technique motive which calls for a bit of experience or a lot of patience to give it a try.

The main body of the shawl is worked in a self decreasing traditional ...

For those of you interested in Mediaeval Embroidery, here is an inspiring challenge.

The Something to Keep you Warm Embroidery Challenge II

It is the daughter of the Walling Hanging Challenge being completed by Racaire and Anya.

There are some very interesting links on these sites, have a look around.

The challenge will run from September 2007 - September 2008.

In their own words:

"This time around we decided on a more ahem useful theme for the project! Embroidered items can include hats, gloves, blankets, stockings, cloaks, anything that you use to keep you warm. These and the embroidery on them ...