Colorful Idaho

It's definitely Fall in Idaho: the trees are golden, the fields of cut wheat are brass and gold, the burning bushes are flaming and the weather alternated from drizzly rain to cloudy/bright sun. I so like the Fall, and the weather was perfect for me: just enough of a chill to be invigorating, not enough cold to be bitter. All in all a delightful time to visit, and delightful people to visit with (ending preposition notwithstanding).

We were inside most of the time however, making colors:



This is the full table of over 500 colors. These are Lanaset dyes on wool. Some close ups:





And the final pile for each person:



Now they have the daunting task of organizing these samples into some sort of useful form. I keep mine in a binder:



But there are lots of other ways: slide pocket files, rings with labels, or (the easiest) a box. As is. Labeled, sorted, but not mounted. I suspect that after the grueling class (I crack whip), the box method predominates.

I hope the samples are as useful to the dyers as they are to me. I think the most useful part of them is in the doing though. Much about color and the dye used is learned in the process of making the samples, including which colors are stronger and dominate a blend, and just *how many* samples we could continue to make for a really complete set. But we stopped, exhausted, after two days. Part of the second day was taken up with painting warps and skeins, to be sure, and I live in hope that I'll get to see some of the completed warps once they are woven (major hint, eh?).

These samples were made by members of the Pullman/Moscow Weaver's Guild (alas, no website), and I believe there were extra samples made, with the intention of selling a few books for a fundraiser. If you are interested, I'll send you contact information (but give them a week or two, they are tired!).