elderberry and blueberry

i dyed the cloth pictured down at the bottom of this post, a lovely handwoven wool one, for my elder cloth.








the blanket was two bolts of fabric hand stitched together, so i unstitched it and dyed half with elderberry and half with blueberry. with the elderberry, i rolled the leaves into the blanket and hot bundled (steamed) it on the stove and then let it sit for about a week. for the blueberry side, i had frozen some blueberries, and i rolled them into the fabric and pounded them a bit with a hammer, and then bundled and let it sit in cold water with a sprinkle of wood ash for about a week. (techniques inspired by and learned from india flint's books.)

elderberry's mule friend for much of her life was named blueberry, who predeceased her by about twelve years. elderberry mourned her for a long time. so now they'll be reunited in cloth.

things have been exciting around here though.. we brought home two bottle babies, lamb twins, the other day. they were already named, basil and oregano. and the story continues.