I started my dye class today. The morning was a bit of a technical overview of the process, which involved a bit of math and safety gear, and we dyed two 12 step palettes - a cool set and a warm set. After lunch we really got to play. I am having so much fun I can barely stand it. Now we're definitely going to have to buy a house so I have a place to get messy.
 

Our real focus today was dyeing plant fibers with Pro MX Reactive dyes. We used beakers and graduated cylinders! The geek in me found this part especially satisfying. I painted a cotton warp chain and a smaller skein of cotton as my first two experiments. I have loads of ideas to try now that I'm starting to understand the process and how the colors affect each other. Our instructor, Vicki Jensen, is fantastic.
 
The evening program was an informal and then formal fashion show. The informal fashion show involved folks in the audience wearing handwovens strutting their stuff. Patricia from our NOBO guild dazzled us all with a gorgeous scarf she made. The formal fashion show was comprised of juried pieces. Apparently the rules are pretty strict, and creativity isn't a judging criteria. Hmm... The only drag about this whole event so far is that the rumors about weaving snobs seem to be real. No wonder people interested in weaving get scared off. Things need to change.