From the purple dyeshed...

It is a long time since I showed you "The Shed" aka "The Workshop" aka "The Studio" (when I'm feeling posh!).  It is such a lovely sunny day today, and the shed is looking particularly neat and tidy, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to show you where all the yarn dyeing is done.

Normally, all the yarn is stored in plastic boxes as you can see to the left of this photograph, but I've been stock taking this week so it is all on display, waiting to be counted and then packed away again.



All the dyeing takes place in this workspace.  And I mean ALL of it.  Visitors are often amazed that I can turn out the quantities I do in this small space, but if you work systematically and methodically it all works well.



As many of you know we live off the mains electricity grid, and so all the dyeing is done using propane gas.  Microwaves don't feature in my method of dyeing - ever!   Everything is steamed or, more frequently, immersion dyed (aka kettle dyed).   I'm often asked if I'll offer lessons in the shed, but as you can see space is at a premium and not ideal for classes.  As to power for my shed (I do a lot of laptop work while I'm in the shed), I have 2 solar panels offering to charge up the battery which keeps me powered up



I use a range of producers for my dyes as some companies offer slightly different shades which means I get a wider choice of shades to use when dyeing.  The smaller pots on the left are colours which I am either testing, or rarely use, whereas the bigger pots are for colours which I use frequently.



And, of course, the face mask is never far away - an essential piece of equipment when mixing dye powders.



It is the one piece of equipment with which I have a love/hate relationship.  It makes me feel terribly claustrophobic, but the alternative of breathing in fine powders doesn't bear thinking about.  Fortunately I only wear it when mixing the dry powders - once in liquid form the dyes are safer to use, although some would recommend wearing a mask all the time when dyeing.



My recipes are all stored in notebooks (Mr RC keeps trying to persuade me to transfer them all to digital format but there is something satisfying about writing them down as you test, and being able to scratch out, and rewrite)



and the whiteboard is perfect for quickly scribbling ideas or recipes, later to be transcribed into the "official" recipe book.



And while pots are bubbling away the view from the shed can act as a lovely distraction:

From my doorway I see all of life pass by.  Buzzards being worried by Hoodies, lambs in the spring, walkers making their way for a bit of fishing at Lexie's Loch, field mice looking for titbits to eat, stoats hiding in amongst the rocks waiting for an opportunity to steal one of the hen's eggs, and sometimes (not often) a yorkie happy to sit in the sun while boss is working:



I consider myself pretty fortunate to have this as my office.