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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Scouring your Fabric

Today I'm taking a closer look at the scouring process. After the mixed results of the cabbage dyeing project (see Dye Project: Red Cabbage), I realized I better learn a little more about scouring fabric! Scouring (or scrubbing) is the process of removing waxes, oils, sizing, or finishes from the fabric that could prevent dye from binding to the fiber. We'll try two projects, using two different recipes (one uses Synthrapol and soda ash, and the other uses Dawn dish washing liquid and soda ash).




For both projects, I used our patio as an outdoor studio. This may not be necessary from a ventilation point of view for these projects, but I like having the opportunity to work outdoors when I can.

Preparing to scour plant-based fabric in the outdoor studio

Before dyeing, it's important to pre-wash your fabric in the washing machine using detergent. But, pre-washing may not be enough to remove all impurities from the fibers. Even our sparkling white cotton dish towels may have layers of manufacturing residue that remain. To remove these impurities, use scouring agents, such as:
  • Neutral soap - like Dawn dish washing liquid, or Synthrapol
  • Washing soda - like Borax, soda ash, or soda crystals

Synthrapol is made of water, isopropanol alcohol, and detergent. The detergent molecules surround impurities on the fiber, and water rinses them away. Soda ash (sodium carbonate) neutralizes the pH making it easier for dye to bond to fibers. 

Pre-washed fabric may still contain impurities that prevent dye from bonding to fibers

You can use the weight of your fabric to estimate the quantity of scouring agents to use, but, unlike mordanting and dyeing, it is more of a guideline than a rule. I have found that three cotton dish towels and one gallon of water fit well in each of my aluminum pots, allowing room to simmer. Three dish towels weigh about 8 ounces (231g).


The basic process for scouring is:
  1. Pre-wash your fabric with detergent
  2. Fill a large pot with water and stir in scouring agents.
  3. Add fabric and more water so the fabric is covered but not crowded.
  4. Simmer for an hour or two (or soak overnight)
  5. Rinse in cold water, then wash in the washing machine without detergent. Optionally add an extra rinse cycle.
  6. Use towels while wet or hang to dry to use later.

Project 1: scouring with Synthrapol and soda ash

For the first project, scouring was done with Synthrapol and soda ash. I used two pots to scour six dish towels, and used the following recipe for each pot:
  • 4 quarts water brought to a boil
  • 1/2 teaspoon Synthrapol
  • 2 teaspoons soda ash
  • 3 pre-washed dish towels (about one half pound or 231g)
I let the pot simmer for a couple of hours. Initially I had trouble with sudsy water spilling over the pot, but finally worked out the temperature and water level to achieve a simmer. After half an hour, the water started to turn brown. At the end of a couple of hours, I removed the towels, rinsed thoroughly, and then washed them in the washing machine with no detergent and an extra rinse cycle. I let them air dry for future use. 

The water started turning brown after a half hour of simmering

It was surprising to see how brown the water turned. This is from the impurities that were removed from the fibers.

Note that I found out later that Dharma Trading Company carries a suds-free Synthrapol, which might be worth trying, especially here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we always have an eye on water conservation. 

Project 2: scouring with Dawn dish washing liquid and soda ash


For the second project, scouring was done with Dawn and soda ash. I used one pot to scour three dish towels, and used this recipe for one pot:
  • 4 quarts water brought to a boil
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dawn dish washing liquid
  • 1 tablespoon soda ash
  • 3 pre-washed dish towels (about one half pound or 231g)
I followed the same procedure described in the first project with similar results. After half an hour, the water started to turn brown.

More brown water

I wondered whether the blue Dawn might contain dyes that could themselves bond to the fibers, but that didn't seem to be the case (unless it manifests in a later dye project)! Also, the Dawn seemed sudsier than the Synthrapol, so I wondered whether additional water might be needed for rinsing. But the end result was the same: lots of satisfyingly brown water was produced!

Very satisfying results!

For both projects, you can immerse the wet fabric immediately into your mordant or dye bath. Or you can air-dry the fabric and store until needed. It is a good idea to label it, so you know that the fabric was scoured.

Pre-washed and scoured - ready for dyeing!

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Two Sisters, 48 Hours

How much fun can two sisters have in 48 hours? Recently my niece surprised my sister with a weekend trip from Portland, Oregon to the San Francisco Bay Area. We don't see each other often, so decided to make the most of our time!

Ready for adventure
After coffee and cereal on Saturday morning, our first order of business was a trip to a local nail salon for manicures. One must look sharp while on an adventure, and a little pampering and luxury after a long work week doesn't hurt!

Picnic in the shade at Point Pinole
With nails sparkling, we spent the afternoon at Point Pinole Regional Shoreline near Richmond. (Recall that my aunt, husband I visited last year, see Point Pinole on a Blustery Summer Day). We hiked out to the Group Camp near the pier for a picnic of croissant sandwiches, crackers, grapes, and shortbread cookies. We had a fantastic view of the San Pablo Bay, and its shipping lane that is kept busy with a continual flow of barges, tugs, ferries, and ships.

The new pier to the left, and remains of the old pier to the right
After lunch we walked to the end of the pier to watch folks monitor their fishing lines, and haul in their catches, including a skate, small tiger shark, and bass. According to the brochure and website, one can fish from the pier without a fishing license, as long as all other regulations are followed. Nice way to catch dinner!

Looking back at the bluffs from the pier
The views of San Pablo Bay and the surrounding area are spectacular, and the Whittell Marsh and old pier attract many birds. A brisk wind keeps things cool, which is welcome relief when the temperature soars inland, but the wind wasn't as bone chilling as it was for our visit last year!

Standing on the bluff overlooking the pier

Photo op from the bluff
We hiked up the small bluff for the views from a different vantage point, and then followed the Bay Trail around the point. The allee of eucalyptus trees provided a lovely fragrance, rustling leaves, and the occasional groaning of branches.

Golden grasses and oaks at Point Pinole

Allee of eucalyptus trees on the Bay View Trail

We cut across the point on one of the small trails to the parking lot at the Atlas Road Staging Area, and then headed over to pick up my aunt for a delicious dinner of souvlakia, kebabs, and baklava at the Troy Greek Restaurant on Solano Avenue. We recalled fondly our time together in Southeast Alaska a year ago (see Rambles in Drizzly Juneau and Eagle River and the Crab Feed). Back at my aunt's house, we had a phone call with my mom in Alaska (a 2x2 sister call)!

Two generations of sisters (with Mom on the phone)

After all the exercise, fresh air, and fun, my sister and I slept late on Sunday morning, and then enjoyed a long leisurely breakfast on the patio. We finally launched our day with a quick tour of the Farmer's Market and a few shops in Montclair, and then headed for Redwood Regional Park. This is a favorite park that is minutes from Oakland but feels like it is in the middle of nature (see Redwood Regional Park for a post on a rainy winter visit).

Stream Trail through the deep shade of the redwoods

The next generation

Photo op in the redwoods

We found a picnic table in the shade, and enjoyed our sandwiches, fruit, and cookies; and people watching. This is a wonderful park for families of all walking abilities (we saw poles, wheel chairs, and strollers)! Fortified with our lunch, we took a long leisurely hike in the deep shade of the redwood forest along the stream trail, all the way up to the Eucalyptus Trail where it meets the East Ridge Trail. On the way home we stopped at the Merritt College parking lot for grand views of Oakland, the Bay, and San Francisco.

Intrepid hiker

Recording the creaking of eucalyptus trees

At home we ordered pizza from Cybelle's Pizza, and watched a few episodes of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, set in 1920s Melbourne, Australia. We had a great time together, getting caught up on each other's lives and enjoying life in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area. We are already planning more get-togethers in the future (maybe San Francisco by BART or ferry, a whirlwind tour of the top 10 tourist spots by bus, and a visit to Fort Mason area for views of the Golden Gate Bridge). I think my niece has started something big!

Friday, July 19, 2019

Summer Movies 2019: Seeds of Time

Time for another summer movie to celebrate gardening, escape the summer heat, and avoid a few chores! This summer we're going back to view several more episodes from the British series, Rosemary and Thyme, which aired from 2003 to 2007, and features Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris in the lead roles (along with a cast of movie star plants)!

In the final season, Rosemary and Laura run a thriving landscaping business and have a special knack for encountering mysteries that need to be solved. They pool their experience and skills to do both, and have a lot of fun in the process.


The Seeds of Time (Season 3, Episode 17)

In this episode, Rosemary and Laura have been hired to help the aging Audrey Pargeter and her niece, Caroline Pargeter, prepare the Pargeter estate for sale. Tasks include preparing an inventory of seeds collected by botanist, Edwin Pargeter, who died in 1914; taking an inventory of exotic greenhouse plants; and cleaning up the garden.

While these assignments are going on, Laura packs up a few mementos from her home of 27 years, so that her ex-husband can sell the place. She keeps a few treasures, but discards most - including a decorator pillow that had formerly belonged to the Pargeters, which Laura had purchased at a jumble sale long ago.

Rosemary and Laura tour Edwin's locked seed room (untouched for nearly 90 years) and the greenhouse. In fairly short order, a dead body is found - a Chilean man with a puncture wound at the base of his neck, named Jose Antonio Pargeter. The police arrive, as does a whole cast of characters who are either vying to take ownership of the house, or probing for information.

Petra McKinley is writing a book called The Seed Collectors and wants to interview Edwin Pargeter's descendents, Audrey and Caroline; Frank and Sophie Minelli have arrived from America to teach nearby and want to purchase the house at the asking price in cash; and the pushy solicitor for the Minelli's demands that everyone stop their preparations to sell, since his clients want everything to remain as is. 

When Rosemary spots Frank and Sophie at BB&B, a pharmaceutical company now run by one of her former students, and then Sophie dies at the estate, while trying to break into the greenhouse, Rosemary and Thyme know something is up. They interview their cast of characters and assemble their clues. Laura reads through Edwin Pargeter's old diary, and figures out what is at stake, and she and Rosemary look for the seeds of a now-extinct tree in Edwin's collection. Rosemary dashes off to Kew gardens to consult with Dr. Trevor about the seeds.

Laura swings by her old home first, to pick up the mementos. The rain has caused the pillow on the rubbish bin to sprout, providing her final clue. Laura grabs the pillow, leaves her mementos behind, and heads for Kew garden, hoping she is not too late!

I really enjoyed seeing Edwin's seed room, full of dark glass jars of seeds with their faded labels and covered with dust and cob webs. The room evokes the adventure of collecting the seeds, and the promise of the plants they may yield! I'm afraid this is the end of our summer movie series, but there are still more episodes to watch. I found the series on DVD in our local library and available through online retailers. I also found the synopsis of all episodes on Wikipedia, and filming locations on Wikimedia. Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Summer Movies 2019: The Italian Rapscallion

Time for more summer movies, where plants are the true stars! This summer we're continuing with a few more episodes from the British cozy mystery series, Rosemary and Thyme, which aired from 2003 to 2007.

By season 2, Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme are busy with their landscaping busy and have demonstrated a knack for uncovering mysteries. Rosemary boxer is played by Felicity Kendal and Laura Type is played by Pam Ferris.



The Italian Rapscallion (Season 2, Episode 12)

In this episode, Rosemary and Laura have been invited to the Italian Riviera to help the flighty Emma Standish prepare her new restaurant for its grand opening the following week. Emma seems more interested in hospitality than the practical aspects of planning and running a restaurant, and relies on Rosemary and Laura to figure out some of the details.

Emma introduces them to the charming Fabrizio Biaggi and his friend Janice Alexander, whom he is helping to find a new home. Fabrizio invites them all to a garden tour given by Dr. Llewellyn at a nearby botanical garden.

While on tour, Laura realizes that Janice Alexander was formerly a police inspector in England who had worked in her old precinct. Following the tour, the group moves to a party at Emma's home high on the bluffs overlooking the Ligurian Sea. The wine flows and everyone is in a festive mood.

During the party Laura discovers Janice's scarf, and then her body in the shrubs. The police are called and the investigation begins. Fabrizio  was the last person to be seen with Janice and is arrested. Rosemary and Laura are not convinced that he is responsible.

True to form, they launch an investigation of their own while they work feverishly to finish the landscaping for Ristorante Emma. Their colorful cast of characters includes a number of rapscallions with compromising elements from their pasts, from petty theft, to impersonation, to sketchy sources of income. But does that make them capable of murder?

Rosemary and Laura think not, and dig deeper into the clues, characters, and motivations that drive them. They finally put it all together and identify the real culprit who is brought to justice. They finish their landscaping, but end the project by helping their disorganized friend pull off the grand opening of her restaurant, in the roles of cook and wait staff!

I enjoyed seeing glimpses of the Villa Orengo and gardens at Hanbury Botanical Gardens, at Ventimiglia in Liguria, Italy, where this episode was filmed. This is a great series if you'd like to add some light entertainment as part of your summer fun. I found the series on DVD in our local library and available for purchase online; a synopsis of all episodes on Wikipedia; and a list of filming locations on Wikimedia!

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Summer Movies 2019: Language of Flowers

It is time again for our summer movie series, where we watch films in which plants play the starring role! This summer we're going back for a few more episodes of the British cozy mystery series, Rosemary & Thyme. The series aired from 2003 to 2007 and delighted many as the two appealing gardeners, Felicity Kendal as Rosemary Boxer and Pam Ferris as Laura Thyme, solved mysteries while running their landscape business. We watched several episodes during the winter movie series (see And No Bird Sings, The Gongoozlers, and Aqua Cadaver). I had to go back for more!

By the third episode of the first season, Rosemary and Laura are building their business and getting to know each other. They each have their strengths, both in landscaping and solving mysteries.


The Language of Flowers (Season 1, Episode 3)

In this episode, Rosemary and Laura have been employed by Frances Caldecott to restore a cascade (waterfall) that was designed by famous local landscaper, Fanella Goffe, who died tragically decades earlier. The setting is a mansion turned health spa, run by Frances's grown children, Katie Caldecott Prichard and Jeff Caldecott. Frances is known to be difficult to work with and stingy with her money.

Rosemary and Laura get right to work figuring out why the cascade mechanism no longer works. Frances insists that all plants be replaced as well, so Rosemary and Laura visit the local nursery to select water-loving plants. There they meet Maggie Goffe (florist, and daughter of the designer Fanella Goffe) and Pete Farmer (her assistant), and learn more about the Caldecott family. Later, during a planning meeting with Katie, they come across the book "The Language of Flowers" that the family published as a birthday gift to their mother, in honor of her deceased husband and their father, Edwin Caldecott, using his manuscript and illustrations.

Rosemary and Laura are invited to dinner at Frances Caldecott's cottage with family and friends. When Frances doesn't appear to greet her guests, a search reveals that she was strangled in her office with a tree tie. Later her valuable jewellery is stolen, and Rosemary, Laura, and family members are questioned by the local police. Rosemary and Laura start looking for motives and clues.

Rosemary turns to "The Language of Flowers", and learns it is based on Medieval love poetry and Christian symbolism, all mixed up with a floral code that was used to send secret messages during the Victorian era. Soon, Laura deciphers the floral code for the cascade plantings, and Laura's son, Mathew, a police inspector, comes for a visit bringing valuable information about a family member with a criminal past.

Meanwhile, Laura unlocks the mystery of the cascade mechanism, but discovers information that gets close to the truth, and is almost killed for it. Rosemary and Laura pull together all their clues to figure out the family secret that caused Frances Caldecott's recent death and Fanella Goffe's early death. The crime is solved, and Rosemary and Laura unveil the working cascade with its new plantings.

If you'd like a little entertainment, while powering through a triple-digit heat spell or seeking relief from an abundance of summer garden chores, I recommend this series. I found it on DVD in our local library and available for purchase online. I also found the synopsis of all episodes on Wikipedia, and filming locations on Wikimedia (more to keep you busy)!

The Language of Flowers: love, birth, death and vengeance:
Dicentra spectabilis or Asian bleeding heart (secret love)
Oreganum vulgare or sweet marjoram (birth)
Campunela carpatica or funeral bells (death)
Aconitum vulparia or wolf bane (vengeance)



Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Search for Dyes: Daniel Solander

This year we are taking another look at our Linnaeus Apostles, but using a filter for textiles and plant dyes. The "apostles" were sent out from the University of Sweden in the 1700s by their professor, Carl Linnaeus, to gather plant specimens, name and classify them using the binomial naming system, and identify economically useful plants. Our guide for this second look is Viveka Hansen, and her work Textilia Linnaeana: Global 18th Century Textile Traditions & Trade.

Daniel Solander (1733-1782) made several expeditions to Lapland, England, and Scotland, but usually to classify museum and curiosity collections. His major botanical expedition was to join Captain James Cook, John Banks, and a team of botanists, scientists, and artists on the H.M.S. Endeavor to circumnavigate the globe. The journey lasted three years from August 1768 - July 1771. They visited Madeira, Brazil, Argentina, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Java, South Africa and St. Helena.

Solander described Brazilwood, used to produce a range of red dyes
Illustration by Paul Hermann Wilhelm Taubert (1862-1897, public domain)


Solander's exposure to local practises and traditions for producing fabric may have been somewhat limited, since they travelled by ship, but they frequently stopped for long periods to restock provisions and make ship repairs, so had some opportunity. Some of the places they visited were so temperate that minimal clothing was required, so materials and processes for creating them were unique.

Solander did not keep a travel journal, but wrote many letters and documented the botanical material they collected (30,300 plants from 3,607 species and 110 plant families). Hansen relies on these letters and documents, and on the journals of Joseph Banks, James Cook, and Sydney Parkinson to compile her textile and dyeing information for Solander.

Solander and Banks were intrigued to see floating molluscs periodically while crossing the Atlantic between Africa and South America. Banks thought they might produce a reddish-purple color, similar to the Murex snail shell of the Mediterranean, but sightings were rare and they never had sufficient numbers with which to experiment.

In the Portuguese colony of Rio de Janeiro, their movement was restricted which curtailed their investigation. In Brazil, they did not find a dye trade, but learned of several materials used to produce dyes. Brazilwood (Caesalpinia echinata, renamed Paubrasilia echinata in 2016) and the duramen of the Fernambuca tree (Lignum fernambuca) produced reddish purple dyes. Indigo was also produced to export to Portugal (frequently taking the land that local farmers would have used to produce their food).

In Tahiti and nearby islands, they found tapa bark cloth was created for clothing and other uses. Cloth of a similar kind had also been documented in Africa, Asia, and America. Solander thought they used the same material to create tapa, as the Chinese used to make paper (the paper mulberry). Both Cook and Parkinson recorded detailed notes about tapa's production, adornment, and practical and ceremonial uses. Only parts of the bark cloth were dyed, not the whole sheet. Red and yellow were the predominant colors. Red was produced from a mixture of liquids from Ficus tinctoria and Cordia sebestena. The yellow was produce from the bark from the Morinda umbellata plant or from the fruit of Calophyllum inophyllum.  The dyes were pressed into the tapa cloth in various patterns, and seemed to remain colorfast, at least as long as they were present to observe.

In New Zealand they encountered a type of fabric produced from flax by the Maori. They described the cloth as silky and white, with colored boarders (but no details beyond that). The Maori had little use for European fabric, but were very interested to trade provisions for tapa cloth from other regions. In Australia they found the native inhabitants to be devoid of clothing, but adorned with patterns of paint,

During a brief stay in New Guinea, they observed that both men and women wore blue and white patterned cotton cloth. They did not observe the actual production, but did see the tools used for cleaning away the cotton seeds, spinning the thread, and weaving lengths of cloth. The weaving impressed them, since the warp yarn was resist-dyed (ikat). The end product was described as a clouding or waving pattern.

On their way home from the expedition they spent several months in Batavia (as did Carl Peter Thunberg). They too made observations about indigo cultivation, and the importance of the indigo trade for the Dutch East India Company.

Learn More

Textilia Linnaeana: Global 18th Century Textile Traditions & Trade by Viveka Hansen, fifth volume in the Mundus Linnae Series, issued by the IK Foundation & Company (London 2017). See pages 203-226.

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

More Lazy Daze of Summer

Welcome to the kick off to summer! We've passed all the usual milestones – Memorial Day in late May, the summer solstice a couple of weeks ago, and the kids out of school for summer break. We've had some hot days here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but relieved by our wonderful temperate weather. And everyone enjoys the extra daylight that extends into evening.

We're ready for the "lazy daze of summer"! Enjoy this gallery of favorite summer images.
My Example

Bishop Lake Marina

San Ramon Pool
Shadow Play

Patriotic Dreams

Salmon on the Grill

Pink Wine on the Patio

Borage Flower Ice Cubes

Car Wash Fun

Panicle Hydrangea

Gooseberry Blossom

Enjoy the extra hours of light doing something you love, whether working in the garden, gathering with friends and family, travelling to parts unknown, or exploring what is already around you with a fresh perspective. Happy summer daze!