Recently I used these

To dye this

A small piece of felt, some badly spun (and scratchy) wool and merino top.  I included the undyed white wool to show the 'before and after'.  I don't really like the colour but for a first go I can't complain.

I was inspired to try dying with eucalyptus after reading Eco Colour by India Flint.  Who happened to comment on my last post which is pretty cool if you ask me!

One of the attractive things with eucalyptus is that you don't need a mordant when dyeing wool, so it seems a lot more spontaneous.  I once knew a lady who would do a lot of dyeing when camping.  All she had to carry with her was a pot and some wool.  

And to balance things out.  I dyed up about 10m of cotton this weekend using man made dyes.

I had a hankering after some secondary colours!  Orange, green and purple YAY!

Chris found a Sand Dollar yesterday.

I had never seen one before despite spending the majority of my life on the coast. Perhaps these critters don't like the cold Tasmanian waters.

A few weeks ago Chris went to Brisbane for work and I decided to join him for part of the time. I visited the new Gallery of Modern Art (but the majority of exhibition space was closed Hmmm) and the Queensland Art Gallery where I saw an exhibition of a watercolour landscapes by Kenneth McQueen (who I had never heard of before). I especially loved his cloud paintings.

I bought some books too, the most relevant here being India Flint's book Eco Colour. A lovely book to flick through and then go back and read (I bought it and enjoyed it in spite of the ho hum review in Vogue Living). I was even inspired to dye up some wool with eucalyptus leaves - I'll reserve that for a seperate post I think.

I made a new bag on a whim before I went and it was perfect for the trip. It was quick too (just what I like!)

The last week I've been terribly sick with the flu and my spirits have been very low, with lack of sleep and tears and various trials and tribulations at work. But I'm starting to feel better now and things are looking brighter.