Going Nuts!

I know I've been absent from the blogging scene lately.  You see things have been going a little nutty here in more ways than one!   I have been having thyroid issues again.   The good Doc is trying to get me straightened out and has set me up to go see an Endocrinologist.  I guess I knew this would be my ultimate fate.  The medication I'm on works for awhile and then my symptoms which are severe fatigue, severe aching in my legs, and general feelings of depression come back.

To make a long story short I have been feeling like crap. Some days it's a struggle to put one foot in front of the other.  As of last weekend the medication adjustment must be helping a little as I actually felt like doing something today!

So guess what I did! 

Well, Lauren over at Rugs and Pugs was kind enough to send me a box full of Black Walnuts. I've always been curious about them as it seems we don't have many Black Walnut trees growing around here. I've always wondered about making dye for wool out of them.   So sweet Lauren gathered up some nuts to send and while she was at it tucked in one of her awesome 'Rug Hooker' silver spoon necklaces she makes!  Now how's that for being sweet!?  The necklace is sweet as can be and is a permanent part of my studio decor when I'm not wearing it!  Thank-you Lauren!  

So those nuts sat around here for a few days with me looking at them and wondering how the heck do I make dye from them? 

Reading whatever I could get my eyes on about preparing them for dye I realized I had to get the hulls off first.


EWWEEEE!  Ugly little suckers aren't they!!  Wear gloves if you ever attempt to do this or your hands will be forever a bright yellow!  Good for Halloween maybe!


I'm using an old tin snips but a heavy pair of scissors would work too.





Judging by the brown color I see on the paper towels where the nuts are drying after hulling I think the dye should be a beautiful brown shade.


They look a lot better after the hulls are off!  Actually they are real pretty.


After hulling I decided to boil a few of them with some of that icky brown stuff still left on to see what would happen.  I threw in some vinegar and let it simmer.


Then I got the brainy idea to put the hulls in a crock pot and let them simmer with some salt and vinegar. Use an old crock pot that you don't intend to use for food again.   I use this one for dying wool and don't use it for food we are going to eat!






I decided to freeze some of the fresh hulls for use later on. Use jars as I read that the acid over time would eat through plastic.  Sounds scary so I just used glass jars.  Be sure and label them so hubby doesn't think it's beef jerky or something!  








I couldn't resist throwing a small piece of white wool in the pot simmering on the stove. Boy, it took up so fast that I didn't leave it in there long!  Remember.... this is only experimental on my part.  I'll have to let you know how it turns out after it simmers for awhile.  I think the brown color is quite attractive!   I just checked the crock pot which I put out in the garage to let it cook as I also heard they can be smelly.  Well the garage smells like boiling walnuts, a smell I haven't experienced until today.  Not bad at all!  Just kind of earthy. Like you would expect from some kind of nut I guess. 
More later...... oh and in case some of you are wondering about my beginning rug hooking class it didn't get off the ground this time for lack of students.  Probably just as well as I started feeling so poorly just as the class would have started.  There's always an upside to the downside!  Plan B is in full swing and I'll tell you more about that later too!
Cathy G