Looking at nettles it’s been amazing to see just how wide a variety of colours they come in, at different stages of the season the nettle stands start by being an incredibly vibrant emerald green,at this stage then not great for making fibre from. As they grow an incredibly beautiful blush appears on the stem that turns to a rich burgundy and then a dark aubergine, in some nettles I observed I yellow ochre.
I made a simple drawing of the stem showing the colours and the fluted structure against a paynes grey background – my favourite dark primary..
Looking at the colour exercises, mixing different colours from primaries, I could quite easily identify the primaries I need to use, to create the colours that I have observed . On my colour palette I have shown the primary colours that are used, and also the colours that I observed in the nettles.
Having read slow stitch by Claire Wellersley Smith, and also Stitch Stories by Cass Holmes, I was very taken with the idea of using materials that I already have. I’ve trawled through my stash and found a wide variety of threads and fabrics that may be useful. I did a thread wrap that at this stage is not proportional, as nettle colours vary so widely
I have some nettle yarn both natural and dyed green that has been made in Nepal, I have also made some nettle cordage in various thickness’s, it is beautiful and smells delicious but is incredibly time consuming.
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