A Blue Day

  Long ago, this region was renowned for, and made rich by, its woad, a plant that produces a blue dye. Go to Toulouse and you can see the magnificent homes that were built by wealthy woad merchants. Eventually indigo replaced it and the woad industry dried up. In recent years, there has been a  small resurgence. 

   In the small village of Lieurac, a quarter of an hour away, Andie at Renaissance Dyeing (www.renaissancedyeing.com) grows woad in her magnificent south-facing garden. Last week, she invited a bunch of us over to harvest, process and dye with her woad--and enjoy an outdoor pot-luck lunch.

   Absolutely everything you want to know about woad--its history, how to grow it, how to dye with it--is at www.woad.org.uk so I won't get into specifics. Just know that woad leaves look somewhat like spinach, have to be washed very carefully, then torn, then simmered...and you mustn't let air get into the dye vat It's a very complicated process but the results are beautiful.I'm not a big fan of the colour blue but woad's soft depth is irresistible.  Andie also had an indigo pot going. 

    Some shots of the process, the results and--of course--the lunch.

Feeling Blue (and Gorgeous Yarns)

The vide grenier at Dun on Sunday also promised crafts but I wasn't expecting to see a vat of woad simmering away, or some of the most glorious knitting yarns ever. 

  Behind both is Andie Luijkwho runs Renaissance Yarns (www.renaissancedyeing.com)

You can buy her totally wonderful yarns on-line, also kits for shawls which make me want to abandon all the reno work I'm supposed to be doing and just knit and knit. Joy of joys, it turns out she lives only a couple of villages away. 

  When someone offers free woad-dyeing, you immediately hare off in search of something white, cotton and preferably vintage. Voila! A blouse for a euro. As with indigo, anything tinted with woad only turns blue when it's exposed to air. Mine wasn't in the vat that long so it's very pale.