My sister & her family are packing up the last of their things in Peru. Annie had planned & counted out the “work outfits” she’d need and packed up the rest. Brian & their dog, Hazel, are due to arrive in Atlanta on Thursday (they are departing a few days early in case there are issues), after a 24-hr quarantine there, he’ll rent a car & drive up to Wisconsin; I pick up Ann & Addie at the airport on Monday! Less than a week!!

Addison sent this to me yesterday…

“Definitely making the cut.”

I made both boys a flip calendar a couple of years ago for Christmas… SO MANY great Auntie Camp memories.

They have grown into such wonderful young men… I’m happy to have such great memories of the little boys.

The tie-dye parade continues with Mack’s creations!

The two above are for his dad. The top one was kind of scrunched/gathered on the diagonal and sectioned off for dye application. The bottom one was swirled, of course. The yellow seems especially vibrant this year!

I should mention that we used Dharma Trading Co.‘s Fiber Reactive Dyes, as always. I purchased Dharma’s Little Group Kit a few years ago and we’re still working with that, plus some extras. In the past, I’ve ordered some of their dyeable clothing, too, and also indigo. I have been extremely pleased with it all! This year, I purchased & pre-washed a variety of t-shirts — all were 100% cotton, but there were a few different brands and I think there are subtle differences in how they took the dye.

Our colors were: Fuchsia, Lemon Yellow, Turquoise, Deep Purple, and Cobalt Blue.

This kind of “minimal swirl” is for his mom. I didn’t turn it over, but I think it might be a bit more saturated with dye on the back!

These two are Mack’s size. The one on top is his attempt at “crystal wash,” and the bottom one was a pleated from the bottom to about the armpits and then rolled.

He used a lot more dye for his “crystal wash” shirt than Addie did, and also used more of the dark colors. I just love all the variations & differences!

The top shirt, above, with the patriotic feel is for Junah, and the lower one with the swirl was also intended for him… but more likely Ginny’s size!

This is Ginny’s tie-dye tank a la Mack…

…and this is Malina’s. Malina ended up with two very vibrant, saturated shirts… they were so tiny, it was difficult to go “light”!

Similar to how Addie’s shirt for Malina reminded me of the northern lights, Mack’s “crystal wash” shirt gives me a very “nebula” feeling.

I feel like I could get lost in there!

There’s another whole batch of shirts for Junah, Ginny & Malina to make for their mom & dad, Mack & Addie, and for themselves! I’m not sure I’d have been able to keep up if they’d all done it together. (My hair sort of stands on end just thinking about that!) I’m not sure it’ll work out, but I think it would be super fun for the boys to be “camp counselors” at Nona Camp… if not this year, then definitely next!

I’ve already had a request for socks & other types of clothing/items for next year! You might have noticed that there wasn’t anything for Davey in the boys’ piles… lordy, can you imagine the number of tie-dye hand-me-downs that boy will already be subjected to??!!!

 

It’s a little different this year — they’re all here earlier than usual and still working/in school, for the most part, plus passport renewals, vaccinations & haircuts, and Mack is doing his behind-the-wheel both with an instructor & with his dad — but we’re doing what we can, and squeezed in some tie-dyeing over the weekend!

We’re happy as clams with whatever we get since we didn’t even have a chance last summer!

We tried a new technique using the measuring cups/bucket, but mostly swirls and pleats and sections… and a lot of shirts!

I might have left them set longer if we hadn’t had a lunch date yesterday along with rain in the afternoon forecast, but at least I remembered to correctly mix the dye and to soak everything in soda ash solution.

One of our biggest challenges over the years is remembering who tied & dyed what, so this year, for better or worse, I devised a system… putting a staple in the hem of each of Mack’s shirts. I’m sure there’s a better way (and I’d love to hear about it), but at least we were able to keep track of which shirts were Addie’s & which were Mack’s.

It was all official when Addie rubbed his ear…

…since the first Auntie Camp (indigo), it isn’t official until someone (usually Addie) turns BLUE! Haha. (For the record, I have a very pink thumbnail!)

I photographed every shirt they made this year, so let’s get started with Addie on parade!

Two shirts for his dad. The first is gray and was done using the “crystal wash” method in the bucket. Basically, it’s soaked in soda ash, scrunched up and stuffed into a container, and squirted with dye. The other one looks like a combo swirl/scrunch.

A shirt for his mom, above (I think I bought a size too small, but it’ll “work”) that was scrunched & sectioned.

These are both his size. The first one was swirled from the bottom/side instead of the usual chest area, and it turned out pretty great (I’m sure that will be done again in the future!). The second was also done using the “crystal wash” method in a 4-cup measure… the dye is sparse but interesting.

These two were done with Junah in mind, though I think the bottom one will be a bit small, so Ginny’s!

This one is definitely Ginny’s.

And, finally, Malina’s. Parts of this remind me of the northern lights!

I love tie dye because there’s always a little bit of surprise and it’s really hard to make a dud!

Stay tuned for Mack’s parade, coming up tomorrow.  😉

I will continue to do Auntie Camp for as long as they're interested, and it will likely morph into Nona Camp at some point. I've hinted to Mack & Addie that they could be participatory camp counselors!

With the boys' departure on Friday, I still had the whole weekend ahead of me… and that was so nice! There was so much going on and things to keep track of that I'd actually written an itinerary and designated Saturday as a "Day of Rest." More accurately, I'd say that Saturday was a Day of Recovery in preparation for Sunday being a Day of Rest. Ha. Those couple of days to myself, more or less, were magnificent.

I sewed a pillowcase! I hadn't actually made one, myself, so got that out of the way right away on Saturday morning. There's still another one or two in my sights. And Ginny's "unicorn" project.

I took a nap! I cooked! I knit! I did laundry!

On Sunday, we attended Brunch down the hill at 313 Dodge, which was in collaboration with Kaukauna Coffee & Tea. Janel, Ali, and Kristin did an amazing job of it and I'm looking forward to the next one, likely in October (and, hopefully, not when I'm gone)!

It was all presented so beautifully! And what a great way to spend a couple of hours on a "recovery" Sunday.

There were even lavender sugar cookies packaged up for each of us to take home. (Yum.)

Since I really can't be completely idle, even in recovery/rest mode — and, arguably, making & doing is actually a restorative practice for me — I'd been gathering the last few necessary materials to finally tackle something that's been on my to-do list for a couple of years now.

Stencil cutting! I've had a stencil cutting tool kit for years and opened the package on Sunday for the first time. I'd ordered some stencil designs from The School of Making at Alabama Chanin, and had them printed. And, finally, a big roll of 10 mil mylar was delivered last week… ready, set, go!

I forgot that I'd actually intended to do the very straightforward Variegated Stripe Stencil for my first attempt at cutting, and instead randomly chose Paisley! Look at all those curves! Trial by fire, I guess… I certainly didn't think I'd get it cut in one session, but what did I know! It was fun & so rewarding! And I only singed myself a couple of times. :/ It's far from perfect, but it looks pretty darn good in the photo and I'm certain that once the fabric is painted, stitched, cut, and assembled into a garment, the flaws will disappear.

Speaking of Alabama Chanin… while my Car Coat project has not seen much action lately, I'm planning to continue working on it, and have cajoled Annie into having some virtual sewing sessions together! She still has a Swing Skirt project to finish. I'm also planning some other projects… another pair of Palazzo Pants, another skirt, and possibly another skirt. It hasn't all completely gelled yet… some of these will be big in physical size, but perhaps not so big/intense in the actual making.

Well, anyway, that's a wrap!

Until next year… Auntie Camp 2020!