This past Friday, I packed my dye pots and a few dye plants in the back of my van and headed off to Sachem Farmhouse and Bed & Breakfast in Warren, CT to teach a Natural Dye Workshop. Jennifer King is one of those fortunate individuals who lives and works on the same land that her ancestors farmed 200 years ago. Jennifer and her husband, Jason, renovated the family farmhouse and opened Sachem Farmhouse for guests three years ago.

As I walked through the house and on the grounds of Sachem Farm, I could feel the care which Jennifer has taken in decorating and making her guests feel special. No detail has been left undone- from luxurious sheets to elegant flower arrangements, to comfortable chairs and quiet nooks.

My Natural Dye Workshop is the first of what Jennifer hopes to be many more fiber events on the farm. Saturday, about 8 women traveled to the farm for a day of natural dyeing. After spending some time on the porch going over the process of using locally growing plants as dye material, we headed out beyond the sheep pasture to gather flowers and plants. Walking through the family’s vineyard and back to the house we found Jewel Weed, Queen Ann’s Lace, and Golden Rod.

Jennifer prepared an amazing lunch which we all enjoyed while our dye pots simmered on the stove. Steam and strange odors filled the kitchen. After lunch, the dye baths were ready for our skeins of yarn.

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We tended the pots and chatted for the remainder of the afternoon until at last, we could pull out yarn from the pots.

The sheep were very cooperative in displaying our hard work at the end of the day.

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