Alchemy

What is it about the coming of the summer that makes one want to dye things?

Other people shop. We dye.

Last summer was the Summer of the Fabulous Duvet Cover and Slipcovers of Awesome — which still looks gorgeous, by the way. This summer looks to be the summer of the Necessary Redying of One’s Black Things (which, given the dearth of black dye in the hardware store most of the time is something all Glaswegians do on the weekend.) (You have seriously never seen as much black as people in this city wear. It must be an urban thing; workwear is a virtual uniform of black, black, black and white. Students in their colors stand out, especially in the wintertime), followed by the Fully Unnecessary Dyeing of Anything Cotton One Can Get One’s Hands On, Including One’s Spouse’s Dress Shirts, Much To One’s Spouse’s Dismay.

A small fraction of this dyeing is actually necessary — the vagaries of Yonder Teensy British Washing Machine have left us with some suspicious bleach spots from time to time, because T. refuses to use “thick bleach,” which to her is not bleach at all, but mostly, the dye thing is Just Because. The Sikh gentlemen at the hardware store (which is from whence dye comes around these parts) give us quite odd looks when we come in with requests for cherry red and bright blue.

If it’s not dyeing fabric, it’s dyeing hair (been there, done that, and T. now has the look of a fading red-furred lemur). With the advent of the warm weather, we’ve seen our share of home tie-dye jobs, home hair dye jobs, home tattoos… hm. Maybe that doesn’t count as dye. Anyway — We hope that the sun shines for you today, and you feel inspired to splash about a bit of color. Grab a box of dye – of either sort – crayons, markers, watercolor paints, and join the fun. Color + Light = Magic.