Woad on Wednesday

(i decided to go sans gloves this year;  so my hands are much bluer in person 

and apparently are now stained for months!)

(Denise's hands, from years of woading and not wearing gloves)

Denise comes to the Chateau, brings her mother vats and everyone goes a little woad crazy.  If you've never heard about woad dying and if you've never dyed with woad, you don't know how addictive it is until you carefully set your first piece of fabric into the vat and watch it float under a yellow-blue-ish liquid.  When you pull it out, it's a green-yellow, sort of acid-wash, and as you unfurl your scarf/tshirt/skirt/hankie and the oxygen in the air takes over, the most beautiful blue begins to emerge.  Next thing you know, you're running back to your room to find your bag, some lace, a tea towel, your shoes, that old dress... anything and everything that will fit into the vat, ready to be dyed.

I think it's Denise's passion that makes it all so magical.  She has an incredibly extensive knowledge about the history of woad, it's unparalleled level of importance as a color in the world, a fantastic sense of humor, and permanently blue hands.

We love woad day at the Chateau.  It seems to transport you to another time when mother vats, men's urine (look that detail up!), and blue fingernails were all the rage.

(more woad this way--)