Last weekend, we set up my new dye studio in a corner of Mike’s greenhouse.

I brought along some Rambouillet, in case I had time to dye, and snuck off to make color while dinner was in the oven. I didn’t have an exact idea of what I wanted, but the colors from our trip to Campobello Island were stuck in my brain. Look at that sea grass against the blue water!

I started there, mixing in some sandy beige for the rocks.

The green could use a bit more yellow perhaps, but as it is the dyed colors echo the pines as well as the grass. I love the intensity and range of blues in the water colors, juxtaposed against the sand.

Then, I dyed some of that water, lapping up against the whiter sand on the main beach

And the water against the rocks, with all their browns and grays.

Next, I zoomed in on just the rocks and sand, trying to capture all the colors they hold. I don’t have a picture of my own, but found this one online:

I mixed these in with the sand, focusing especially on those purples in the granite.

The purple came out a tiny bit brighter than I’d hoped, and I think I’d add more gray to the colorway next time, but I do love the way the colors look against the beige and brown.

But beach stones are seldom surrounded by sand alone, so I added in some bright green seaweed for a more complex colorway.

Of course, it’s always fun to combine colors, and so I went looking for pairs in the stock left from the show in Greencastle this spring. My favorites were these:

That first one is the Beach Rocks colorway mixed with a Caramel Semisolid, Semisolid Brown, and Silver Rose.

The second pairing photo shows Surf on the Rocks with Sea and Sky and Blue Sky.

All of the colors are available on Etsy.