Mustard Seed Yarn Lab

Do you want to see what I did last night?

My incredible friend, Maiya, has a new hobby.

It’s called Pisanki. It’s an ancient Polish tradition. This is how they make Easter eggs! “The pisanki derive from an ancient tradition when eggs, the symbol of life, were endowed with magical properties and were thought to ensure both a plentiful harvest and good health. The name Pisanki comes from the Polish word “pisac”, which means to write.” (That little nugget of knowledge comes from the internet.)

Above you can see Maiya working on her egg. First, you make designs on the egg with hot wax. Then you dip it in some really strong dye.
After the first dye bath you can draw even more on the egg with your wax. Then you can dip it again. You can do this in as many different colors as you have. We had red and dark green, which make black when together.
When you think you’re done drawing and dyeing, it’s time to melt off the wax. This is done by CAREFULLY placing the egg near the flame, being careful not to scorch the egg, and wiping the hot wax off with napkins. Above you can see Maiya melting the wax off of her egg.

Maiya’s finished egg came out beautifully. Next it was my egg’s turn in the final dye.

And now to melt off that wax!


Now the funny thing is, you’re supposed to do this with white eggs. I brought eggs over to Maiya’s house so the kids could dye Easter eggs (the regular way) and didn’t realize that I brought over brown eggs!! So we used brown eggs for the Pisanki, not having any idea what they would turn out like.

We were both VERY happy with the results!

The brown egg showed through as gold!

How gorgeous are they?? Needless to say, I just might have a new hobby. I wish I had taken pictures of all the white egg ones Maiya had dyed. She had a whole bowl full and they looked so different from these two. I think these remind me of those ancient greek vases.

I can’t wait to do it again.