Dyed

There are very few things that are true for everyone, everywhere but I suspect that the feeling of accomplishment you get from crossing things off your "to do" list is one of them. It seems like the longer the list - the better it feels. My list is about as long as it's ever been so this week has been really good. I've been going through my list and crossing off things that had been lingering - making phone calls and appointments, planting, organizing, straightening and dyeing!



The last time I showed you this yarn it was pristine white, wound up on cones, waiting for my attention. Due to rain, a super busy schedule, and fear this yarn was still undyed until last weekend. That's when I finally decided to suck it up and dye that yarn because it can't become kippot until it's dyed.

I really don't know what I was so afraid of. Yes, dyeing linen is different from dyeing wool but it wasn't hard. In some ways it was actually easier. No need for piping hot water. Even better, linen isn't going to felt! It's one of the few fibers that LIKES to be beaten up.


So I spent my weekend dyeing three skeins of linen in colors that Stinkette and I agreed on. Most of it is purple (seen in the foreground) and the rest is a sky blue (seen in the background). Truly the most onerous part of dyeing the yarn was rinsing it. Now it's dyed, rinsed, and dried. I just have to turn it into yark cakes and away we go. Yay!

It feels really good.

Nothing

I've got nothing of substance today. It's just one of those days. My throat is scratchy so I'm drinking crazy amounts of tea to try to avoid losing my voice. It seems like everyone is getting sick and that's one trend I'm happy not to take part in. One new thing is that I'm drinking my tea without sweetner. It's a really small thing but maybe it'll help me move towards more healthy choices. We'll see.

How do you like this stuff. This is the same yarn, a wool with a silk winding, in it's natural state and after being dyed by me. What do you think of it? DQ had a big say in the colors.

I'm playing with it right now and trying to decide if it's the right thing for a very big project. If I like it then there will be about 10-12 more skeins coming my way to be divided and dyed before I use it to create about 100 small objects. Intrigued? I 'm not ready to say more than that right now but I will soon. What makes it even more unusual for me is that it's a crochet project which ought to be a huge clue for any family that are checking this out.

According to the reports there is snow on the way and I'd love to be able to wear my new felted mittens but they're still not quite finished because KP ignored the comments I sent in my most recent order. I was short by one ball of yarn so I noted the lot number I needed in the comments area. I can understand if they didn't have anything from that lot left but some acknowledgment of the comment would be nice. As it is, I don't know if they weren't paying attention or they couldn't supply that lot. Argh!

It probably doesn't matter because we may not get any snow after all. Those guys (even Doug, my weather dude of choice) are really just guessing anyway. Right? The skies do look very grey and ominous though. You never know.

ETA - it's 11:00 and the snow has started. Score one for the weather dude.

Blue Feast

Lately I’ve added a bit to my morning routine. Before I hop in my car to do battle with the insane, nasty and rude drivers on the road (Seriously, what makes a person cut you off so close that you can barely avoid hitting them and then turn and smile proudly at you?) , I often stop briefly to check the various things growing around the house. Things change so fast and I don't want to miss anything. Right now the blueberry bushes are a must-check because there is fruit ripening there. Look at all these blueberries! Doesn’t it make your mouth water? I must get a little chicken wire up around them quick or there will be quite a feast for the birds.
Here is a little BFL that I dyed recently. It’s part of my MDS&W haul and I hope to combine it with the violet BFL to create a set of yarns for a shawl. I think that the lustrous, silky properties will be wonderful.

I was thinking of navy blue and there is a little of that represented but I added other shades of blue too so there ought to be subtle variation in the color. Of course, as I’m learning, the color of the roving doesn’t necessarily predict what it will look like all spun up. This picture, taken on my sunny lawn doesn’t help much either.

After I finished plying the Targhee I started spinning this BFL and I have to say that it took me a while to get in the groove. I don’t remember having this much trouble with the violet batch. After many adjustments and quite a bit of cursing Charlotte and I finally got in sync and the BFL started to flow smoothly onto the bobbin. Because of the color, I needed to use the flash to get a true-ish picture. What do you think of it?

Well Done Wool

This weekend the sun was shining and the weather warmed up into the 80s. What’s a girl to do in such conditions but fire up the dye pot? Right?

This was the result. It’s a basket full of Coopworth that I dyed in shades of yellow and blue which became green in spots. The results are kind of mixed. I love the deep blue and there is a really nice yellowish green that you can see at the bottom of the pile. There are unfortunately also a few unpleasant spots. I think that it may have been over-cooked on the stove. I had no idea that was even possible. At least it didn’t felt.

As you may have guessed, the Coopworth will be part of my little fiber exploration. There are 2 weeks until MDS&W and, if I have the time, I’d like to try this Coopworth and the Targhee in my collection. It’s possible that I could get it done now that the last of the Magic Carpet ride is off my bobbins.

I took my wheel outside on Saturday and spun in the fresh air. It felt really good to be outside and I loved the sounds of Spring. All around me there were people gardening, mowing lawns, taking walks and enjoying the day. Stinkerbelle and her friend were running around, doing their best to get in trouble. They did spin-art, played with water guns and who knows what else. Even Frankie, our turtle, got to spend some time outside swimming in her wading pool. The weather was great for most of these activities but it wasn’t great for my spinning.

I think that I may have gotten caught up in the day. The plan was to turn the remainder of the Magic Carpet Ride into chained singles. I stuck to the plan but the results of this second attempt at chained singles weren’t as nice as the first. This time I got knots and twisty bits and a mess. How bad was it? Well, when I took it out of the bath and went to hang it I had to take quite a while untwisting things and applied a bit of weight. It looks ok now but it’s still got a lot of ugly in it.

What do you think of this picture of the 2 skeins? On the left it’s just a simple 2 ply. On the right is the chained singles version. I don’t expect to have many occasions where I ply the same fiber in multiple ways so I took a picture to remember the difference. In all fairness, I should point out that the singles used to do the chained singles started out much more even.

I didn't think that I'd be a huge fan of the barber-poling because I like subtlety in my yarn. There is nothing subtle about the barber poles. Surprisingly, I think that I like both versions of this yarn equally. I can't wait to knit with it.

On another weekend note, the Drama Queen took part in Band Fest this weekend. This has been her first year playing the clarinet. Each student who chose to participate was assigned a piece of music which they prepared in advance. On Saturday, she played it for the judges and got graded on her efforts. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being the best) she got a 1. I'm so proud of her!

Spinning and Dyeing in the Sun

This weekend was great from a spinning perspective. I finished spinning most of the Magic Carpet Ride. I spun Friday night and finished it off on Saturday morning. I cannot wait to see how it looks after I ply it but I wanted to let it rest a little before that. Do you let the singles rest before plying? How long?

See the guy in the picture looking over the full bobbins? That's Edgardo the watch-turtle. Apparently we're developing a real turtle "thing" around the house. The girls and I saw him at the nursery during our recent plant aquisitions and had to bring him home. They were the ones to suggest the name. I like it, don't you?

Anyway, this isn't quite all the Magic Carpet Ride. I still have a little bit left to spin. I'll do it later this week. I'm thinking of doing it all on one bobbin and Navajo Plying it. Then I can use it as a neat accent on a pair of socks. Most of the socks will be barber poled and then there will be long runs of color to accent. It that gonna be hideous or cool? I suppose it could be either.

Anyway, I did a little dying this weekend too. I've really gotten into dyeing lately. Right now I'm just experimenting with techniques and colors but some of it is coming out pretty cool.

This is Blue Faced Leicester that I bought at Hunt Country Yarns. I dyed it on my stove in a free-form kind of way. I just sprinkled the dye in the pot and let it do it's thing. Aside from being really pretty, it's also yet another new-to-me fiber so it will definitely be the next thing I play with. There are just 4 weeks till Maryland Sheep & Wool now so I need to be sure I'm prepared. There is so much research to do before we go.

I may even bring my wheel with me. Until last Monday I couldn't do it easily but then my Take Along bag arrived. It was a bonus for ordering my wheel and I've been watching the mail for it. I just love the color. Now I just need to free up a little time so I can go spin at Springwater on spinning group night. I missed last month because I was busy, this month fell on a holiday and next month falls on Stinkerbelle's birthday. I'll get there some day.

By the way, we released the 3rd Sock Madness pattern yesterday and it was really well-received. I continue to be amazed by the spirit of community in this little competition. I just checked the SM group this morning and there is already one finisher. That's super-quick.

Process and Priorities

I was dyeing again last weekend. The more dyeing I do the more I want to do. It's fun to see what the colors will do and if they'll play nicely together. Translating the ideas in my head to reality is a fabulous challenge.

As I've said, I really want to try lot's of different fibers so this time I dyed up a little Finn. These greenish tones are very much my colors. Now I need to decide what to spin up next - this Finn or the Targhee I bought recently. It's a tough decision.

Another thing that I dyed recently was a boatload of yarn for Sock Madness. These skeins will all be prizes. I posted them on the Sock Madness blog the other day and now I'll share them with you. The one in the top right is Spring, followed by Indian Corn, Splash and Hokie Harvest.

I have to say that I'm a little amazed. I had hoped that the players in my little tournament would have the same outlook on knitting that I do. I really love learning new techniques and I feel like any pattern that exposes me to something new has value and is worth trying. I guess I'm a bit of a process knitter. Anyway, I was hoping that the promise of new patterns would be the main draw for our players but I really wasn't sure. Then, on Monday, I posted information on some of the prizes available and the response really surprised me. Our Sock Madness knitters were unanimous in saying that the prizes are nice but that they're in it for the patterns and the experience. How cool is that? Talk about having ones priorities straight. In a weird way this makes me so proud.