Racing for the toes

I really want to get these socks done so I can start a new pair with my new yarn. Last night I did the heel flap and turned the heel and did the foot almost all the way to the toe on the second sock. The other sock is at the point where I need to do the toe decreases. Hopefully I will get them done tonight. (I have to go to work today.) This is some of the yarn from my first attempt at dyeing yarn, when I learned that 1) you don't need to leave the yarn as wet as you do the roving, and 2) more citric acid... I had the yarn too wet and not enough citric acid and the dye didn't stay where I put it, and the colors all kind of ran together. But I liked the results, they will be my crazy mixed-up socks.

Here is Narda reminding me that it is bad manners to read at the dinner table. I kind of thought that since I was eating alone I could get away with it, but apparently not.

Believe it or not, that's it for today. I just wanted to put a little knitting content in my knitting blog. Maybe later I can put an update with a picture of the finished socks...

Do you notice how "thick" the dew is on my herbs and flowers? It was down in the low 40's this morning, it is only 48 now. It is just absolutely lovely this morning. I think the plants are at their most beautiful in the early morning light when the dew is still present.

Curses, failed again!

Another fun day at the dye pot. I was not quite as successful as Deb, who, it turns out, is the dye queen, but I was happy with most of my results. One thing I learned is that I really don't like Jacquard's kelly green dye. I expect a color called kelly green to be kind of an emerald green. I wanted to dye some roving in rainbow colors with bright red, yellow, and green. I mixed up a bottle of kelly green, thinking it would be a nice deep green. WRONG. It is what I think is a hideous lime green color that definitely should never be mixed with red. I tried carding the roving to blend the colors, but to me, it is still hideous. I definitely need to find a different green. Turns out it wasn't warm enough for solar dyeing, so I didn't try to redeem myself on that front either. I am not having very good luck getting red/yellow/green roving, and I think I am going to give up on that particular idea!

Once we discovered it was lime green, Deb put it to good use and mixed it with purple and that blended together beautifully. She also dyed three skeins of turquoise, pink, and teal for a special project and they are gorgeous. (in the picture on the left, my dog looks kind of a little dead, but really he isn't. He was just rolling in the grass.)

Despite my failure at dyeing my roving, I did dye some yarn I am quite happy with. For the ball of yarn on the right I used some white merino sock yarn from Knit Picks and used three different dilutions of teal, and I am quite happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to knit it up. The turqoise yarn on the left is some of my handspun yarn. I have never dyed my handspun yarn before, I've usually dyed the roving or the locks first and then spun the yarn. It was fun dyeing the yarn. This yarn was one strand of mohair and one strand of Coopworth wool, and I used three different dilutions of the Jacquard turqoise, and I am quite happy with how it turned out. I didn't want it to be real dark and I wanted to have some white mixed in. So I was pleased with the yarn I dyed, despite my failure with the roving.

Today the Knitting Knight was having their Third Anniversary sale and Deb and I were there when the door opened at 10 o'clock. I didn't do too much damage though. I bought a couple of skeins of malabrigo and a few needles I needed for various projects.

As always, you can click on any of the pictures to get a larger view. I used the combined pictures to save downloading time. I have dial-up that usually is only at 26.4 and it takes a long time to upload pictures to the blog. It is faster to combine some of the pictures so I thought I'd give it a try.

That's it for today. Am going to sit and knit because I HAVE to finish the sock I'm working on so I can start a pair with one of my newly dyed yarns.

Keep on spinning!!!

Blue on my mind

Today is a gorgeous sunny day and I have the day off from work!!! Woo hoo!!! Of course, the reason I am off is because I have to work this weekend, but I don't mind. For some reason, having a day off during the week feels different than just a regular weekend day; a day off during the week feels like a free day or a bonus day, or something. I am much more likely just to do completely fun things on my days off during the week. AND today is no exception. Deb and Shelley are coming over and we are going to dye yarn. I have the yarn soaking in the citric acid mordant water right this very minute. I might also try to redeem myself with another solar dyeing experiment...we'll see.

I discovered Project Spectrum, which is a project created to challenge us to find the color in our lives. There is a new theme color each month and June's color is blue. I just happen to be working on a couple of blue projects so I decided to make them today's topic. Maybe I won't run on as long as usual? (nah, I doubt it)

First, I have been spinning some silk on my spindle, primarily to use as thread to fix weak spots in some of my hand-spun hand-knit (hshk) socks. I always wear clogs or birks so my socks wear out under the heel and sometimes I don't notice until it's a hole. So I've been trying to keep on top of it and when it starts looking like some spots are getting thin I try to darn them, although I am horrible at it. Amber makes it look so easy, but I must not be coordinated enough to darn, or something. Silk is very strong thread and since the weak spots are always underneath the sock and most of the time nobody sees that spot anyway, I decided to spin some silk thread to use for darning. Linda Diak of Grafton Fibers (www.graftonfibers.com) showed me how to spin silk from the fold and I've never had much success doing that at my wheel, but I discovered I can do it with the spindle, and it actually gives me more control.

The second blue project I'm working on is the stupid darning...I am trying to darn my blue hshk socks These socks won a ribbon in the skein and garment contest at Rhinebeck a couple of years ago... I used to always see the skein and garment contests at the county fair and the state fair, but I never in my life would have imagined that at almost-50 I would have started entering hand-made objects in contests. To that, I guess I'd say, never say never. It's fun to win, but mostly, it's just fun to get caught up in the spirit of the festival and enter your items. I had a pair of hand-knit socks that I knit from commercial yarn and at one show they got a blue ribbon, at another show they didn't even get a mention. So it depends a lot on the judge and what they are looking for in each particular show. It adds to the fun of the show just to enter something.

Ok, I said I'd try to keep it short, so I'm going to end for today. In closing, here is a picture of a little crop of flax from my friend Carol's garden. I am going to take periodic pictures of it to document its growth cycle for a special project the guild is doing. More on that later! Keep spinning....

My failed attempt at solar dyeing roving

On a recent beautiful and warm sunny day Piz and I were dyeing some sock yarn (using the oven), and I decided to make use of the bright sunshine and try my hand at solar dyeing some roving. Here it is soaking in the citric acid mordant water. (I guess I didn't take a picture of it with the dyes I put on it.) I poured out the water and added the dyes, then I covered the pan with foil and put it out in the sun for 2 hours. Well, 2 hours was nowhere near enough time. It probably needed at least twice that much time in the heat, or possibly all day. The roving looked like this hanging on the line, awash with sunshine so bright it probably isn't a true representation of the colors. The reason I call it a failed attempt is because I used bright red, bright yellow, bright green, and bright blue dyes; the majority of which ran down the drain. Even though it isn't any color I planned for, I love the way it turned out. It is primarily a peachy/coral color. I spun it and then navajo-plied it to keep the colors from mudding up too much. Since that is triple ply, I ended up with only about 225 yards. I don't know what the yarn is calling out to be. Do you have any ideas for me?

Yesterday, the second day of Land of the Loon, was a little better for vendors, but probably still not wonderful. It was really windy and the skies looked ominous all afternoon. We managed to get all the way through without rain however.

In closing, here is a bunny from the Shepherd's Harvest sheep and wool festival which was held Mother's Day weekend this year, in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.

It's late and I'm tired! I am trying out new contacts, they are extended wear so I don't have to take them out every night. And also, my doc has me trying what she calls "mono vision." I have one contact with my distance prescription, and one contact with my reading prescription. I've had them in since last Friday. They are wonderfully comfortable and are great in the morning when I wake up. Being as nearsighted as I am, it's a treat for me to wake up and be able to see right away. Otherwise I can't even read the alarm clock or see anything in the room. I am honestly so nearsighted I need glasses to find my glasses. Anyway, they are comfortable, but I am not sure the mono vision thing is working. My eyes get VERY tired and I kind of see double. I think they aren't working very well together at present. She said it could take a couple of weeks to get used to it, and if I don't like it we could try to reverse the lenses and if I still don't like the mono vision, I can then try the new bifocal lenses. The idea of going without reading glasses is tempting enough to keep me trying!!!

Keep spinning.

Meet the Loon

This is the loon mascot of the Land of the Loon arts and crafts festival in Virginia, MN. Apparently he leads the parade every year etc. This is my first year participating in this festival and I didn't get there until 1 in the afternoon so of course I missed the parade. When I got to the festival yesterday it was pouring down rain. It was horrible. Yet, the place was packed with lots of hardy Minnesotans. After the rain didn't let up most of the people left however, and then eventually it quit raining and was quite cool, but there was hardly anyone there. It was a shame. I was disappointed for the vendors because I know how much work is involved in setting up and breaking down those booths. I used to help at the Joy Farm vendor booth at sheep and wool shows and I found out how much work it is - loading the truck, then lugging all that stuff in to set up the booth, and then taking it all down and loading it back on the truck and taking it home and unloading. Not to mention all the prep time packing up to get everything ready. Members do sell stuff in our guild's booth, but it isn't a huge vendor booth, it is primarily to spread the word about the guild and to help foster interest in the traditional crafts with demonstrations.

Speaking of demonstrations...my wheel and I were there demonstrating and despite the rain it was a great afternoon. There was lots of interest in our spinning. It was the first time I had my little Saxony wheel instead of my Lendrum, and the traditional-looking wheel generates more interest. People recognize it immediately as a spinning wheel. That was one of the main reasons I wanted it. When I would demonstrate with my Lendrum people would often ask me what it was. Someone even asked me once if it was a "loom." So my new little wheel was a success. We had two people who were particularly interested in spinning and I know there is at least one new spinner out there. He is a guy whose 14-year-old daughter shows their sheep with 4-H at the fair etc. She usually gets to State every year. Lately she decided she wanted to learn to spin so he recently bought her a wheel at an auction. He already made her a drum carder, and is now working on making her a wheel using the one they bought as a design. The dad was the one who was extremely interested in spinning. He was asking about all the parts of the wheel and really every aspect of spinning; wanted to know how to get two strands together, and how you get it off the bobbin and wind it, and how to card, and he really asked great questions. He watched and talked with us for almost 2 hours. He asked LOTS of questions. I had him spinning on a spindle briefly, but he was embarrassed that he kept dropping it. Ruth kept asking him to sit and spin but he wouldn't. I sent him home with some roving though, because we knew he was going to go right home and sit at that wheel.

Later, almost at the end of the festival when I was the lone spinner, a little girl named Katie saw me spinning and yelled real loud "Hey dad, come here and see what she is doing!!!" So he came over, and she was just completely fascinated. She was watching everything I was doing and after a few minutes she said "Oh, I see what is happening. You press on that and that makes the big wheel go around and this string is attached to it and makes this little wheel go around and it is twisting that into yarn." I tell you what, some adults have watched me spin and not picked up on it that fast!! She just picked right up on it. I showed her how to draft and hold back the twist and then I treadled and let her do the spinning, and she was a natural. She took right to it. Here she is spinning with your range roving spinner doing the treadling.

I didn't really go walking around the festival; I mainly stayed in the booth sitting and spinning, but I did walk out and buy a lamb gyro for lunch, and it was great. And I bought a hand-woven rag rug from one of the guild members who was selling her beautiful rugs in the booth. This morning I laid it down to take a boring picture of it, and went to get a cup of coffee, and when I came back Narda had captured it, so I guess that means it's a success. I chose a good rug. woo hoo. Once it meets with her approval, it's in. I'm not exactly sure how that one piece of puppy kibble got there...

OK, I guess that's it for today . Will be heading out to work for the morning and to spin for the afternoon. It's gonna' be a good day!!!! It's beautiful and sunny here in Meadowlands this morning. I hope it's clear up in Virginia as well so lots of people go to the festival.

Aren't these ferns gorgeous? They are growing out next to the sauna, probably have been there for decades. I've never been able to successfully grow a fern in my life, so it's nice to have some self-sufficient ferns for a change!!!

Blog, day one

Ok, this is it. Suzanne, I'm doing it!!! I'm really doing it!! I feel like I should begin by saying "Dear Diary" or something. How do I find my voice when I don't know who will be reading this, assuming anyone does.

This morning it is gray and cloudy and humid as only Minnesota can be. We had a thunderstorm during the night so the garden got some much-needed rain. There are deer tracks in the garden so I suppose the peas will start disappearing soon. I work until noon today and then in the afternoon I am going to be doing a spinning demonstration at the Land of the Loon arts and crafts fair in Virginia. The forecast is for 85 and humid. (As an aside, here is the garden last Sunday morning, a few short days ago. Covered to protect it from the frost we had. Crazy weather.) This will be my first time attending the Land of the Loon festival; I guess it's huge and very crowded. From what I understand they have over 300 arts and crafts vendors. Everyone tells me to plan to eat a LOT of good junk food. If it's that hot and that crowded I probably won't do much more than sit and spin. Too hot to be walking around in the crowd and eating junk food. I will be spinning at my guild's booth, Range Fiberart Guild. The good news is that it is the first booth inside one of the gates, so it is very easy to get to with my wheel. I don't have to wind my way through zillions of people while carrying my wheel and stool and basket.

Oh, speaking of wheels. I bought a new little wheel to take to demonstrations. It is a Kromski Prelude. Isn't it cute? I am working on putting a coat of tung oil on it. Right now I just have it on the front of the wheel so it will look nice at the festival today. I haven't had a chance to do the whole wheel yet. It's a perfect size for taking to demonstrations etc. I can carry it under one arm and my basket under the other arm. It fits right into my front seat and I can seatbelt it in and off I go. It does not spin as smoothly as my Lendrum, but I am finding my rhythm on it. This way I can protect my beloved walnut Lendrum and keep it at home. I always have to break down the Lendrum and take off the mother-of-all and fold the wheel to get it into my car, and it is also much heavier to carry. If I'm in the middle of a bobbin, it's very difficult to get the tension back exactly where I had it before taking the wheel apart, at least for me. So this wheel is perfect. Some day I might get a real-size car and then I can get a real-size wheel...yeah right. As if I want to pay for gas for a real-size car. I love my little red car-car. It's been a great car.

There are some ladyslippers (Minnesota's state flower) growing next to the sauna and I've had a hard time getting a good picture of them because it's not bright enough in the morning before I go to work, and when I get home from work it's so bright I can barely focus the camera. When the sunlight starts fading a little, the mosquitoes swarm me. I am usually covered with my lavender and peppermint spray and they pretty much leave me alone, but I still hate them swarming me. Here is a picture I took of the pretty ladyslippers yesterday morning before the sun was too bright. You can click on any of these pictures to get a bigger view.





OK, that's it for day one.