We Came, We Saw, We Dyed

Here is my creation from my worksop this weekend. I am very pleased with it. It is Tropical Punch, Grape and Orange Kool-Aids. I am hoping to post more of the results from the class as they email them to me.

It was fun to sit with other spinners, I know no-one within 40 miles of me that spins. Our Fiber Fair is miniscule compared to something like Maryland Sheep and Wool, but hopefully it will grow.

I got lots of great fiber that I can't wait to spin, lots of ideas for new combinations. Don't know what I am going to knit with all this great fiber. The only problem is that I am spinning faster than I knit. I got 4 oz finished this weekend. I was amazed how much I can do without distractions (kids, phone, laundry, work etc).

Baaaaa!

I am still here. Last week was a myriad of homecoming activities, a birthday party for my now 8 yr-old and Fiber Fair. I hope to post some fibery goodness from my class, Daring to Dye, as people email me their creations. I am really excited to see them--so were they. I think the biggest complaint was waiting until the fiber cooled to see their results. This process can take HOURS!

But look what came in the mail just in time:
Birkenstock Sheep!!! They are so cute. They came from QVC. So many Birkenstocks, so little $$$. I am starting to get a collection. I dancing all over singing "I got sheepy shoes..."

Thumbs Up!

Well, at least the thumbs are all that's left to do on another Christmas present. I am very pleased with them. They are 100% MmmmmMerino wool that has been dyed with Grape, Berry Blue and Changing Cherry Kool-Aid. The roving was split into smaller pieces and then a two-ply created. I just spin and let things create themselves, I don't spend any time preparing the roving other than splitting it to make it easier to work with.

I will have some leftovers after I wind the other skein up and finish the thumbs. Not sure what I will do with the leftovers. The are so pretty. I almost hate to give them away.

Bye Bye Sock

Two problems. First one it's too small. Second, you can't see the pattern. There's a pattern there? Yes, a spiral rib. Not worth the trouble if you can't see it when it's on. Perhaps we are destined for better things. .. Yarn is Dancing from KnitPicks.

I am proud of the heel though--hourglass heel from the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. Easy to do--can do it without instructions in front of me!


Things I learned today: never buy more than one set of Addi Turbo needles at a time and never go yarn shopping when you are feeling blue. It adds up....

Dr. Jane Goodall

This weekend was very exciting for me being a science geek--my son and I had the chance to hear Dr. Jane Goodall speak in our town. Our town is only about 20,000--big for South Dakota. I took a picture at the book signing table, but no flashes allowed. We had our picture taken, but it won't be posted on the website for a couple of weeks and I couldn't wait.




Dr. Goodall was a very inspiring speaker, full of hope and reminding us that little things do make a difference. She has a beatuful, calming voice and is very well spoken. She spoke for just over an hour, about her beginings and how she first went to Gombe. I was unaware that at that time she didn't have any sort of college degree. She told some stories about the chimps of course and about how the Jane Goodall Institute was formed and why as well as some of its programs. I wish I would have taken notes, as I can't remember a lot of the things she said right now.

My son enjoyed the chimp stories, especially when he figured out that his book REALLY happened. He liked the one about the big brother who took care of his little sister. He has been going on about how he has to take care of his sister now. The book we waited for over an hour to have signed was With Love--it's a children's book of short stories about the chimps.

Kitchen Kromatography

Experiments have been completed. Using 1/2 oz. merino and a Wilton Cake Coloring Gels, some great things have been created.

In the picture below we have Terra Cotta at the top. Reds never seem right on a digital image, but there is some color seperation into a red and an orange. In the middle is black and the bottom a blue.

Here we have another blue, copper and a green at the bottom. Very little seperation in the copper. The green does have some, but it doesn't show well in the photo. There is some magenta in it.

The blues are my favorites. I love the purple and magenta, it makes me think of an ocean. I am not sure why, haven't seen a lot of oceans that have a magenta tinge to it. But this has me reconsidering the use of the denim/emerald roving that I have been spinning. Here's a close-up of the black and one of the blues:

The orange and reds have very little seperation, but I knew that by looking at their chromatograms. The blues seem to have the most seperation of color, which does surprise me a little since blue is a primary color. Below you can see the page of chromatograms for the greens and blues.

There is nothing special that I did to dye it this way. I just didn't saturated an area with dye, but let the dye work it's way through the fiber. I squirted dye in an area in a line with a children's medicine dropper from my local pharmacy. These are my favorite applicators and they are free! Before I steamed it in the microwave I pressed the fiber to get the dye covering more area. I didn't turn the dye over to make sure both sides were saturated. That's it.

The different colors become much more prominent when I seperate the fibers for spinning, but these will need to be transported, so I left them in the condensed state.