as productive as I get

When some people have a pile of yarn or dyed fibers to show off just so we know how busy they’ve been, it is huge. It may cover a couch, dining table, etc. For me, not so much. I’m a slow worker. I get bored easily. I need variation. So, this is as productive as I get…

Here contains assorted yarn, some top, and a bundle of dyed locks in Corriedale, Falklands, or BFL. These will be added to my Etsy shop as I get to it. The main hang-up was just getting the photos taken. My camera battery died and I wasn’t entirely sure where the charger had wandered off to. Also, I have to get the light at the right time of day, which seems to be around 10 am. I got everything reskeined, weighed, measured, and tagged yesterday. It’s fun to have a relatively large batch to look at and make yourself feel good.

I ended up at the Four Seasons Flea Market Sunday afternoon. It has proven itself to be quite the little hot spot for things I’m looking for. I found this hand-held mirror for $1.00 (wanted one for my craft sale table); the buttons were $.25 for the loose and $.50 for the cards.

Also found this cute little bowl for $4.00. He wanted $5, but after a lot of thinking, he gave up. He just asked that I didn’t go on Antique’s Roadshow and say, “Look what my mom and I found at the flea market!”. It was pretty funny. It’s number 441, so now I’m just missing 442 and I’ll have the complete set of Verde Cinderella Bowls! Additionally, I found two Pyrex lids that I needed for $1.00.

weekend update

So, yes, I did some dyeing this weekend. My intent was to spin some or all of it, but since I currently have no BFL listed in the shop, I decided to list them instead because I thought they were quite nice looking and someone else might enjoy them too. I also dyed several skeins of sock yarn, but they never look very good so I didn’t photo them. 

Speaking of socks, my BFF socks are coming along really well. I’m into the foot, and since my foot is short, that won’t take too long. The next pair will be for my mum. I’m not sure what pattern I will do next. I really do like the Twisted Tweed I mentioned before. Also, I fiddled around with the Magic Loop in the middle of my current sock, which was on 2-circs. I think with a slightly longer needle, it will be more successful, but it’s not hard at all! 

“Water Iris” 4 ounces Falklands

“Market Day” 4 ounces Bluefaced Leicester

shop update!

This is my biggest shop update yet! Nine hanks of roving. Wow. That was a relatively long and dull process… adding all of those to etsy. It gets rather tiresome near the end. All of them are either Falklands or Corriedale; most at 4 ounces, though two are less and one is more.

 
 

Here is a small selection of the nine. From left to right: “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream”, “Anthropological”, “Turkish Delight”, “Vintage Rainbow”. Please hop over to the Etsy shop and take a look. Thank you!

big batch of color

Summer storms! Random and abrupt. Also abrupt: the postal system! I spent the morning knitting a wee baby booty that didn’t end up so ‘wee’. Eh, babies grow, right? And after lunch I went out to find two packages on my doorstep. One containing yarn for Knit Picks that I will neither be using nor enjoy post-knit. The other box contained four pounds of top from Hello Yarn; 2 lbs Corriedale, 2 lbs BFL. I started with the Corriedale and split one pound into four 4 ounce hanks. While I was working on that, my order from R.H. Lindsay arrived, packed in a beer box, no less. That was 2 pounds Falklands top, which I split into 4 ounce hanks also. In total I dyed 2 pounds today. The most I’ve done in one day!! I needed to do this, since I haven’t updated the shop in quite some time and everyone seems to prefer the spinning fiber rather than my yarn.

I dyed these using three different techinques. Four were done on the stove top (hot pour, suppose) with lots of water in which to slosh around. Two were done by putting them in a casserole dish and baking them. Two were done in a crockpot. The last crockpot batch is still cooking as I type this. I had a difficult time choosing colors. I see lots of orange.

bright and alive

All those beautiful flowers and bright sunshine have been making their way into my soul all week. I couldn’t resist the temptation to dye any longer! I wanted to dye one that was green and pink like the leaves and blossoms, but it didn’t quite work. I’ll try again next time.

The Sun Came Back. Falklands, 3 ounces.

Leaves Alive. Falklands, 3 ounces.

Unnamed! Corriedale, 4 ounces.

recent work

Dyed on Saturday. I’m definately in a color rut. Sure, they’re pretty. But the individual colors tend to mix and mash into more or less one color that is slightly varigated. I end up with “yellow skein”, “pink skein”, “blue skein”. I’m so afraid of making something ugly that I won’t take chances. In the photo below, the top two are the remains of the South African Fine. On the bottom is Falklands. I just ordered another pound of Falklands, one of BFL and one of something else. Corriedale maybe? I’ve already forgotten.

Here are three very different yarns. On the top is the SAF. I love these photos. This was a photogenic skein for sure. The colors are really fresh too. In the middle is an incredibly fluffy skein of BFL. Instead of spinning it really tight and even, I spun it sloppily with low twist. It’s actually a nice fuzzy yarn. But NOT pleased with having its picture taken. As great as the other one was, this one was not cooperating. Sometimes I just get yarn that does not want to be photographed. On the bottom is a singles yarn spun from locks I bought at the fiber show last May. It was a blue-faced leicester/border leicester X. I dyed them green; otherwise they are a very lovely brown and tan.

dyed again

Sunday afternoon I took the opportunity to try out the Falklands wool. I separated the entire pound into 3 ounce lengths and dyed three of them, all done on the stove top (what is that, kettle dyeing?). Can you tell that I keep my warm colors separate from my cool colors? The Tomato Bisque was my attempt to use some of the red dye I have in large quantities because I don’t like red. If you recall, I already dyed some BFL and called it Strawberry Surprise. I wanted to see if I could replicate the colors. The first time they blended a little more, but I’d be curious to see if they end result yarns were more similar.

A Seagull’s View

Tomato Bisque

Strawberry Surprise

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I purchased a crock pot at the thrift store. The plug didn’t work, but it just so happens my mum has the same brand and hers worked. So, having a remaining 4 1/8 ounces of BFL that I had forgotten about, I tossed it in the pot with some Cherry and Grape Kool-aid. It wasn’t entirely successful, as the pot boiled over and would not cool down. Apparently “crock pots” have warm/low/high settings rather than actual temperatures. This one has real temps on it, but it also runs hot. I’m tempted to try it again anyway.

Berry Mash