Class Highlight: Dyeing with Queen Anne's Lace

Dyeing with natural dyes is a bit of a voyage into the unknown, and that is exactly the beauty of it. Just as each Autumn's display of color is unique or each Summer's balance of refreshing rain and smothering heat keeps us guessing, so too are we at the mercy of nature when we choose to dye with her bounty. Oh, we know, in general, what we should expect, but so many other variables come into play, that the exact depth, shade and intensity of color is truly unknown until the plants are cooked and the wool is dyed.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of leading a new group of dyers into the unknown as we prepared dyestock of Queen Anne's Lace, and plunked in some sock-weight wool yarn at the Roycroft's Powerhouse. Unlike other dyeing methods, this one is a bit slower, and we had a great time chatting and getting to know one another as we waited.

Occasionally, we checked the dyeing progress!

Everyone was shocked and pleased at the beautiful, soft yellow we produced!

And the yarn was truly stunning. . . .

A little friend hitched a ride on the Queen Anne's Lace, and watched the magic happen.

Everyone left with a hot mess of yarn that needed to cool and be rinsed. Hopefully, I'll get some great reports today as yarn is finished and dried!

Our next dyeing class is on Saturday, September 14 from 10-noon, and we'll be using acid dyes to hand-paint our yarn in beautiful Autumn colors! To register, visit the Roycroft Corporations' classes page. You can also find my upcoming knitting and spinning classes there.

Nerd Wars in ON!!!

Feb. 1 saw the kick-off of Nerd Wars on Ravelry, and as you all know by now, I'm on Team Browncoat, fans of the show Firefly.

Part of the fun is an optional 3-month long dissertation project, and I decided to jump in. I'm knitting the Pinwheel Sweater from Elann.com.

I'm using Noro's Cash Iroha, yum!!! I won over 2 pounds of it at a charity event quite a few years ago. Because Noro donated the yarn for the event, it was in giant hanks of mill ends, and all different colors.

The colors are beautiful (a bright purple isn't shown), but a little bright for me, and I didn't really like the flow. So I worked at over-dyeing them with a dark brown and here are my results:

I'm pleased as punch!!

I've cast-on and am making good progress, but shop, home and continued recovery are slowing me down just a bit.

And I did manage to get a skein of yarn spun. Here's the original batt:

And the finished yarn (it's going in the shop!)

It's Fiber Arts Friday over at Wonder Why Alpaca, so go check out all the other fun there!!

Dyeing Day: A Glimpse into My Studio

Yesterday the whole family was snowed in. We live in Western New York, and my husband was one of the unfortunate souls who spent their night sitting on the highway, as shown on CNN. Luckily, he was able to get home by 9:30 am! He came home, went to sleep, and I sent the little girls off to grandma's for a while (she's next door). Because, despite the snow, and the need for quiet, it was my dyeing day!

I had two of four shippments of wool arrive by yesterday: Clun Forest roving and raw cream and brown Finn Sheep fleece. I was itching to boil something!

I'm fortunate enough to have a separate mini kitchen that I use as my dyeing studio. It hasn't been re-decorated yet, so please over-look the tile and general decor. But feel free to bask in the glorious mess.

My son asked if I felt like a mad scientist while dyeing. I immediately said yes, but I think I'm going to have to tell him I prefer "genius scientist."

Some fleece being dyed-up a nice, blood red (even though it looks orange in this light):

A dirty Finn fleece getting a bath:

Some finished work drying:

Finished rovings drying (good use of laundry baskets!):

And what kind of genius scientist would I be without an arch nemesis?

Dum, dum, dum . . .

LAUNDRY!!!! (said with a shriek of horror) I fought hard against it yesterday, but the war isn't over.

Have a great Fiber Arts Friday! Follow the link to other great blogs about fiber!

Happy Birthday Nana! A Gift of Conceptual Knitting

Today is my mom's 60th birthday, and I can't be with her. She lives in Texas and I live in New York, so getting together right as school is starting is a little hard.

This year, we decided to treat her to a hand made gift from each of us. Hannah filled a package with a hand-sewn bunny, some shrinky-dink jewelry and a beautiful card. The boys hit the kitchen and Josh made brownies (my grandmother's recipe!) and Seth made cookies. Mike sent her a very funny book with a nice, lengthy note, and I sent her a little piece of togetherness.

Mom's lace scarf.

This is one of the most conceptual pieces of knitting I've ever done. I began by spinning up some of my own hand dyed Targhee, then I wanted a little bit of Mom to ply with it. And guess what I had in my stash? A nice, 1 oz. cloud of cashmere from Granbury, TX--the town she lives in! I had bought it the year before without a clue as to what to do with it! I hand carded it into little rolags and drafted with a long draw to make it soft and halo-y. I plied the two together for a nice, sock-weight yarn.

So I had a yarn with Mom and me twisted together, but I needed a project. I only had 2.5 oz. total. And Mom lives in Texas. It's not like she really needs a wool sweater with lace trim, or a wool hat with a decorative border. It's hot there. There's very little need for what I do!

We were packing for our July trip to Texas, and I knew I needed to start whatever it was I was going to knit, or I wouldn't get it done. (I know me!) When I found it!!! Lisa Lloyd's book A Fine Fleece, which is one of my favorites, has a great scarf pattern called Road Not Taken. On Mike's to-do list the morning we left was "make copy of this pattern." I caste-on on the plane to see Mom and Dad, and worked on it all the time we were there, not letting on that it was for her!

That was my best decision of the whole project. You know when you look at knitting you've finished how memories of what movie you watched, or what group of ladies you were with when you were knitting it come back to you? I was with my mom when I knit this. I have memories of riding in the car with her and sitting by her pool. That's such a rare thing in my life because we only see each other a few times a year. I'm so happy that I could capture that time together in knitting, and send it to her on her birthday.

"Road Not Taken" 20-row repeat scarf from the book A Fine Fleece

I mailed it earlier this week, and she opened it last night and loved it! I'm hoping she'll use her new birthday camera to take a picture of her in the scarf so I can add it here as a follow-up. Hint. Hint.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Fiber Crazy Yesterday! and New Tutorial!

Oh yesterday was a good day. I washed half a Shetland fleece, I dyed two pounds of Romney in beautiful fall colors, and I finally got around to writing up the dyeing with kids tutorial! Busy day!

Here's the tutorial: Dyeing with Kids

Results from Dyeing with Hannah! Ooohh . . . Aaaahh

I'll have pictures up soon of my new colors to play with. But right now I have to get ready for a spinning play date!