Easter Dyes

A week ago Jim said he wanted to do something fun for date night. After he picked me up from work, we went home and dyed Easter eggs. We haven't dyed eggs since we moved here to Virginia and it was kind of a fun thing to do.

When we were finished dying the eggs, Jim wanted to throw the dyes out. I told him he couldn't! I don't know what you do with your left over egg dyes, but at my house wool is found and placed in those lovely liquid solutions.

Jim had picked the vibrant colors on the Paas box and the eggs, plus the wool turned out really nice.

The colors on the back two rows are from the original dye. Didn't they turn out lovely, or they would be if I had taken a picture in the daylight. The three rovings on the front rung are from the second batch. They are not nearly as bright, but I am quite pleased with them and I exhausted all the dye.


Now to see if I can figure out how I want to spin it! Happy knitting and spinning.

Weekend Fun

There was a lot going on this past weekend, besides working both Saturday and Sunday. To start it all off, C and I got tickets to attend a Washington Redskins preseason game at FedEx field. It was a fun experience since neither one of us had been to a professional football game before and didn't know where we were going, anything about where we were sitting, how to get there on the metro, or how to get home. The other boys, when finding out where we were, were really jealous and wished they could be with us.

We left the house at 6 pm and got home at 1:30 in the morning!!!! I had to be at work at 8 am, so didn't get very much sleep. I did go to bed early on Saturday night, though.

C's comment when I took this picture: "Mom, you're weird. Why do you need a picture of me at the game?" Why for the blog, of course. Silly boy!

Sunday, after work and dinner, it was so nice outside (no humidity) that I spent an hour on the balcony with the Scholar and some merino roving in the Coral Bells colorway from Misty Mountain. I have four ounces and am hoping to spin enough for a scarf or shawlette. I don't know which one I want just yet, so will wait until the fiber is spun and plied before I decide. Then I can see how much yardage I will get, before deciding. It is turning out mostly orange, with the purple and yellow and a splash of gold peeking through. I am thinking of someone specifically as the intended recipient, but haven't decided for sure. I might decide to keep it for myself.

There was a small amount of knitting, this weekend. I completed and knit another baby bib, while at the game and on the metro. Started a third bib on the way home and have that one almost finished. It is my stuck in traffic knitting, so will be finished today.

To top off the weekend, I got to see this beautiful sunset as I was heading inside last night. Now that makes for a good weekend, even if I did have to work the both days of the weekend.

Happy knitting and spinning.

Nowtlwonk Springs

The "Wool-Trek" was well worth the trip this year! We had a lot of fun. There were five of us who drove down from the Pocatello area and four who drove down from the Inkom area. Just about half of the people attending Jo and Fred's knit-in, spin-in, touching and feeling of wool and the ultimate in b-u-y-i-n-g of wool were from Idaho.

Before lunch, some of us went to look at the new lambs. I like this picture of Catherine taken by the pasture the lambs were in. The
ewe looking over her shoulder seems to be checking us out as much as we were checking them out.

There were two little black lambs in this pasture and this young girl really liked the one. But she, the girl, was kind of grossed out because the lamb was doing her "business" while the girl was looking at her. I just had to laugh!


After everyone had their fill of the wonderful lamb stew and pot-luck lunch, Fred told Cindy that she needed to go outside. So we all followed. Fred said Cindy had said in the past that she just wanted to roll around in the wool one day. Well, Saturday was the day! Fred pushed her into the "skirts" before the "Skirt Scramble" began, just so she could say that she had rolled around in the wool. Cindy even had a pose in the wool for us.

The "skirt scramble" is the last item on the agenda at most of the "wool-treks" I have attended. This is the time when Fred and Jo get to get rid of the "skirts".
The Knowlton's have beautiful fleeces and roving for sale. They even have some yarn spun and the skeins are for sale. But I think the funnest time of the day is watching everyone dive for the "skirts". It's raw and dirty, but s-o-o-o much fun to see what you can get and do with the "free" wool. Some of mine is right now soaking in the sink getting it's bath.

I told myself that this year that I would get everything washed before a week had gone past. It's a good thing I didn't buy a fleece! I indulged just a little and bought some roving, about a pound and a half of white and two bumps of a very dark brown. I think I have a project for the dark brown and it might be the next fiber on the Lendrum when I get the viscous spun.

On the knitting front, I have used all but about two yards of my silk challenge. I still need to put a boarder on the project. It's a good thing I have some fiber that was dyed at the same time as the silk challenge, so I can complete the boarder.

The Pi Shawl has been frogged and I am winding the yarn to start again. No, I didn't miscount or anything. I just liked it better on a larger needle size. It won't be too long until it's back to where you say it before.

Happy knitting & spinning.