Cool Weather is for Dyeing

We've had a lovely week of cool weather, so I finally pulled out my dyeing equipment the other night and had some fun. Last year, the cool weather was for dyeing rug hooking wool. This year, I'm going to dye some yarn as well and see how that turns out. In preparation, I recently bought some undyed sock yarn and some of the acid dyes that are popular for yarn dyeing. Here's how it went:



I put my yarn in to soak the night before in water and vinegar. About an hour before I applied the dye, I threw in some Jet Dry (it works just the same as synthropol). Then I spent some time setting up my dyeing area and preparing the 7 colors I was planning on using.





It kind of looks like a mad scientist's lab, doesn't it? As it turns out, yarn dyeing requires a lot less equipment than wool fabric dyeing, but it's much more time consuming. I ended up only using a portion of my usual equipment. I learned that I need bigger jars for my working dyes, possibly some squirt bottles to apply the dye with, and a much more concentrated dye solution if I want deeper colors. I also learned that it's pretty hard to get a good brown dye out of the Jacquard Starter Kit -- the different dyes I blended tended to separate. I think next time I'll go back to my tried and true Cushing Perfection dyes. Anyway, I had fun even though my end products look nothing like the colorways I envisioned when I started!

I call this colorway Hideous Kinky (after the movie...get your mind out of the gutter). It's pretty close to what I was trying for, except that I really needed more dye in each of the colors. Next time, I'll know better.



I call this one Elemental, because I was trying to get a blend of yellow (sun), blue (sky and water), brown (earth) and green (plants). I eventually got there, but the colors weren't what I planned. I am interested to see how it skeins up. I skeined it on the length of my dining room table before dyeing it.



Both skeins are still drying -- the humid weather we're having today is not helping matters! I'll post final pictures of the skeined yarn later.

Joking Jack

Before I forget them, I want to memorialize the first two complete jokes Jack ever told. On Monday morning, Jack and Lily were eating breakfast in the dining room. Lily was telling some knock knock jokes and then Jack suddenly came up with two of his own:

Jack: Knock Knock!

Lily: Who's there?

Jack: Orange.

Lily: Orange who?

Jack: Lily is an orange! (with lots of fake laughter after the punch line)

Lily was angry about this joke for some reason, although God knows she's said way worse things about Jack.

Jack: Knock Knock!

Lily: Who's there?

Jack: Banana.

Lily: Banana who?

Jack: Banana Jackie! (more fake laughter after the punchline).

The fake laugher after the punchline is my favorite part. Jack's his own best audience. Jim and I were cracking up, but only because the jokes were so silly. Jack appears to have gotten his ideas from the old knock knock joke where the punch line is "Orange you glad I didn't say banana again?" It's the mainstay of Lily's knock knock repetoire.

First Day of School Photos

It went surprisingly well!

Here's Lily in her pretty dress. Note her new haircut and her Hello Kitty backpack. She picked out the outfit herself this morning. She's thrilled that the new backpack matches the Hello Kitty lunch box that Aunt Jill gave her a few years ago (I think it was Aunt Jill).





Here she is waiting in line to go to school. You can't see her very well in this picture, but she was very scared! The boy on her left is her friend from daycare -- she's known him since she was 7 months old. They were amusingly relieved to see each other! He looks nervous, too.


Here she is at the end of the day. She's pointing me out to her teacher so she can be released from school.



Here she is on her run to me after they let her leave.



She told me she had a great day and school was fun. She was sad because she only had time to make three friends. One friend is a girl who has a Hello Kitty back pack, but not the same one as she has. She can't remember her new friend's name. She had fun playing outside but got wood chips in her shoes. She worries that there are a bunch of new rules to follow. She seemed most concerned about the rule that you have to first talk to three people that can help you and if they can't help, then ask the teacher. She told me they don't have cubbies, but they have a hook for their back packs (which are required for each student).

Tonight she seemed a little sad and worried. Hopefully having a full week of school will help her settle in a bit more. She's very excited because I told her she can buy her lunch on pizza day!

Musings on my Dream Project and Rhinebeck

Ever since I saw the February Lady sweater, I've wanted to knit it. Ever since I saw Blue Heron rayon metallic yarn, I've wanted to knit the February Lady sweater in it. Even though the Blue Heron is DK and the sweater pattern is for worsted weight, I think I can work out the gauge. The drape of that yarn is sooo beautiful.

Last week, I ordered the yarn. Every night since then, I've spent a little time thinking about knitting it. I have everything ready. I've promised myself that I can cast it on and work on it until I go to the beach during the last week in September, when I'm dedicating myself to the final Christmas present project.

My only question is whether the actual project will live up to the dream. Since I decided last week to take a break from the Christmas knitting (now that it's clear I have plenty of time to the last two projects done before December 1) I've gotten back to my Clapotis, also in the Blue Heron. That yarn is pretty slippy. Beautifully soft but really, really slippery. Also, I chose the colorway Ice, but what if it looks different in person than on line?

I've spent most of the summer thinking about this project, and now I'm worried it won't meet my expectations. I hope that's not true!

In other knitting related news, I booked my trip to Rhinebeck. For some reason, whenever I think of Rhinebeck, I think of the Beastie Boys song "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn!" Except, this is what I hear:

No sleep 'til - Rhinebeck!

Foot on the pedal - never ever false metal
Engine running hotter than a boiling kettle
I don't have a job - it's a damn good time
City to city - spending every last dime
Local yarn stores - touring around the nation
Knitting mama is always on vacation
Itchy throwing finger when I'm doing a cable
Knit's what I do best because I'm willing and able
Ain't no lying - it's your yarn I'm buying
Going coast to coast - watching all the spinners dyeing
While you're at the job working nine to five
The knitting mama's on the road on a long drive

No sleep 'til Rhinebeck!

Another place - another train
Another sock yarn in a skein
Another gorgeous colorway
Another drive all day
My stash is so crazy - it's getting really bad
It's got its own room at the back of my pad
Tour around the world - I shop around the clock
Plane to hotel - knitting on a sock
I'm thrashing hotels like it's going out of style
Rolling all around on my yarn in a pile
Skeins on the floor - another by the door
Ten in the trunk because I'm going to buy more
Got my money in my pocket, 'cause that's what money's for

No sleep 'til Rhinebeck!

No sleep 'til Rhinebeck!

Ain't seen the light since we started this journey
I won't leave until they strap me on a gurney
Looking at yarn and roving all day
I don't care how much I have to pay
Purple, orange, green, blue, red and lemon
I'll pet the soft yarn with all the knitting women
Got Cascade, Regia, Cherry Tree Hill
Classic Elite, my yarn don't pill
Step off knitters - get out of my way
Or I'll be snatching your alpaca away
I'm a tough knitting mama, you better believe
Cause I'll be rocking this festival 'til I leave

No sleep 'til Rhinebeck!

There is just something wrong with me, isn't there?

Photo Post - Jack's Hair

As you know, Lily went on a mad haircutting spree this week.

This is Jack sporting the remedial haircut he had to get to cover up the giant almost-bald spot on the front of his head. This is the best photo I was able to take -- he was eating a pluot and kept trying to shove it in front of the camera. Most of the other shots are just a pluot-y blur.

If you look carefully, you can see that the hair near the front is still shorter than the rest. The barber left as much as he could without completely shaving Jack's head.

Lily refused to pose for a picture. This is a shot of the back of her head. The blur on the bottom is Jack trying to shove his pluot in front of the camera. Lily's hair is now chin length since that's how short she cut one side.

These are the socks I'm knitting with my kool-ade yarn. I just threw them in for fun. The yarn smells like cherry!

Photo Post - George's Island

Here are the pictures from our weekend trip to George's Island:

Lily on the boat in Boston Harbor.

Jack enjoyed the boat ride too!

Here's the old fort we explored.

Creepy!

I took this picture because the doors were so pretty.

Here's a shot looking out one of the cannon slots.

We saw some beautiful wildflowers growing around the fort.

We tried very hard to get a picture of all four friends looking at the camera. It was harder than we thought!

Jack got some chewing gum. He was very excited!

Etsy Update!

I put two new sets of markers up on etsy today. Here's a preview of the sets I'll be adding during the upcoming week:









If you want to reserve one in advance of it going up on etsy, contact me!