Coffee...give me coffee!

I have 150 lbs of natural cotton for weaving. (DON'T ASK!...if you know anything about me at all....it is that I can get myself in the middle of a big mess without even trying!) So, on my last visit with my favorite fiber-terrific cousin, Liz, we were talking about fiber, as usual. She suggested that I might want to consider natural dyeing some of the cotton. Why not use something simple, like used tea bags or coffee grounds for staining? This really peaks my interest because I know that coffee will give the fiber an antique or aged effect.

Since I am not a tea drinker, I settle for my favorite pick-me-upper, coffee! Only problem is, since my thoughtful daughter gave me a Keurig for mother's day a few years ago, all I have are K-cups. So, I spend the end of each day for the next two weeks scraping out the grounds from tiny K cups until I have enough for a dye batch. I place them in a piece of cheesecloth that I had conveniently purchased just the week before, and set out on the coffee train. Choo, choo!!

I decide to stain enough cotton for 8 large dishtowels. I will need 240 total threads for the project. I very seldom run a whole warp at one time. I break it up into more manageable sections, so I decide on 6 groups of 40 threads each. With the dye pot prepared, I begin the process. Letting the cotton soak overnight, then replenishing it with another section the following morning to soak all day, it takes me a few days to get the entire lot completed. Checking my references on natural dyeing, I make note of the fact that the final color will be approximately two to three shades lighter when the fabric dries. After 4 days, the last section is ready to be removed from the dyepot this morning. Unfortunately, I am leaving for a short vacation tomorrow, so the weaving will have to wait until I get back. This photo shows the cotton before dyeing, completely dried and directly out of the dyepot. Pics of the completed project coming soon, I promise!

Wool Days!

While I was working the Old Algiers RiverFest last weekend in New Orleans, my shearer phoned to say he had another shearing job. Did I want more wool? More wool?? What spinner in their right mind would say no? Not this one for sure!

So, Sunday night I arrived to find this on my back porch. Yes sir, yes sir, nine bags full !

Most spinners I know would not deal with domesticated fleeces, but I took a chance the first time Travis called and was extremely pleased with the wool he brought me. He told me that the first shearing was always his best breed; suffolk. Granted, it is not the suffolk that you purchase on the internet....all cleaned and colored and ready to spin, but you won't hear this girl complaining.

So now I have to get to work and sort the bags of wool. I will end up with three piles in the skirting station hubby helped me set up.

1) The highest grade wool

2) the lower grade wool and

3) trash pile.

As a nature conservationist, it is extremely difficult for me to throw away wool. So I settle for a lower grade wool pile which usually ends up with wool that will end up in the trash pile when I get around to scouring it. (Later....much later for that part)

I was pleased when I opened the first few bags and saw the grade was close to the first fleeces Travis brought me. The blankets was huge! These must be some very large sheep! I sort of felt like I was skirting Shrek's fleece.

So I spend a few hours skirting before the boss decides it is time to close the skirting station so he can mow the lawn. I ended up sorting through 4 bags and ended up with 2 high grade bags and 1 lesser grade. We won't talk about the trash pile... ;)

Here is a small bit that I kept out to scour. I'll post a photo of it after I've cleaned it up so we can compare.

Fly Away, My Little Bird!

I didn't really feel the "empty nest" syndrome when my sweet girl left for Baton Rouge. Geez, she was only 45 minutes away and I saw her often. She’d come home on weekends and she’d make time for me when I went to BR to be with my fiber friends once a month. But today's the day my little bird flies away. She begins her new job tomorrow and as her mom, I could not be more proud. She has accomplished so much in such a short time. Her dedication and commitment never ceases to amaze me.

Unfortunately, that didn't ease the pangs in my heart as I watched her drive off today. MY NEST IS EMPTY! and my heart is heavy. I love my girl and wish her all the best.

My only consolation to this move is that there are many yarn shops in Houston. So, now I guess I'll go and fill my empty nest with yarn to pacify myself a bit.

Good luck my Little Bird. Fly.....fly high. Just remember to land at my doorstep once is a while.

Dye Day With Friends

My fiber friends and I decided to have a dye day. What FUN! We did some natural dyeing and a bit of chemical dyeing. We had three pots on the stove steaming up coreopsis and dock, three crock pots crocking daylily and jars of acid dyes, a microwave waiting in the wings and before long there was beautifully colored yarns hanging in the trees drying in the wind. We totally confused the little hummingbird who was used to having the area all to itself. Poor little thing tried to enter the garage area to see what all the ruckus was about then decided against it and just sat in the tree watching all the commotion, chirping at us occasionally.

Since I do lots of natural dyeing, I decided to play in the chemical dyes. My first dye selection was some light brown romney handspun for socks. The 3 color jar method produced this gorgeous yarn. It amazed me that we were able to get the color sequence so close since one hank was dyed then set out to dry. After re-adjusting the colors, the 2nd hank was dipped into the jars. Boy, do I have friends with great abilities, or what?

After the jar method, we added color to the crock pot and used the ball method (don't ask, just enjoy). My selection was handspun mohair from Fairy Tale Farms in Texas (hi Darlene!) It was originally a gorgeous natural white color, but I had visions of a lacy scarf in muted variegations. Into the pot and this is what came out. Lovely as it is, screaming pink just isn't my color, so the plans are to overdye it using the same method, but this time changing the color. I'll let you know what happens!

And my final entry of the day was a method I'd heard of but had never tried. I machine knitted solid colored sock yarn and then handpainted it. Since the knitting machine decided to be temperamental and broke my yarn after 118 rows, I decide to dye that piece in a solid color for the ribbing, heel flap and toes on my soon-to-be-socks. I am now going to unravel the yarn and hand knit it. These tootsie certainly won't be identical, but shoots, who cares.

Boy, now I have a lot of knitting to do, but tell me.....what girl can't use another pair (or two) of socks?

Creative Elements Aligned

It is so gratifying when all of the creative elements around me align. The designer inside of me has been forcing it's way to the surface. After designing a sock pattern (thanks Melodius for test knitting for me!) I've had the urge to design a handbag. All of the design basics are solidly in place in my mind. The only thing that has not presented itself is the stitch pattern for this wondrous bag with many pockets. I shall continue to search until I find the right stitch for the bag.

In the meantime, I run across some yarn in my craftroom that sparks my interest. It is a ball of single light gray handspun which I plyed together with some blueish-gray commercial yarn with a hint of mohair in it and some shiny silver and black thread that I purchased at Spin-In some years go. All of the fibers mingled together to create an exciting effect, but alas, there is only a tiny amount. Not enough for a scarf, but probably just enough for an evening bag.

So I rummage through my computer files for the perfect pattern. No luck! I search the Internet without much luck either. While playing around the Net, I find a swatch someone has knitted up from one of Barbara Walker's books. DUH! Why didn't I think of that?

After printing out the pattern, I settle into my knitting chair and randomly pick a 4 pattern repeat and start knitting away. The original idea was so knit a rectangle and make a simple clutch. As the knitting progresses, I remember that I purchased a silver purse frame at an estate sale. Off to the craft room to see if the frame will work for the evening bag. Amazingly, the knitted piece was exactly the right size to fit inside the frame. I had just enough of the shiny silver/black thread to sew the frame to the knitting. This is unbelievable! Everything just fits together like a puzzle. If I had planned it, it wouldn't have come together this beautifully. So, without any further adieu, I present my Creative Alignment evening bag.....

I Love An Adventure!

Driving home from Lafayette last week, I caught a glimpse of a sign that said, "LYS INSIDE" outside a building. Last I remember, it was a video place or something like that. Of course, anyone who has any fiber computer knowledge knows that LYS stands for Local Yarn Shop. WHAT? A yarn shop is Breaux Bridge. Oh, that's too good to be true. I asked my mother, who was along for the ride, if she'd seen the sign; she said, "No, I didn't."

Today, I had nothing to do so I asked Mother if she wanted to ride with me to check of the LYS. (By this time, curiosity had gotten the best of me.) Breaux Bridge is a small town without much traffic, except for rainy, Friday afternoons. Guess what today is???? Fought the traffic across town and turned into the tiny parking lot of the business and just about doubled over with laughter when I got a chance to read the entire sign:

FLEUR DE LYS SHOP INSIDE

Not sure exactly how is supposed to be spelled, but I don't think this is the way. Talk about a blow to my fiber ego! Well, you just have a good weekend now, ya hear?

The Sock Conclusion

My fiber friends have aptly noted that I have not posted to my blog for quite some time. Life has been busy! Knitting, spinning, a little weaving, tapestry weaving, retreats, camping.....Ah life is good.

The sock (you notice I said THE sock) There is only one at the moment, but alas, it is done. The other half of the roving will be spun up next week at the Destin Spin-In, so I should have the other sock soon.

On the other hand, I knitted up two pair of gloves for Christmas. My sweet college daughter decided she needed gloves. The child was seriously considering purchasing leather gloves. GIRL! didn't your mama teach you better? She honestly thought it would be lots of trouble to make the fingers. I selected some gorgeous rose-grey alpaca I purchased from my Canadian friend, Tricia; blended it with a small amount of natural brown wool I picked up from Margrett at SWIC retreat last year and started spinning.

I wasn't sure I'd have enough spun up for the finished product by Christmas time, so I grabbed some alpaca yarn I had in my stash and knitted up a glove. I had forgotten how fast gloves knit up. Okay, so now put down the commercial yarn glove and get back to spinning the alpaca. Christmas Eve I was knitting the remaining glove while driving to Denham Springs delivering gifts for the grandkids. I didn't quite get finished with the right hand in time, so Karen got the completed left glove with an I. O. U. for the right hand on Christmas morn! I did finish the right hand before she left on Tuesday morning, so she went home with a completed pair. Then I had to finish my right glove with the commercial yarn. Both sets turned out nicely and keep our hands toasty when it gets cold enough in Louisiana to wear gloves!