Dying to Spin

We are ready. Christine and I decided dye some wool for the first time. We had a such a blast.



First we found a red tub to soak our wool in.



We're using a stock pot to fill the tub with hot water.



Baa, Baa black sheep, have you any wool?



Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!!!



Into the drink for an hour soak with lots of vinegar in the water and a squirt of dishwashing liquid.



All our little wooly balls in the sink to drain.


Shake! Shake! Shake it Christine!


Wilton Cake Dye test run. Christine's.





Wilton Cake Dye test run. Mine.


What a mess!


But, Oh what fun. We used 7 ounces of warm water, 1 ounce vinegar, and a pea-sized amount of cake dye, then mixed and measured and sampled like making witch's brew.


Next, we rolled out a sheet of plastic wrap the length of the table and put four strips of our wooly bundles unrolled on top of the plastic wrap.


Time for a little color.



Isn't mine pretty?

Fold the sides of the plastic wrap into towards the middle and roll up like burrito.


Christine's is pretty too.


Roll 'em, roll 'em, roll em!!!!


And roll some more!!!


Next, Use a foldable vegetable steamer, the kind that unfold like round fan, in the bottom the stock pot. Add water to just low the level of the steamer. Add your wool burritos. Turn the heat high until the water is boiling, then cover the pan and steam at medium-low or so to simmer for 45 minutes. Don't let the water boil away. HMMM! HMMM! SMELLS SHEEPY GOOD!!!


After letting the bundles cool off for a while, unwrap and let them soak in a tube of hot water and a squirt of dish soap for 15 mins, then exchange the water for plain warm water. Keep the wool out the way when you do this, or it will felt.


Beautiful pile.


Hanging around until they're dry.


Abracadabra!!! It's done!!! I hear socks calling my name!!!

hello again/yarn harlot

Well, life happened, and it has taken a while to for me to get another entry put on my blog. Things are a little calmer now.

My friend Christine and I went to see the Yarn Harlot at Powells. The book store really doesn't get how many knitters are going show up. Last year they put Stephanie at the small Powells Book Store on Hawthorne. They set up about 75 chairs. They were overrun with knitters everywhere.

This time, we got to Powells at about 4:30 p.m. There was not a chair in sight. The info person said they weren't setting up chairs until 6:00 p.m. and she was speaking at 7:00 p.m. How dumb is that. She was going to speak in the Pearl Room on the third floor. They finally set up chairs at 5:30 p.m. but there were not near enough to accommodate. There were knitters stacked on top of knitters. Every book aisle was filled and it was a hot box, but it was so worth it. Stephanie is just hillareous to listen to. I forgot my camera, but fortunately, Christine remembered hers. Air conditioning was lacking. It was a sweat box, I wouldn't have missed it for the world!!!



Afterwards, we waited in line for a long time. When I got up to meet Stephanie, she remembered me from last year.


I decided to give her two skeins of my handspun shetland. She was impressed and said how much she appreciated handspun yarn. I was impressed that she was impressed. What a thrill!!! Stephanie said she was going to make mittens out of them. I really feel honored!!!

I got to hold the traveling sock, and Stephanie held my yarn and Turkish Spindle.

How cool it that!!!