Why should I wait to dye another day...

...when the weather today was perfect?

This morning saw me running downstairs with an armful of wool, food coloring, and a mason jar. Symptoms my family interpret as meaning: "Get out of her way if you don't want to be covered in color!".
Let us just say that I checked the weather forecast, and it was PERFECT. No clouds, low winds, and temperatures in the high 70's. The time of year has come... for solar dyeing!
I tried solar dyeing a few weeks after my first dye project, and I fell in love. Who wouldn't like stuffing some wool, food coloring, vinegar, and water into a jar, and then letting it bake in the sun? I certainly enjoy it, and the fact that it produces stunning colors is a bonus.

While I was letting the wool "bake", I started planning the first project for the Wolf loom. I have decided on some placemats in a Norwegian pattern in honor of the first owner.

 This warp will be short, so I can get the in's and out's of the loom without worrying about wasting too much yarn, but I  plan on making the next one full-length so I can give away some placemats as gifts.

One of those days

Today was one of those days where I had marker on my hands and glue in my hair, but I didn't really care. I guess that's just my style! Most of my craft time was actually spent on a school project, where I had to make this puzzle cube:

Fun! And yes, in case you were wondering, this is where the marker and glue came from. :-)
After my schoolwork I did get back to real crafting.

The sewing thread warp has been pre-sleyed, and beamed onto the loom, so tomorrow I can start threading the warp! There were a few snags, so the tension isn't perfect, but I think I will be able to compensate for it when I start weaving.
And lastly, I found some beautiful purple flowers in the sun this afternoon.

The little things

Today I found an Indian paintbrush in my backyard,

made these two baby hats for Threads of Love,

finished the fringe on this table runner for my bookshelf,

wound the rest of the sewing thread warp,

and added a couple rows to the Pleache't rug.

Nothing major, but sometimes the little things are the most fun.

And so it begins...

The warping board has seen quite some action today! I am making the warp with 10 threads of alternating colors separated by 2 threads of black.

there are over 100 threads in this picture!

I had a bit of trouble starting out, because I couldn't figure out how to keep the bobbins from rolling around while I was warping. Finally, I tried putting them into some weaving shuttles.

Just what the weaver ordered, no more runaway bobbins! However, that was not my only problem. After searching through all of my considerable sewing thread stash I remembered that I had given the white thread I planed to use as weft to a friend a couple years ago. Apparently, every cloud has a silk lining. And yes, I do mean silk. I talked about my problem with the Crafter in Chief (a.k.a. mom). She said she had an idea, casually walked over to a box, pulled out a spool of undyed mulberry silk thread, and asked "would this work?"

Um, yes! This is perfect!

Who needs fairy godmothers when you have an awesome mom?

All warped up!

 Last night I made the warp, pre-sleyed it and beamed it on. I even managed to get a little sleep too! The warp doesn't look like much, but it is just enough for one scarf.  I have decided on the second M's and W's pattern because it is just so pretty!

The warp is a beautiful mystery yarn a friend gave me from their stash, and the weft (which is sitting on top of the warp in the picture) is some of Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool. I love her yarns, and the Silky Wool will make the finished scarf so soft! I can hardly wait to start weaving!