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.

My First Dyeing Experiment

Today was an extremely busy day. Now, I have always been classified by friends and family as an old soul, and I take it as a compliment. One of the things an old soul like me enjoys is writing with a fountain pen. Today, mine ran out of ink, and I was putting in some more when a drop of ink fell onto some wool. Inspiration struck. I remembered how I once got some ink on my previously favorite blouse, and all the bleach this household could bring to bear couldn't get the stain out. So I mixed some water, another cartridge of ink, and some scrap wool together and waited. Poof! My white wool had turned into a beautiful grey! I have been looking into dyeing my own yarn/roving for quite a while, and this has made me want to try it more. Maybe some of the yarn from Spinzilla will go to that.

The yarn of the day.

P.S. I am very sorry for not writing a post yesterday. Until I get back into the swing of school I might miss a few days here and there.

Game on!

The roving is actually a bit more purple colored.

Since the football season is about to start, (which is a big deal where I live) I decided to make a post about a friendly competition my mentor and I are having.
A couple weeks ago I visited my mentor and she had a challenge for me. She had some purple wool/mohair blend roving. She gave me half and challenged me to spin it, and then weave something out of the yarn. Whoever makes the best creation will be proclaimed "winner". Although I know that I have no chance of beating my mentor at her own game, (Because she is a professional weaver after all) I intend to do my best, and hopefully the outcome will surprise the both of us.

The yarn of the day.

Firstly, the fiber.

Wow, wow, wow, wow! Today I went to the Yellow Rose Fiber Fiesta! Sorry I didn't get to taking pictures at the show. I was too busy prancing around, thinking I had died and gone to my own personal heaven. :-) It will take two posts to cover everything I got, but we will start with... you guessed it! The fiber. There were a lot of vendors and tons of fiber ready to be spun. I behaved... I didn't get EVERYTHING... just a lot. :-) Firstly there was a lady selling many different types of fiber. She gave me some angora rabbit, cotton, some fiber made from shrimp shells, and a wool and possum blend to try. I will report back with results :-) I also met a lady and her husband who were selling fleece from their Shetland sheep. It was really cute, they named the fleeces after the sheep they were from. So I bought "Axel, Bo, and Wenda". I had a really great time, and I will definitely be going back next year!

The Angora Rabbit

The cotton

The fiber from shrimp shells

The wool and possum blend

"Axel"  2 lbs. , 14 oz.

"Bo"  1 lb. , 12 oz.

"Wenda" 1 lb.