Cool, rainy weather means none of the sheeps seem interested in being sheared yet. So I’ve been focusing on washing up the last of last year’s wool. I’d almost forgotten that I still had Dottie’s fleece hiding in the laundry room closet!
Also been doing more dyeing- this time Strawberry and Malbec (the lilac is exhaust from the Malbec dye bath)
Juicy, fruity colors. All my recent dyeing has been on white fibers, but I’m thinking I might need to do a round of each color on Dottie’s shades of gray…..
But the breaking news today, under the heading of “working smarter, not harder” is the arrival of a new garden cart!
Still in the box, fresh off the FedEx truck. (We weren’t expecting it until tomorrow)
I’m super excited about this development, as I think it’s going to save me a lot of time and energy
Sorry I missed last week. Had some technical difficulties. But hopefully that is behind us!
Spring is springing, and that always gets me in the mood to play with color. I started by diving into my available dyed stash, and hand carding up some small samples of muted blended colors
I spun those up into a sampler skein, each color bordered by the dark drown Daphne wool
It’s kind of a neat effect, but I definitely underestimated how much twist it needed- or maybe I ended up spinning it a bit thinner than I originally planned. Well, that’s what sampling is for, right? Was much more satisfied with my second attempts-
I think of these kinds of heathery blends as painterly colors. They will be a nice additions to my stash of Fair Isle project yarns. But this round of carding made me realize that I had some gaps in the woolly color wheel. ( the greenish shade above is the result of pretty thorough blending of blue and yellow fibers, as there was no green in the fiber stash)
So this week I did some more dyeing!
I had a few Wool Tinctures standing by, and was originally thinking that I’d get out the dye pot and fire up my propane burner,,,, but the weather wasn’t really cooperating. Not quite dyeing outside weather yet.
Then it occurred to me that I could probably use the Wool Tinctures in the microwave like I do with KoolAid. Just dissolve the dye teabag in a glass jar, add the citric acid (and some white vinegar for good measure), add it to the pre-wetted fleece in ziplock freezer bag, and microwave for 2 minutes or so.
And voila! Clockwise from upper left: Forage, Snap Pea, Pumpkin
So quick. So easy. I don’t know if I would recommend dying yarn this way, as I generally do get some color variation on the fibers,, but I really like that effect on the locks. And then you can blend it back together on the carder, or not. Like so-
They look so Spring-y 🙂
Out in the pasture, shearing has begun with Fiona- who is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Very felted along her back, but hopeful that I’ll get some nice, workable fleece from her sides at least. The wool itself is much softer and crimpier than previous years, so that’s a nice surprise.
She doesn’t look thrilled with her haircut so far. Hopefully phase two won’t be quite as tedious as getting the felted mat off her upper back was!
I hadn’t mentioned it here before, but a few weeks ago we got a new septic system installed. Big relief to have that project completed, but as a result of the the digging to bury two new enormous tanks, we have a small mountain of soil in the side of the house (photo taken after we’d already moved maybe 8 tractor bucket loads)
I’ve decided that we’re use that soil to remake our garden beds- removing the timbers that are currently defining them and filling in the walkways inbetween to create a continuous planting area. Also hoping to take delivery of a trailerload of mushroom compost soon to support this project.
It’s a lot of hauling. Wood out, dirt in. Thank goodness for the tractor. Was nice to have beautiful weather this weekend to get started on it.
Boo kitten enjoyed some sunbathing time while supervising and providing moral support. 🙂
And just this morning I chanced upon a new companion for Speck, who has been seeming very lonely since Yellow Chicken died. This girl too was an only chicken, so it seemed like a great solution.
And now that the heavy lifting is done for the day, I will get back to finishing up those socks- the blue/orange ones just need ends woven in
But I’ve still one more toe to reknit on the argyles-
And I need to pop out and visit with the sheeps. They’ve been enjoying this sunny stretch I’m sure- and are starting to think that they might want to ditch their winter coats.
Tis done! and in pretty much record time for me- just over a month. I’m not a very fast knitter, but this one came together quickly. Only minor modifications- lengthened it a smidge, and also deepened the armscythes. I’m very happy with the fit. It’s comfy through the shoulders and upper back, hanging nicely when not buttoned.
It works well and is quite cozy when buttoned up, but I think my lowest button placement might need to be adjusted. just a little bit off. Anyway- I’m feeling pretty good about having recycled the Autumn’s end project into something that I know I will wear.
With Griff’s Smokeshow off the needles, I’ve turned to finishing up a couple other things that had been set aside some time ago- first up, odds and ends socks
The blue/white is Zauberball, and the orange is mystery sockyarn (lost the label) from the stash. Decided to pull in another type of Zauberball leftovers for the toes because I didn’t think I’d have enough orange for both feet.
And, in a recent minor re-org of the wool room unearthed a project that I’d completely lost track of- argyle zauberball socks!
Quick search of the blog tells me that I last worked on them in Oct of 2018. And I’d forgotten that they were this close to being done. If they really only need seaming and end-tucking, then this should be an easy win. I might also need to go back and add a little bit of length in the foot, as they look a little bit short. But it will be so nice to have another pair of argyles in the sock rotation.
Still wet and chilly here, but I’m finally getting some germination on my tomatoes. Might need to start another wave of peppers and eggplants, tho. Those peps just don’t have any tolerance for cold gray weather. I get that. I’m dreaming of spring and sunshine as well.
