Nothing sweeter than an apple blossom
Unless it’s perhaps a smorgasbord of lichens on the branches!
Hoping I can figure out what some of these are and use them for dyeing.
Other pretty pinks around the yard today-
And these I cut special for the boys.
They love their salmonberries!
Sorry. Couldn’t resist the Bladerunner reference.
But really- that’s today’s story!
I don’t think I mentioned this earlier, but The Man got me an EarthHues dyeing kit for my birthday this year, and I’ve been really anxious to give it a go.
But first I needed a big pot. And a burner.
This weekend it finally all came together!
Here is the setup:
And here is the yarn and fleece all snug in the pot with the alum solution getting mordanted:
I left in in there overnight to cool out, then got a start with the actual dyeing this morning.
First up, Quebracho Red!
Filling the pot-
Dissolving the extract-
And everything in the pot!
the second pot was going to be just Pomegranate, but it seemed to me once it had been cooking a while that it was too khaki, and not enough yellow, so I added some Weld.
And here are the results-
Or most of them anyway. I did some fleece too, but it is all jumbled and messy looking right now and didn’t want to be photographed until it made itself more presentable 😉
Pretty pretty pretty.
I think I’m hooked.
Next up- madder and indigo!
And, here is the mystery knitting project of the week(s)
Anyone have an idea what it is?
Because I’m not sure myself!
I never publicly stated a goal pace.
But I had in mind a number.
1.
One ounce a day.
6 days a week.
And one day to ply.
It seemed so reasonable.
So right.
At this pace, I could spin all the yarn for the Classic Oak Cardigan in 5 weeks.
That would leave me lots and lots of time for knitting.
Which is good, because it gets harder to find knitting time in the summer months (too much outside work competing for my time).
And last week it all worked out according to plan.
2 skeins. about 280 yards total.
Plied, washed and hanging to dry on Sunday evening.
This week I almost made it.
2 skeins. Plied, but not yet washed. Waiting on the windowsill.
I might get them washed before bed tonight.
But then I’m stuck.
You see, I don’t have my ounce a day ready to go for tomorrow.
I forgot to build carding time into my schedule!
Dag. Rookie mistake.
I might have to take time off my day job to get back on track.
Just kidding.
Or maybe not. 🙂
Two sunny weekends in a row.
In April.
And the Mariners are 6 and 5.
The sheeps are really psyched.
Don’t they look excited? 🙂
Chone still has his baggy pants, and various other straggly bits, but I keep forgetting to finish up his haircut. Oops.
Got a few other projects done though- like fencing the compost
to keep sweet Sadie pup out,
and tying up the raspberries
Some other weekend highlights:
Sadie asking for a fetch
Walla and Boo Kitten are working on their synchronized prowling
Coffee in the yet un-prepared garden with Sadie and Clara.
And yarn drying on the breeze in the almost-blooming cherry tree:
2 skeins down, 8 or so to go!