Spinning at the Fair, Learning New Things, Dyeing Fiber, Vet Visit and Late Nights

Last Sunday was a warm, not too sunny day. I decided to put the Kool Ade in the pickle jar with the vinegar and water for an attempt at sun dyeing. The test fiber was the rest of the BFL I had took to Sandi's back in June for our impromptu dye day. So I stuck about 3 1/2 ounces of fiber in the jar, put the lid on and stuck it in the back yard. It sat there for 4 days. I didn't think it was taking because the water was still red. Well, when Pat brought in the jar and I dumped it out, the fiber is a bright, deep red and the water was clear.



I will definitely be playing with Kool Ade again. Maybe tomorrow since it's suppose to be a nice day......

Last Thursday and Friday evenings were spent at North Stonington, CT's fair. I took the Sonata and had a great time with all the other spinners who were there. There was a very good concert on Friday night to spin by as well. I got home quite late on both nights, but, it was not really a problem since I'm a night owl anyway.

As well as learning how to spin on the Sonata, I finally tried Navajo Plying last night for the first time. It looks bad. Honestly. Because I'm still not used to the Sonata's treadle, I tend to treat it to the same amount of speed/rhythm I use on the Minstrel. This does not work because the wheel is larger and requires less treadle speed. As a result, my singles were "a bit" over twisted for the Navajo ply. After much patience on Marva's part while showing me, I managed to muddle my way with two bobbins of barfy ply at the end. I plan to make a hat with this and possibly full or felt it to hide some of the really bad parts. This is part of my self-challenge during the Tour de Fleece. The rest of my challenge is to spin the silk for the yellow BFL. I have a few more days before the TdF ends so I think I can make it. I've decided to spin it on the Minstrel. I pre-drafted it the other night, so it's ready to go for Thursday evening.

Saturday is the guild meeting and cook out at Sandi's farm. Nice warm day, good company, good eats, and lots of laughter, plenty of spin time, and animal visitation is the menu of the day.

Another thing I have been attempting is the fair isle knitting of the Butterfly Sock for the DkKnits KAL. I started it on the smaller size 2 DPNs in my Knit Picks set and, after reading some of the Ravelry threads of how it was too tight in cases, I decided to switch to the larger size 2. Seems to be o.k. now. The fair isle isn't as hard as I thought it would be and I'm pretty happy with the end result. As of today, I have most of one leg done. Tomorrow is craft night at Panera and I plan to finish the leg and maybe start the butterfly on the heel flap. The heel flap may have to wait until I'm home and not distracted though.

Hanna went to the vet today to have her teeth cleaned and had a tooth pulled at the same time. Pooh was beside himself when she left with Pat this morning. When she came home with me this afternoon, he was all over her. ha-ha



I'm heading off to bed now. It's almost 3 a.m. Good night all.....