Adventures of the Pickle Jars

Today's hot weather is perfect for putting the pickle jars out in the back yard. Let me explain. There are no pickles in the jars. One has fiber and one has yarn. I'm solar dyeing with Kool Aid. The steamy and soupy summer heat will cook them quickly. I think they might be done in a couple of hours. The left jar is 4 oz. of BFL and the right jar is 4 oz. of sport weight yarn. I'll post pictures of the finished items soon.

Just a quick note: No pickles were hurt during this adventure.

Springtime Fiber Fun

Thanks to Mother Nature for not letting it be too hot for me to be outside, I have managed to spend some happy time in my swing with my knitting.  I haven't finished any of my projects, but, progress is being made.  The current travel project, Fuzzy Feet Slippers, are knitted and just waiting to get felted. I need to pick up another WIP to be a travel project now. Evenstar is still at almost the same spot it has been lately.  It takes a while to a round on it now.

We had our annual swap at my Knitting guild last Thursday evening.  It was a terrific time with everyone going home with some new to them yarns and goodies.  I did win the grand prize gift certificate to WEBS which will be used when I go on our bus trip in July.  :)

The wheels have been very busy.  I am participating in a group on Ravelry called "Spin Your Stash".  Well, my mind had a blip and for some reason I thought we were finishing up this round on the first day of Summer.  Duh!  It's from the Spring Solstice to the Autumn Solstice in September.  My personal goal is to spin 3 pounds from the start to the finish.  Not including this week's spinning, my current total is 34 ounces.  I thought I had to have a marathon spinning session to make my goal.  Now, I think I will change my goal to 4 pounds.  :) There's nothing like a little challenge to keep you motivated.

Last Saturday was the Scottish Festival and I was part of my spinners guild demo in the morning.  Then, the guild had it's actual meeting in the afternoon where I managed to finish the singles from pink batt on "Esme Sonata".  Now, I just need to  2 ply that.

"Millie Minstrel" has been very busy with some Copperpot Woolies batts. I'm alternating bobbins between three similar colorways.  I was going to ply a single of 2 colors together.  I'm not sure now. The plying decision will be made later.  Right now, I'm taking a break from the batts and spinning a bit of wool that was dyed with Kool Ade.  It will be getting Navajo plied tonight.

Sunday was suppose to be Happy Hands monthly gathering, but it to be cancelled because the building where we meet was being painted . The weather was iffy with a possibility of rain, so spinning outside was not a good option either.  I did manage to meet up with some spin pals and spend a bit of time with them anyway.

Pooh and Hanna were way over-due for their vet visit.  We took them in last week and both passed with flying colors.  Hanna does have to have a couple of teeth out and a cleaning again.  She's in good shape for almost 14 years old. It's so funny to watch Pooh become so docile for the vet.  It's like an entire different animal.  lol  They both got their rabies shots so don't need that again for 3 years.  :)

Spinning Merino/Bamboo, MA S&W, and Llama Fleece!

Last weekend was very busy. Saturday was spent with my husband's aunt visiting the cemetery in the early afternoon. Then, I took him for his belated birthday supper at Panera. We found out they have a gluten free selection so he can eat there once in a while. After that, we visited the two cemeteries for my family.

Sunday was a long ride to MA Sheep & Woolfest in Cummington. I was suppose to go with 3 friends, but, life had other plans for them. I figured I would just skip it this year. Pat had other plans. He decided we were going. So off we went. I only bought some fiber from two vendors. I've been very conservative this year with the festivals. I need to work down the stashes. :)

Speaking of which, currently on my Minstrel wheel, Millicent, I have some lovely Merino/Bamboo blend from Copperpot Woolies. The colorway is "Victorian Holiday". The first photo is of what is left of the first 4 ounce bump and the second one waiting to be spun. The photo on the right is the bobbin of singles. The camera doesn't really show the shine from the white bamboo very well. I started spinning this last week and hope to finish the first bump tonight. It's coming out nice and thin.












My phone rang last night with a call from a young lady I had met in April. Her mother-in-law has a couple of llamas and she wanted to know if I still was interested in their fleeces. So today found me on the road going to collect two lovely fleece. One is dark brown and the other is fawn mixed with some white. There is quite a bit of guard hair and hay to be removed, but, I think they will be worth the end result. I'll post pictures of it once I get them washed.