Wanderings – Page 14 – Cheeky Attitude

Summertime

I’ve never been much for travel in the Summer. Too hot, too crowded etc. My current employment situation has me running on an academic schedule where Summer vacations are strongly encouraged. And I must say I’ve had fabulous trips to Alaska and Glacier National Park as well as joining in all the BlogHer fun.

This year BlogHer heads to Chicago again and I am looking forward to the Shutter Sisters Suite and all the other parties and panels. I’ll be taking the train out so I’ll also have some extended knitting time. Now I have to figure out which projects to take.

Adventures in yarn dying : some photos of the process pt.1

In the last post I mentioned being assigned the task of thinking about the colors I love. That was all preparation for the class I had the great good fortune of taking from Blue Moon Fiber Artsâ€˜ Master Dyer Tina.

The room was all set up and we spent a little time learning about wool and how the manufacturing/milling process changes the way dyes adhere. We worked with BMFA Socks that Rock yarn in medium weight and the same acid dyes that Blue Moon uses.

Hereâ€™s Tina showing us first how to add the colors.

She adds a second color and shows us how they blend together.

After adding a few more colors she demonstrates the fine art of â€œsquooshing.

She lets us loose and we start playing with the colors – oh what fun!

This is IrishGirlie’s : Isn’t it beautiful?!

Once it is all saturated and ready to go, it gets a squirt of vinegar and wrapped it up in plastic so it is all nice and snug.

Here they are ready for the microwave (2 min) to set the colors, then theyâ€™ll dry.

I canâ€™t wait to see the results! Hopefully Iâ€™ll be able to share a few photos tomorrow when we pick up our very own hand-painted yarn.