New (to me) natural dye sources

Recently the New York Times published an article by Margaret Roach on natural dyeing that actually wasn't too bad. I doubt you will be able to access it without a subscription, so I will list the information from it that was new-to-me.

• Grand Prismatic Seed is a source for seeds and plants if you want to grow yer own 
• The Dogwood Dyer is where you can find how-to information, including workshops 
• Botanical Colors is a for mordants and workshops

I have not done much dyeing lately, but articles like this one make me itchy to get back into it, maybe even grow more dye plants.

Crochet: Still working on the 7-strand monster of a rug; it's not that big, but is becoming rather heavy.
Knitting: It took me four tries to get the Lempi sweater underway, as there were "issues"; I also switched to smaller needles, as the original Lempi I knit is a bit generous. I am enjoying the bright colors.

Spinning: I have three-plied over 400 yards of the Romney so far. I listen to audio books while I spin and ply, currently Ron Chernow's Mark Twain.
Weaving: After a recent guild program, I was inspired to order a Schacht slim closed bottom boat shuttle (and bobbins and some 8/2 cotton), to use with my 24" Ashford rigid heddle loom.

Regarding the Lempi sweater, I learned something about slipping the first stitch purlwise, specifically when to slip with the yarn in back or the yarn in front. Inspecting the original Lempi, I find I managed to get it right intuitively. This time I have to make a conscious effort to do so.

One of my fiber friends turned 98(!) this past week, and she still knits. Something for us all to aspire to.

A new fiber interest

Several months ago, the weaving guild program was about weaving transparencies. This led me to Robbie LaFleur's blog which is about more than just weaving transparencies. I'm more than a little intrigued with the genre of Scandinavian weaving, in part because of my Danish heritage. Not intrigued enough to actually start something, but definitely intrigued. A local heritage group called Settlers is offering a class called "Scandinavians in America" which will include history, cuisine, hand-arts, and wheat-weaving. I will have to put that on my calendar.

Crochet: Still plugging away on the 7-strand rug.

Knitting: I decided to start a sweater, another Lempi, with the acid-dyed yarn, figuring if it did not work out, I could rip it back.

Spinning: I finished the third 100g of Romney and have been three-plying the results; it's going to be a LOT of yarn!

Last week I mentioned that outliving my pets is on my bucket list. So is using up all my yarn. The 7-strand crocheted rug is going to finish off quite a bit of cotton yarn, and the Lempi sweater will use up 6-7 skeins of worsted weight wool. What to do with all the hand-spun, though? Suggestions welcome!

Stuck

I decided to take a break from sock knitting. What to knit instead? At one point, knitting a sweater from cuff to cuff appealed to me, but someone mentioned they had done this and the sweater stretched a lot. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Adult Surprise Sweater has been on my list for a while and I have some acid dyed yarn I could use for that, but for some reason I am hesitant to start.

Crocheting: Still working on the 7-strand cotton rug.
Knitting: Finished the pinkish socks - see previous post.
Spinning: Almost finished with another 100g of Romney; I spin while listening to Ron Chernow's biography of Mark Twain.

A local art gallery Artlink collects art supplies every year, to use in their classes and to sell to starving artists. They include yarn and fabric in their wish list, so I dropped off some acrylic weaving yarn that I know I will never use - three HUGE spools of it. I'm on a decluttering binge (again) and yarn is hard to part with, but I'm happy to let someone else enjoy it.

These two bozos have been costing me a fortune at the vet's lately. Finn had his teeth cleaned and a growth removed from his mouth (not cancerous) while Clio had an eye problem and a skin problem, necessitating some eye drops and some spray. Finn is 14 years old, but doing well for the most part. Clio is 8 and still rambunctious. The only item on my bucket list is to outlive my pets.

Pinkish socks

I like red. I like pink. So when I saw what looked like sock yarn at The Estate Sale (how the fiber guilds refer to an estate sale we all sampled from), I glommed onto it, despite the missing ball band.

Pattern: Short-row Toe and Heel Basic Socks, by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Unknown self-striping sock yarn - no ballband, but it looked like sock yarn so assuming a mix of superwash wool and nylon - and some sock yarn I purchased for contrasting toes, heels, cuffs which also is missing its ball band
Needles: US1
Modifications: None to speak of

After dividing the yarn into two cakes, I thought the stripes were too random to match. After knitting with it a bit, however, it became apparent that I was close to the pattern repeat. So I ripped back to the toe and matched the stripes.

And it was a L-O-N-G pattern repeat.

The finished socks feel very soft - maybe the wool is merino? I'm looking forward to wearing these this winter.

Jiggety jog

One of my pet knitting peeves is stripes that have a big jog where the colors change. At least, the color jog looks big to me. There is no way to completely eliminate color jogs, but one can at least try. For tips and tricks, go to the index for the TechKnitting blog and search on "stripes" or "jogless".

I forgot to include in my last post the rug I started to crochet. Like the artisan bag, it has seven strands, all cotton. Two strands are "denim" yarn, one something unknown, another a "tweed" yarn, two strands of 8/4 cotton, and one strand of crochet thread.

One of the most aggravating activies when crocheting with multiple strands is yarn wrangling. Here is my current strategy for dealing with five of the seven strands:

Crochet: See above.
Knitting: I finished the cuff on one pinkish sock and have started the second.
Spinning: Another 100g of the Romney roving has been spun.

One of my new fiber friends is a member of the local bonsai club. My SO and I went to their bonsai show yesterday. We've been to bonsai exhibits before, but this one included species from my own backyard. I checked an ebook out from the library, and after reading about a third of it, realized bonsai is not for me. I don't have a well-defined sense of balance, design, etc. for this kind of art. Just as well - the last thing I need is another hobby.

Bent bento box

I decided to work up the bento box I mentioned in my last post. The first one was with cotton "denim" yarn, but it turned out too floppy. So I made a second one with some light blue acrylic. Despite it being easier to see, I messed up the counts while creating the fold for the sides. Hence, it is warped. I may rip it out and try again.

Crochet: See above.
Knitting: At the cuffs of the pinkish socks.
Spinning: Did I spin at all this week? I can't recall.

Since my old laptop looked like it was going to fail any day now (bad video card), I purchased a new one which I am still getting used to. Today I managed to get that ancient, no-longer-supported workhorse Picasa loaded onto it. I also switched from using Chrome as a browser to using Edge, which involves a learning curve. This old dog isn't beyond learning some new tricks.

So much yarn, so many projects, so little time

Curious, I checked this book out of the library, not understanding that "cafe" meant the projects were all of food. I'm not likely to crochet bacon and eggs or grilled cheese sandwiches, but I may make the container portion of the bento box, to see how it works. One can always use little boxes.

I stopped following Modern Daily Knitting (previously known as Mason-Dixon Knitting) when it seemed like all they did was flog their products. But this waffle sweater popped up in one of my feeds. I'm not interested in knitting a pullover, but I am interested in the waffle stitch used, as it is very waffly. Maybe I can find directions for the stitch without purchasing the "field guide" as I'm not interested in the other patterns therein.

This tin ceiling blanket pattern from Purl Soho showed up on a feed as well. The same stitch pattern is used on this hand towel and washcloth, which is more to my liking than a blanket. I think the stitch would look nice as a scarf as well. These patterns are free.

Knitting: I am approaching the cuffs of the pinkish socks.
Spinning: More progress on the Romney, but not 100g worth.

I was a little concerned about mixing up the white Romney and the white Wensleydale, but when placed side-by-side, the Wensleydale has more of a sheen plus it is not quite as white as the Romney. So no worries there.