Not much knitting has been going on around here; I've been sick for the past week and today was the first day that I could actually hear out of both ears. Woot! How sick was I? Last Sunday I was supposed to get together with some friends to knit, but I had such a bad sinus headache from all the congestion that I went to bed at 8pm (my normal bedtime being around midnight). Thank goodness I'm starting to feel better.
Instead of knitting I've been doing this:
These are play silks that I handdyed for the boys. Little Man has been using one of my old, ugly satin scarves as a 'cape'- he asks me to tie it around his neck so he can jump off the bed like a superhero. A few weeks ago, I saw this and thought immediately of making the boys some play silks of their own. I got the raw silk scarves from Dharma Trading Company and soaked them in a bit of water/vinegar overnight. Yesterday I dyed them by loosely pressing each scarf into a small container, barely covering the scarf with water and then apply diluted dyes. After a brief zapping in the microwave, I let them cool and then rinsed them out. I think they turned out quite nicely!
Monkey Boy really enjoys pulling the scarves over his head and face. He laughs and laughs! This afternoon Little Man, Monkey Boy and I spent nearly half an hour chasing each other around the upstairs hall with the scarves tucked into our pants like tails. I think the play silks are a hit in our house. There are four more silks to dye and LM has suggsted "red, cuz that's my favorite color" and "orange because that's little brother's favorite color".
Last night I sat down with my wheel and started spinning some 50/50 merino/tussah silk. It's the first time I've spun with this particular blend and I have to say that I'm not very comfortable with it. Between the super crunchiness of the silk and the short staple of the merino, it's not very fun to spin. Some spinners spin to produce a certain yarn (project spinners) and some spin because they like the act of spinning (process spinners). I've found that I'm a process spinner and if I'm not having fun while spinning, it's hard for me to stay motivated. It's disappointing that I'm not enjoying this roving since I've been looking forward to spinning it for quite a while. :(
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
ooo! very nice. i must try that some time.
I'm so glad to hear you're feeling better! What a fun idea with the scarves. Isn't it so worth it being a mom sometimes?
Dear Dye-o-rama Pal,
Hello! I know I've been quiet, but in between Maymester classes I've been experimenting with dyes to dye your sock yarn! Finally found a good combination and it is cooling in it's plastic wrap right now. I wanted to get it out in the mail today, but looks like I'll have to mail in the morning. But today's the deadline, so I wanted to let you know that your sock yarn will be on the way soon! I will email you again tomorrow just to let you know. Hope you like it, I had fun dyeing!
Your Secret Fiber Pal
Post a Comment