Do I smell like a wet goat?
I kept discovering small wafts of eau d'goat yesterday. It seemed to follow me around. Turns out it was actually coming from me!
I spent the morning and most of the afternoon simmering goat hair (aka mohair). I was trying to help Bex make some of her top-secret green mohair that makes the best flies ever for fishing. The family is planing a fishing trip for spring break and she wanted to take some of this special yarn along with them. Anyway, because Bex is pregnant, she needs to be careful about handling the chemicals frequently used in dyeing. So I volunteered to be her hands.
I don't know if I screwed it up or if it really was the form of Osage Orange we used, like she said. She's pretty darned nice about it when someone screws up. I was ringing up a customer's purchases and got to the point of telling her the total when I shifted on the stool and kicked the computer's plug out of the wall. Bex remained calm and got everything sorted out, despite me. So it might have been me and she was just trying to be nice. I hope I get a chance to try again, though. I really did want to see the color change. It's a three-step process where it goes from white to yellowish, and suddenly to green.
I'm sorry I missed you all at the play-day yesterday. I had a blast and had the dyeing room all to myself. I dyed some silk hankies for an unspun silk lace scarf and two 4oz pieces of superwash merino roving. I plan to spin the dyed roving into sock-weight yarn and knit some socks from them.
The silk scarf will be various shades of pink and magenta, with a navy accent. Because of the way the silk is drawn for knitting, there is no repeat in the color pattern. Each inch is unique. I'm looking forward to trying out this fascinating technique.
One of the rovings started out a bright gold and I spotted it all over with various shades of blue, creating an "ode to Rockbridge HS." The other roving started out bright blue, to which I added some red accents, creating a blue-violet medley. Originally I was planning to ply these yarns with a plain solid navy blue. Now I'm thinking about plying them to themselves. I briefly considered plying them to each other, but I think that will be too busy.
We had a GREAT turn out for the sock club and the spinners' club today. We had seven sock knitters, including Rosemarie, Jane, Doris, and me, and then Rose and Chrisma joined in to learn socks too. Rose is trying the magic-loop, toe-up technique and Chrisma is trying the cuff-down technique on toothpicks (er, that is on bamboo double points).
The sock group discussed doing some charity knitting, perhaps wool socks for our military personnel overseas or even some helmet liners. We thought this would be a good project partly in support of the soldiers, but also partly in support of our own Madonna, who's husband was called up for deployment. Please join us in keeping Madonna and her family in your prayers.
We had four wheels and one drop spindle going for the spinner's club. Spinners included Kristin, Leah, Marcia, Dyanna, and me.
Leah is planning a trip this summer to hunt down some cashmere goats. This will bring her collection of spinning fiber up to include: llamas, dogs, peacocks and goats. She agreed that she might make some of her fibers available for purchase to local spinners. I tried to talk her into angora bunnies, but she said she'd tried that and it made her cry to pluck them.
Did you know Kristin used to raise angora bunnies, like Matthew and Yves? She did so in 4-H, which is when she started spinning. I wish I could have some angora bunnies. Matthew said he had some available for purchase, but unfortunately, my sister is deathly allergic to rabbits and she'd never visit again if I got any. So I'll have to stick to growing my own chiengora for now. For those unfamiliar with exotic fibers, chiengora is dog hair. I own three German Shedders who are good producers of raw chiengora.
We all had a great time chatting and comparing projects and vowed to continue meeting.
The next time you smell wet goat, look around and ask yourself if there might be a fiber enthusiast nearby.
I spent the morning and most of the afternoon simmering goat hair (aka mohair). I was trying to help Bex make some of her top-secret green mohair that makes the best flies ever for fishing. The family is planing a fishing trip for spring break and she wanted to take some of this special yarn along with them. Anyway, because Bex is pregnant, she needs to be careful about handling the chemicals frequently used in dyeing. So I volunteered to be her hands.
I don't know if I screwed it up or if it really was the form of Osage Orange we used, like she said. She's pretty darned nice about it when someone screws up. I was ringing up a customer's purchases and got to the point of telling her the total when I shifted on the stool and kicked the computer's plug out of the wall. Bex remained calm and got everything sorted out, despite me. So it might have been me and she was just trying to be nice. I hope I get a chance to try again, though. I really did want to see the color change. It's a three-step process where it goes from white to yellowish, and suddenly to green.
I'm sorry I missed you all at the play-day yesterday. I had a blast and had the dyeing room all to myself. I dyed some silk hankies for an unspun silk lace scarf and two 4oz pieces of superwash merino roving. I plan to spin the dyed roving into sock-weight yarn and knit some socks from them.
The silk scarf will be various shades of pink and magenta, with a navy accent. Because of the way the silk is drawn for knitting, there is no repeat in the color pattern. Each inch is unique. I'm looking forward to trying out this fascinating technique.
One of the rovings started out a bright gold and I spotted it all over with various shades of blue, creating an "ode to Rockbridge HS." The other roving started out bright blue, to which I added some red accents, creating a blue-violet medley. Originally I was planning to ply these yarns with a plain solid navy blue. Now I'm thinking about plying them to themselves. I briefly considered plying them to each other, but I think that will be too busy.
We had a GREAT turn out for the sock club and the spinners' club today. We had seven sock knitters, including Rosemarie, Jane, Doris, and me, and then Rose and Chrisma joined in to learn socks too. Rose is trying the magic-loop, toe-up technique and Chrisma is trying the cuff-down technique on toothpicks (er, that is on bamboo double points).
The sock group discussed doing some charity knitting, perhaps wool socks for our military personnel overseas or even some helmet liners. We thought this would be a good project partly in support of the soldiers, but also partly in support of our own Madonna, who's husband was called up for deployment. Please join us in keeping Madonna and her family in your prayers.
We had four wheels and one drop spindle going for the spinner's club. Spinners included Kristin, Leah, Marcia, Dyanna, and me.
Leah is planning a trip this summer to hunt down some cashmere goats. This will bring her collection of spinning fiber up to include: llamas, dogs, peacocks and goats. She agreed that she might make some of her fibers available for purchase to local spinners. I tried to talk her into angora bunnies, but she said she'd tried that and it made her cry to pluck them.
Did you know Kristin used to raise angora bunnies, like Matthew and Yves? She did so in 4-H, which is when she started spinning. I wish I could have some angora bunnies. Matthew said he had some available for purchase, but unfortunately, my sister is deathly allergic to rabbits and she'd never visit again if I got any. So I'll have to stick to growing my own chiengora for now. For those unfamiliar with exotic fibers, chiengora is dog hair. I own three German Shedders who are good producers of raw chiengora.
We all had a great time chatting and comparing projects and vowed to continue meeting.
The next time you smell wet goat, look around and ask yourself if there might be a fiber enthusiast nearby.
posted by Kirsten at 9:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home