Green and Red

No, not talking about colors on a flag. But green things in the garden and then thinking about a certain pair of socks I want to knit sometime.

Gardening
So I was out checking on the garden. Picking snap peas and admiring the blooming flowers. Lillies, phlox, roses and sweet peas. I also picked some of the green beans, noticing the squash blossoms and nibbling borage flowers.
Knitting
Got some more work done on Citron finally. And then thought of a possible way to get a red variegated sock yarn for knitting up, My Vampire Boyfriend socks. I've got some white Malabrigo sock yarn, so I use some black cherry, and cherry Kool Aid. Dye the yarn, let it dry outside on the porch and knit. Hopefully I have enough yarn to make the socks, hopefully I can buy and dye some more. What fun.
Spinning
Got the yellow wool spun up yesterday. and got bright pink wool and mohair to try spinning up.

News Here

On and off the needles
Haven't got more knitting done this weekend busy spinning, reading, and keeping cool. Will see about finishing Citron so I can work on Flotsam and Jetsam.

 Bombyx silk spun up on my wheel, Saturday.
Spinning my Wheel
I did try spinning the cotton I have on the wheel. No go, did try to spin some on my drop spindle, not much lock there, though I might try again sometime. Or I might see about getting or making a takli spindle sometime. But I do have some green spun up that I'm meaning to try using for the Bavarian socks in the Knitting Traditions.
I did get around to talking to one of the owners of the LYS about holding down the shop while they are out of town. He said they don't need anyone right now but will let me know if anything comes up. Maybe if I had talked to him about it earlier I could have done that last week. Oh well. But I'll go by Friday when he's there and he can show me what I need to do when the time comes.

Finish line

Imagine this. Horns honking, people yelling in a foreign language. A lone biker pulls over. Some officious looking person walks over. "The race is over and you still have cotton and alpaca to spin."
Yeah I still have cotton and alpaca. Though I'm saving some of the alpaca for my baby sister to try her hand at spinning. I did spin up the ounce of silk. That's a bit hard. it's spun thick and thin. I"m thinking about getting some wool to ply it with. then I'll wash it in hot water, aggitate. Yeah I'm going to felt it! Okay enough of that.

Inspiration
So I went to the beach and took some pictures for inspiration. Above is some seaweed with the little bulbs. I'm thinking felt some yellow green wool like bulbs and attach them, like an art yarn.

Then there's this, the big brown stem. Don't know about art yarn, maybe some knit pattern with some cable using a brown yarn.

I love the red-orange in this piece of seaweed. maybe I'll keep the color in mind for dyeing sometime in the future.

here we have a feather with some seaweed. The sunday before when I went with mom and dad I had seen something similair and thought of some art yarn, some green or brown wool with feathers and  wool locks in it.

Spinning my Wheel
Above is some of the 8 ounces of alpaca I bought during the week and spun up. in reality it's a little more reddish brown. I also got some green and yellow wool Wednesday in Sequim for a pair of socks I want to make some time with pink roses on a black background so I still need the black, pink and light pink wool to spin up instead of buying the yarn.
This week I'm planning on going back to Sea-Tac with mom and dad. So I'll take some wool, the cotton and some alpaca and spin on my spindle. Then we're going to Spokane to visit and take my sister and nieces back to Port Townsend.
On and Off the needles
Still working on Citron got some more work done just at the last two rows of the last section before the ruffled edge. Haven't got anymore done on Flotsam and Jetsam but maybe this week while I'm with mom and Dad in Seatac.

Tour de Fleece Day 16

On and Off the Needles

Still working on citron. And been having too much fin spinning to work on Flotsam and Jetsam any. Though I might try sometime soon.

Spinning my Wheel
Well I may have finally got the hang of Navajo Plying on the wheel at least. On the spindle may require some more practice. For those of you non spinners it's sort of like trying to crochet with the yarn that you're spinning, make a loop bring the yarn through, let it twist and go onto the bobbin.
 I got some more wool and some alpaca for spinning. Spun some of the alpaca and it colors my fingers a little bit. Will have to see about spinning the cotton and silk I have for Tour de Fleece since it's almost over, just 4 more days.

 The food color dyed yarn, spun up. Didn't turn out as bad as I thought. I might try doing something similari with the once of silk I have got.

In the Dyepot
Waiting for the days to have more sun and heat before I try dying. though I might just plunge ahead with the once of silk I have. maybe I'll get some Rits and dye the cotton question is should I dye it before or after I spin it?
Inspiration
Was at the beach at Fort Worden with mom and dad, Sunday and saw a number of things that gave me ideas. Different colored seaweed, kelp along with feathers, sea glass patterns of sand and rocks. I might try going back and getting some pictures to help me remember some of the stuff.

Tour de Fleece Day 12

 

On and Off the Needles

well still working to finish Citron. But also started up Flotsam and Jetsam again (above) .

 

Spinning Away

Got some more spinning done. Both on my drop spindle and on the wheel. Found a few videos on YouTube about Navajo plying. I had tried it before, thought I had messed up. Seems I got it right, oh well. so will try plying on the wheel and spindle tonight, maybe.

In the Dyepot

The weather has been so warm here lately I might try and do some more dying today or this weekend. Got some nice spun and plied white corridale that would do.

 

Puttering Around

So potted a begonia, geranium and another plant I can't remember the name of in a pot like mom asked. Had to go the garden center to get some more potting soil but got it out of the way safely out of harm from the snails. Will see about making tomato leaf spray today so we can see about the aphids.

Tour de Fleece day 4

Well it's day four of the Tour de Fleece where you spin or knit or crochet while they bike. Here's what I spun up yesterday some silk and merino. At first it kept breaking on me but I finally got it. Also got some green spun up. And the food coloring died roving has dried out so I might try spinning some of that tonight to see what it looks like spun up.

On and off the needles
my second citron is progressing very well. Finished a hat made with handspun, kool aid dyed yarn. Ran out so spun up some purple batt to finish it off.


 

Tour de Fleece Day 9

On and off the needles
Still working on the Citron, I'm on the fourth section. And plan to start working on Flotsam and Jetsam again sometime soon which means writing down  what I do.

Great Unknown spun up, plyed and wound. I blame the hot weather for thick and thin, along with any other things in here, turkish knots, coils, etc.

Spinning my Wheel
Spun up the lemon yellow mom choose to go with the marigold, then plyed that and plyed that together with the marigold. She choose really well it looks really nice. Also spun up some merino in "Great Unkown" Colorway by Kitted Wit that I got at Diva Yarn and Trim. Also got some bamboo/merino in "Spring" from both places to spin up later. But still have to ply the Great Unknown. And let the marigold and yellow set.
In other news
Pat is going to be off soon sailing with her husband. I will miss my time listening to podcast and knitting or spinning with her at the Twisted Ewe. But there might be something interesting for me to do in the near future. I'll write more about it another day.