Like a Record Baby

I started the batts last night and since I've never spun fine on the Louet before it was a learning experience. Moving from the Babe, who is temperamental yet easy to work with to the Louet who is fine tuned and very precise left me frustrated. If my tension was too loose the wheel groaned like an old plane getting ready for takeoff, too tight and the yarn snaps. So after much fiddling I settled in on a proper tension and spun in the long draw. I didn't want the yarn too thing because I think I may keep it as singles.

I received my magic roving ball package from my partner last night, I decided this was the motivation I needed to work on her package and began dying up some merino/mohair blend. I was using the big pot for pasta so I thought I could use the Wilton's dye method with the microwave. It wasn't as great as the stove top method but it worked none the less.

Wilton's Icing Dye / Microwave Method
Step 1: Soak roving/yarn in a mixture of 2 tablespoons vinegar to 1 cup water (so if you're using 3 cups water use 6 tbsp vinegar) for at least 1 hour
Step 2: Find a microwave safe vessel and prepare dye bath. I used the following method for 6 oz or roving I used 4 cups water and 1/2 vinegar and then added 1 tsp maroon dye. I mixed dye bath and placed roving on top. Then I dotted the top of the roving with blue dye in spots and slightly agitated dye and roving until dye dissipated.
Step 3: Microwave on medium stetting (uncovered) for 4 minutes, take out and stir roving to ensure proper coating with dye and microwave for 4 more minutes, take out and stir one more time and microwave for 2 more minutes.
Step 4: Place hot roving in cold water bath. Drain water and refill roving bath. Repeat this until drained water runs clear
Step 5: Allow roving to drip dry in shower or outside

I goofed and put the hot roving into a cold bath into my bathroom sink. Porcelain and dye love each other to death because they refused to separate no matter how hard I scrubbed. I had to resort to Ajax to de-pinkify the sink to Rob's approval.

I tried drilling some holes in the resin pendants I made this weekend and realized that in the future fresh flowers and resin really don't mix. The pendants won't get hard enough because of the water in the flowers. Oh well live and learn.

All the pretty colors

I spent most of Sunday over the stove. It was a cloudy day and the moisture in the air meant sitting on my backyard throne was not really an option. Instead I pulled down the largest post we have (which to be honest with you isn't really all that large) and the white wine vinegar. I decided I'd give dyeing with Easter egg dyes a shot and I had some from the sale K-Mart was having the weekend after Easter up by my dad's weekend house in CT. I can now say I love dyeing with Easter egg dyes. They are so easy to place and even a bit easy to contain where you want the dye.

First I soaked the roving for at least 30 minutes in water. I know some dying instructions tell you to soak in water and vinegar but I think all that vinegar ruins the quality of the fiber. If you want really bright colors then add the vinegar to your soak only 10 minutes before you dye.


This one is a superwash 4 oz that I put in the dye bath before the Easter egg dyes (which I forgot to mention are like small tablets that dissolve and release their color.) Then I placed one yellow, one blue and one purple tab around the top of the roving. Then I left it alone, not stirring or mixing I let the dye do what it wanted (an organic process if you will) There isn't a lot of color in the overall roving but the concentrated areas are really bright and it should spin up into some interesting yarn.


This one is wool top 4 oz that I put into the dye bath without dye yet. Then like the last one I dropped in my tabs. One pink and one orange, but then using a mixing stick I moved the roving around to make the roving more spread out.


This last one is also wool top 2.5 oz that I submerged in a fully prepared dye bath consisting of one green Easter egg tablet. I mixed the roving around in an attempt to get a uniform color but alas there are a few spots where the dye struck a bit brighter then the rest.

Here's some pics all dried up and prepped for their close ups.











All of these are now listed on my etsy, which has yet to make a sale. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but hopefully it will turn around soon.

Yesterday I ordered some fibers I've never worked with before. Cotton, soy silk and firestar glitz. I can't wait for them to arrive, I've heard only good things about soy silk and even though cotton is supposed to be a bitch we'll see how it turns out for me.

I'm a little more then halfway done with the clapotis and I'm hoping to finish tonight, it should take longer to knit this sucker up but I'm under pressure and time constraints and I always seem to work best in tight situations. I'm keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed that the teapot will arrive. I still have to crochet the tea cozy and prep the dollar store containers so they won't look so cheap. I'll post pics of everything when it's done, wish me luck, I'll probably need it ; P