Dyeing is Addictive

Another beautiful Saturday, not too hot, amazing for Texas in August. And I was tempted back to Heritage Arts at the Beaumont Ranch to test dye some Kraemer Sterling before proposing it to the group for our dyeing week-end next month. OK, any excuse will do. Micki and Susan decided to come along, and off we went to the ranch.

Where Lorelei and Sue had already set out the dyes and our worktables on the wooden porches of our little western town.
The process involves a bit of mental planning, then some measuring and stirring.
Then it's off to apply the results of our concoctions. Note Lorelei's blue/green hands here. She hates gloves almost as much as she hates shoes! Susan is hard at work creating "Noriko", a colorway to honor her beloved kitty of the same name. Thanks to Susan for all but two of the photos today. Ms. Angeluna forgot her camera!
Notice how "chic" we all are in our aprons provided thoughtfully by Micki. One of the neighboring shop owners wanted to buy them off our backs if we would stain them with "blood" so they could use them in the upcoming Civil War Reenactment. Impossible. Hard as we tried, our dyes wouldn't work on the non-protein fibers of the aprons. And here is Ms. Angeluna working hard to get the colorway she has so clearly in her mind.
Dyeing done and ready to cook heat set.

Straight out of the oven and too hot to handle. The Kraemer Sterling needed to be rinsed ASAP before the vinegar tarnished the silver.

Voilà, the products of our labors...the two ends are both skeins of Sterling.

And here we have the Sterling samples, which dyed up beautifully. Think these two skeins of Gitane may want to be a shawl.

Just nearby, these beautiful water lilies were languishing in the lake. Eye candy for the overheated dyers.

Can't wait to return. Have lots of new colorways floating in my head like sugarplums. We missed you Celtic Memory.

Gauge Happens

The latest round of books to arrive on my doorstep were each a real treat. Knit Kimonos is so good, I want to knit every single pattern in the book. Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters is a terrific workbook for sweater creation. And then there is Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters which I found at Knitter's Bookshelf (Nancy shipped it out in record time). This is really an exciting book. Cat takes sock construction and turns it inside out before turning it on it's ear. Lots of lovely and innovative patterns, but also lots to learn. I couldn't be more pleased with this little collection.

And since I mentioned knitting immediately from the Kimono book, here you can see I've been swatching. There are actually several swatches, each more confusing than the one before. I have a nice little stash of Celtic Memory Yarns cashmere/silk which Jo hand-dyed in the most luscious scarlet/coral colour. Wouldn't it be beautiful in this kimono jacket? The pattern shown was knitted in cotton (heavy?). So I set about trying to get gauge, 10s, 10.5s and 11's. 11 is too airy, although the closest to gauge. 10.5 actually gave me a tighter gauge than the 10s. Both were Denise needles and I've no possible way to explain that except...gauge happens. I even blocked the swatches. If I get stitch gauge, I am way short on row gauge, etc. etc. Just about decided to redesign the piece a bit to allow for these irregularities. Just itching to get started.But first I must absolutely finish my June STR Sock Club sock since the next one should be here in a couple of weeks, plus I need to get them posted to Summer of Socks, where I am a complete laggard, with no shame. I've been painting the house as much as knitting lately. Both socks are on the straightaway of the foot, and it is now clear, I am falling way short of enough yarn to finish. Way short. So if anyone has bits and leftovers of STR Firebird, please take pity on me. I will happily pay postage.
And just for fun, here are two versions of a Cat Bordhi knitting needle sheath from an April Fools Day Workshop in Newport, Oregon.It's lovely, practical and sentimental. The last night, Cat has you share bits and pieces of each others yarns with beads and bits and whatever you want. You knit up your shape, felt and twist, and they make these elegant little sheaths to protect your precious needles. And you can see Mary's red yarn and Celia's pink yarn and, well, you get the picture.

We do so love the mountains

First off, I don't think I've yet shown off the finished handspun socks, my first completed pair for Summer of Socks. TahDah!! I keep falling asleep on my knitting and it's for sure I'm not going to win the most socks completed prize, but I do so love these. Colors are much nicer, ochres and mauves, but my camera just wouldn't show it this time. Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop Handspun, 2 skeins

Size 2.25mm &2.5mm circs

Undulating Rib Sock from IK Favorite Socks

Had a few days escape from the heat and relative flatness of Texas. Headed to Idaho! Through Phoenix, into Boise. Boise was a delight, not at all what I expected. Neat, green, pleasant. All the people we came in contact with were great. Areas of downtown had been renovated and guess what I found near the Capitol? This is Drop a Stitch, a neat little shop with just lovely yarns and the nicest owners. You can just smell a fiber store from miles away, can't you? And this is a wall of Koigu, and Alchemy and other goodies!! None of which are carried locally, so it was fun to look things over.
This is adorable Anne, very sweet and she really does smile tht much. She is probably giggling over the fact that the BF would not hang out in the shop. This was his first yarn shop and he had a look of panic before he fled for several coffees. He definitely didn't get it.
Anne recommended the Alchemy Bamboo sock yarn. They have a local Russian knitter who makes a lot of socks. She first turned her nose up at this fiber, but then she knit a pair with it and loved it. So I shall give it a try.
They had a LOT of solid Koigu, and I have definitely been in the mood lately for some solid socks, so got enough to do Loksins and some of CookieA's patterns, Thelonius will be the next.And then they showed me the new Lorna's Laces Twist. Looks like a Clapotis to me. Leaving Drop a Stitch, there was the most beautiful pottery horse in the middle of the sidewalk. Now he seems to belong to a Chinese Restaurant nearby, but isn't he lovely? Actually, Boise had several other yarn stores that sounded interesting, but the BF looked as though it was best not to ask for another stop!
Then it was into the car for several hours drive through rolling desert with a thick haze over it. The BF and I wondered what this weird haze might be. Found out the next day it was smoke, that there were fires all over the state, one very close to Sun Valley where we stayed, just a mile or two up the canyon.
And this most unartistic shot is Ketchum, a rather charming little town just a mile or two down the canyon from Sun Valley. Excellent restaurants, lots of galleries, lots and lots of real estate offices and banks, and a shop called Isabel's Needlepoint. Who knew that this delightful and sunny little shop on the second floor of a neo/old building had such a wonderful knitting side? One thing I loved, as I always do when I find them, is all of the sweaters they have made up that you can finger and try one. This is only a few. Every window all the way around the shop had a sweater hanging in it. But the big excitement was that, in addition to their very well stocked wall of Koigu, their shipment (ordered the year before) arrived while I was standing there. Being totally Koigu deprived in North Texas, I had to take deep breaths to keep from swooning.This lovely lady is Trina (short for Katrina I believe), who was a huge enabler! There was also Jane and Julie Jane, one of whom is a crack sock knitter and both of whom were very helpful.

This gives a bit of an idea of this little patch of green in the desert mountains. Sun Valley is extremely green with beautiful flowers and fountains and symphony in a tent and an outdoor ice skating rink that gave a show with olympic champion skaters, and several gorgeous golf courses, all very Disneyland for grown-ups. But delightful. The views in all directions were fantastic. The air was so wonderfully mountainy crisp, it was a joy to sleep with the windows wide open.Even the swans had luxury accommodations here! These are the babies from the spring hatching. I love the mountains. Spent much of my childhood in the mountains of Colorado and most every summer thereafter. And I miss it!

What I didn't mention here yet was all of the airports and the throngs of people and the fact that every flight was oversold (that gets tiresome) and the fact that every connecting flight seemed to come into the totally opposite end of the airport. There is no glamor left in air travel, that's for sure. But I had to manage all of this, plus all of the mountains, with a toe I broke the day before I left. I heard it snap and did I feel stupid. Swollen and purple, then yellow, there was no way that toe was going into anything but a thong sandal, even in the cold mountain air. I debated unraveling the toes of a couple of my handknit socks so they would fit into thongs, but thought better of it. Then you got to worry about people bumping you. Thank goodness for knitting. Waiting for hours and hours sure goes better with a bit of knitting in hand. Now for the truly weird part. I'm knitting various absolutely lovely socks on magic loop, and nowhere, not one single person mentioned it. Days of knitting on planes, waiting at gates, in restaurants, no one commented. It's strange.

New projects starting up, but that will have to wait for the next posting!

Sock Slogging Away

Hmmmm, the Summer of Socks is going to get two pair out of me, I think. Other stuff just keeps coming up. But they are two lovely pair which which I am quite content. Lots of other ideas, but must finish these two first. One sock plus 1/3 of one to go. When I look at one of our fellow bloggers and her methodical and creative production. I hang my head in shame. A wee bit anyway.
From the garden, this is one I don't think most people know. Unless they lived in New Orleans, or at least the Deep South! Spider Ginger!!! The most fragant blossom I know. I dug it up with my bare hands to take with me when I left the Crescent City. It decided to bloom about a month earlier than usual, and I'm not sure what to think. The rain? Odd. But may I tell you how heavenly it smells tonight under what appears to be a full moon. Something between ginger, honeysuckle and gardenia with a bit of tuberose thrown in.

And here is my sock progress. Took these photos yesterday since which I have finished the toes and they are waiting to be kitchenered. Wondering if I will have the patience for that at Knit Night? The most beautiful things about these socks in this photo are those little balls of yarn. Nervous as could be to run out and in fact I have a dab of leftovers.
And here is my STR Summer Solstice sock, waiting for a foot and a brother. So you see, although slow, I am slogging away at my projects. Once these darlings are done, I can finish the three pairs which are ever so close, then I get to start something new! What shall it be?These were the sock yarn stash additions from the yarn shop with Jo.
These are two new yarns from Rio de la Plata, quite reasonable and decent yardage.

And here is a skein of Madelaine Tosh. There were at least twenty colors to look over and this one single strand had my name on it.

And here's a close-up of one of my hand dyes from Heritage Ranch. Of course, the photo doesn't do it justice.
Now for fun, here is my Peculiar Aristocratic Title:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Noble Excellency Angeluna the Innocent of Herring-le-hole Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I must admit I had way, way too much fun with this and found these other titles:

Lady Madame Angeluna the Ineffable of Goosnargh on the Carpet

Countess-Palatine Angeluna the Subversive of London by the BowHer Most Serene Highness Lady Angeluna the Fifteenth of Pease Pottage

Reverend Lady Angeluna the Erudite of Lower Slaughter

Her Most Serene Highness Lady Angeluna the Subversive of Molton St Anywhere

Her Noble Excellency Angeluna the Blue of Witchampton Under Buzzard

Now, go get your own!!!

Celtic Memory comes to Texas

What a surprise! Jo of Celtic Memory came to visit! Well actually, after reading here about Heritage Arts at Beaumont Ranch and something about sock dyeing, she decided that's what she wanted for her upcoming birthday. And dear Richard made it all possible. We are talking 4 days warning here, for an international trip. The spontaneity of it all was too fab!

Richard e-mailed that the "bird" had flown, so there was the rush to pick Jo up at the airport. Out into the evening sun and a bit of hot and humid Texas atmosphere soup! She really wanted to meet the Sisters of the Wool in a normal KnitNight at our regular Border's Books, so this was arranged and we went straight from the airport. The Sisters were out in force and delighted to meet Jo.

Show and tell included Micki's gorgeous Print o' the Wave from Eunny Jang. Check out Micki's blog for all the details, but gotta tell you, it's wonderful.

Aisling and the PatternWhisperer were hard at work. In fact, most of the Sisters were there. Please note, Aisling is knitting socks!!! Finally!And BookGrump's babies were much admired. Thanks to sadly blogless KnitTX for these three photos.

Jet-lagged and over-stimulated, we tried to get some sleep, then it was off to Yarns Ewenique to give Jo an idea of our LYS. We did so well there, that we decided to hit Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum, with its special exhibit of The Mirror and the Mask - Portraiture in the Age of Picasso, instead of still more yarn shops. This wonderful exhibition is up through September and I highly recommend it.

Posing in front of the "Wall of Needles" at Yarns Ewenique.

A quick stop at Central Market turned up a lovely Irish lady who lives in the area. She overheard Jo's accent and immediately introduced herself. Within minutes, they were singing "The Spinning Song" and waltzing in the aisles of the market. This photo was taken sureptitiously since an employee had already come up to Jo and told her there was a no photos policy. Not to mention that there was a band out front...a Celtic Rock band called the Killarneys, with bagpipes! Who knew there was so much Irish in Fort Worth?

We toured the Stockyards and downtown, with a stop at the Philip Johnson designed Water Gardens so Jo could tour the fountain used in the last scene of Blade Runner. Then we of course had to be at the bookstore at midnight to get a fresh off the press copy of Harry Potter and see all the craziness that is a HP booklaunch. The next morning, we gathered the PatternWhisperer and were off to the Ranch where Lorelei and Sue had hung banners for Jo's birthday. These two ladies are just a pleasure, Sue is quiet and sweet and Lorelei is a very positive force of nature! The shop has changed since I first went a few years ago. Less normal knitting yarn, and much more spinning and dyeing and weaving. You can buy wheels and looms and all sorts of odd gadgets as well as fiber, dyed and natural, and all the dyes to go with it. Spindles and carding combs and such. If you haven't been, they are well worth the trip. There are classes on spinning and weaving and other fiber arts. Third Saturdays are for spinners just to meet and gossip and share. That was delightful! Everyone is open and helpful. I'm going back to get my spinning mojo working. Nice atmosphere and the spinning room is well air-conditioned. We noticed.

They only do this workshop once a year, but Lorelei offered to do a special dyeing workshop for the Sisters. Are we excited? You betcha. Now the difficulty is finding a Saturday in the next six months which suits us all, easier said than done. We met some spinners who had come in from Waco to dye yarns.

And here are our efforts of the day. It was very hard not to grab another and still another skein just to see what else we could do. Like children with fingerpaints. A quick downpour raised the steam factor several notches, and I must say, we just about melted.
This little fellow saw us off from the ranch. The zedonks and alpacas were in hiding. Too exhausted to go to dinner, we spent a quiet evening knitting, then sent our Irish friend back to Cork. There is nothing more delightful than an Irish lilt and Jo was a joy to have around. A few more days would have been more relaxing, but we did our best. The age of the internet is so amazing...to read someone's blog from continents away, develop a friendship, then meet as though we had been friends forever. Ain't life just grand??? What's next?

This Little Chickie Needs a Name

Please let me introduce you to my birthday chick. Isn't he/she the cutest thing you ever saw? He is one of BookGrump's babies and I am in love. Now, I just said he, didn't I? Must say, I do think he is a "he". Well...he needs a name. Any ideas are welcome as I just know you are more clever than I. I keep trying to call him Rufus and I'm not sure that's who he wants to be. Grace, I am honored! Thank you.

By the way, check out her blog because Bookgrump is madly working on a pair of Molly Weasley's sleeves. I suppose she must finish them for the booklaunch tonight. Who's gonna be there? I'm taking a surprise guest with me, and that guest is looking a lot like Severus Snape in the costume we are putting together. Stay tuned for a BIG surprise!!!!

Now I promised to show you some of of my "score" from Heritage Arts. I went wild in front of the wall of roving and had to restrain myself by reminding myself that...I don't spin...YET.
Here is Merino in Mojave...

and in Sage... And since I got a spindle from Hokett Would Work, a lovely thing in Yellow Heart wood, slightly heavier and wider and slightly belled underneath, which is supposed to spin longer, I suppose I'm committed. Well, we shall see once I get it spinning, shan't we. Lorelei, the fabulous, showed us how to activate the spindle by placing it between our feet and kicking one foot back. Sure worked for her, but I'm hoping I don't unbalance and break my neck while I'm at it.
And this was an interesting bunch of Texas natural spun yarn. Got a nice big bundle as a birthday present for a special friend. There will be a reveal on this in the next few days, but here is a hint.....

You will have to tune back in to see what this HUGE surprise is all about!