Amphibious Bastard!
Dyeing Workshop with Linda Whiting
It somehow escaped me that the weekend of July 29th was the Linda Whiting Dyeing workshop hosted by the lovely and talented Mona. I almost didn’t go because it’s been so crazy for me lately but I really REALLY wanted to try and get a handle on dyeing. So off I went. What a fun group! There were some of my fellow Sunday Spinners there as well as Mizz Wooly Buns. And it was so nice to meeting Monica in person. She was sweet enough to make a Dunkin’s run for everyone. I think we might’ve been a smidge too chatty for Linda but things went pretty well. Mona had the great idea of doing pot luck for lunch. I won’t get into it but OH, The FOOD.
We started out dyeing the color wheel. Linda assigned us each 3 variations of the primary colors and directed us to mix them according to prewritten formulas. VERY interesting. Then we did Complementary and Analogous colors. Linda also did a sample of gradation. It was really great to see how different the results were. I’m no longer terrified of dyeing which is nice.
Here are a couples of shots from that day. Sorry they aren't great but I was way too overstimulated to concentrate on pics.
I really can’t wait to try my hand at it. If you’d like to read more about the workshop, visit Wooly Buns’ blog.
Spinning.
I spun some more of the merino tencel from NH S&W. I don’t know why but this batch wasn’t as much fun for me. I think it’s because the colors weren’t quite as rich as the first package and…I don’t know. I just didn’t have my spinning mojo going. It was a bit of a struggle. Even when it came to plying the stuff, it simply didn’t come together for me. But here is a picture of it plied along with the blue stuff.
I was a little happier with the blue stuff when it was skeined.
Knitting…UGH
Ok. So I’m guessing that by now you’ve figured out the title for this post. Picovoli. My lovely, fun, interesting Picovoli had to be offered up as a sacrifice to the frogging gods. I can’t even get into what I did. Now that I’ve sat down and clearly looked at the pattern, I know that the error was a careless one. You see, before I start on a project (to avoid careless mistakes…ahem), I highlight all of the numbers in and around the parentheses which correspond with the size I need. I highlighted the wrong size in one lousy section!!! After WEEKS of not being able to knit or spin or sew or ANYTHING, I sat down to “get my shaping on” and…
I counted, rubbed my eyes, recounted, put it down, recounted. OH it was pathetic! I just couldn’t believe it. Back to the drawing board. I frogged and frogged and…Now my pretty Knitpicks Shine is now more Knitpicks fuzz. PLEASE tell me it’ll look better when I block it. I may just cry, folks. I’m not kidding.
On the upside? When I pulled out my Jaywalker sock.
IT had all the right stitches in all the right places. (grumbling angrily).
Cuteness Factor
I haven’t done cuteness factor in a while but the day after the workshop, DH and I went to the zoo near our house. We hadn’t been in all of the time we’ve lived here. It’s a small zoo but it was rather impressive. Now, I must let you know that reason I found the zoo impressive maybe due to the fact that was expecting something like “And next to our cockroach exhibit is our world-renowned pigeon coop.” Don’t ask me why. We frequent the park that the zoo is a part of frequently and it is delightful. The kind of place you want to have a picnic in. Anyhew…There were so many animals.
How can you resist an otter. Look at this little fella. They’re just content to keep flipping and flipping…
The Llama were cute too!
DH fed one of them but then he put his ears back and well…We didn’t want to end up with any green gooey spit so we decided we’d spent enough time there.
Lions are always captivating.
On a side note, no matter how many times I am at a zoo and I hear a parent ask a lil munchkin “And what does a lion say?” and said munchkin replies “ROOOOAAAR” it never fails to crack me up. Hey! I never said I wasn’t easily amused.
Anyway there were cranes...
and OH the cutest little marmosets
and kangaroos and a sloth bear and an owl…OH MY. (yup, I said that). To a city girl like me, this stuff is still a novelty. We had great fun. I even tried a corn dog for the first time. It tasted…well. Like cornbread around a hot dog. No culinary surprises there.
Last weekend DH and I went camping in Stowe, VT. It had been so nuts at work and home. I’ve had many professional and personal hurdles to deal with the last few weeks so I really needed the panacean effects of the woods and all of its trappings. Not to mention so QT with the DH.
Have you been to Stowe? I highly recommend it. It's a wonderful town. There are stores there that make me smile just because they are there.
And now? Well, my neighbor informed me that the Joann Fabrics near us is moving and that they are having a HUGE sale. Oh ya, I indulged.
Ok. The first picture is a couple of hat patterns. I just LOOOOVE hats. And at $1.99...The second pictures are of some vinyl and at the bottom are some fabric quarters. I really loved the colors and although I'm not yet a quilter, I think I'll find use for these. The last pic is of course fabric. 50% off, come on!
As I said before, the later the post the longer. I shall leave you now with a couple of camping pics. Til next time, take good care.
Comments