Well, here are the results of a week’s dyeing:

The skeins in the middle row are the ones for the actual sample warps, along with some commercially dyed yarn (not shown). There are 153 skeins in all, ranging from 10 yds to 200 yds each. The yarns are a 6/2 weaving cotton and a 10/3 crochet cotton in white and various starting colours and a 5/2 unbleached weaving cotton.

I used a total of about 70 dye combinations, using Procion MX dyes and the ‘polythene bag’ method. For this, the skeins were dipped into a small amount of the dye mixture, not even enough to cover them, and squidged around to push the dye through the skein. The dye was then squeezed out and the skeins put into a polythene bag to sit for at least an hour before rinsing out and washing in the washing machine, then drying in a tumble drier. At first, we were putting the skeins into pillow cases and net lingerie bags for the washing and drying, but we found that we could put the loose skeins into the dryer without tangling problems, and that speeded up the drying.

The source pictures (cut from magazines) which I am using as inspiration are these purple flowers, which I think may be encased in ice, and this seascape. Originally, I was trying to use these leaves, with or without the rose, but as you can see, my attempts at subtle grey-greens kept turning out sludgy olives, so I turned back to the seascape. I’m more likely to base a real project on the purple flowers, though.

[You need to close the pop-up window between pictures, or it shows them all in the same size window, which crops some of them.]

DH’s sources (much brighter than mine) are these orange wallflowers(?) and purple tulips and this underwater scene.

Oh, I’ve just realised I haven’t mentioned that the tutor was Janet Phillips and it was her Colour in Fabrics workshop. I’ll post pics of the sample warps eventually.

I’ve been busy dyeing sample skeins of cotton. I am trying to match the colours in some source pictures. Once I get them right, I’ll be dyeing the warps for a weaving design workshop. The only(?) problem is that the workshop is on Saturday and I’m still at the sampling stage. If the ones currently ‘cooking’ fill the last few gaps, I’ll dye the actual warps tomorrow and Rys and I will warp up both table looms on Friday. Wish me (no, us) luck!!!!

Anyway, this morning I had a lovely surprise when a small padded envelope dropped through the letter box, and inside were …

They were handknitted for me by the wonderful Gina, who used to host this blog on her site. they are less than 2″ top to toe. I don’ tknow whether the yarn was handspun and/or home-dyed but neither would surprise me.

Aren’t I lucky?!?

I’ve finished the first end of the EG. The pattern says to start with a waste yarn cast on, knit the middle section and one tail, then pick up the open cast on stitches and knit the last tail. As I have barely enough yarn and I want to make the scarf as long as possible, I wanted to know exactly how much yarn a tail needs (10.1 g, it turns out) so I can continue with centre until I have just enough left for the second tail. I took a picture of the first tail before picking up the cast on. It’s pinned out but not stretched for proper blocking.

I showed my mother the yarn I dyed for ‘her’ EG scarf, though she doesn’t know that yet, and she loves it. Phew! Here it is:

I’m currently knitting a new swatch as the dyed yarn will probably not match the gauge of the undyed swatch. With luck, I’ll get to start the scarf itself tomorrow.

Here is a picture of the (almost-)dry bowl, with the colours looking closer to the real colours, and one of the yarn I used.

The next question is “Is it finished?” I rather like its simplicity, and the surface texture does add interest, but I’m wondering whether the swap recipient might be disappointed if I don’t embellish it at least a little. I think I’m going to try to make a couple more bowls before the swap deadline anyway, so if I do I’ll make those a little fancier. Pictures to follow when/if I make them. :-)

Since I last posted, I’ve been working on a knitted-then-felted bowl for an exchange on one of my lists. I’ve never intentionally felted knitting before. I made small swatches using various commercial merino yarns, and even knitting with merino roving, but I didn’t like the way they turned out.

In desperation, I tried some thick 2-ply handspun merino from a few years ago. I only had 65 yards of it, but I thought that might be enough for a swatch and a bowl. That swatch looked a lot better so I went ahead with the bowl. I knitted it like a round garter stitch dishcloth with short row wedges (here is an example of what I mean), but on the outside, I did a similar number of stitches of stockinette with no shortrowing, so that section gets forced up to become the side of the bowl and another 3 stitches for an I-cord edging to make the rim. The I-cord pulls in the rim, which I hoped would make a nice shape, and I think it has worked.

Here is the bowl before felting:

and stuffed with newspaper to show the shape better (it was too floppy to stand on its own at this stage):

and here is one after the first run through the washing machine:

It needed a second run to get it firm enough. By the time it came out the second time, it had shrunk from the original 6″ across the base section by 3″ high to 4.5″ by 2″. It’s not dry yet, so I’ll try to remember to post the final pictures tomorrow, along with the yarn I’ve dyed for the EG scarf/wrap.

Not a lot of news today. I want to check out my Zephyr yarn to see if I have enough of any suitable colour for the EG, but after a long and dangerous expedition into the depths of my stash, the box seems to have disappeared. Now I know I wouldn’t have thrown Zephyr out or given it away, so it must be there somewhere, but I’ve given up searching for the moment.

The good news is I do have pictures of my chair wheel at last. I’ve replaced the one in yesterday’s entry. I’m putting the rest up on my web site as soon as I upload this. Click here to see them.

First, thank you to everyone who has commented so far. It’s good to know that at least that first entry was read. Charleen, I want it a light colour, possibly one that reflects the garden imagery. I tend to wear blues and greens, sometimes purples or greys, so I was thinking of a light greenish blue or blueish green.

I mentioned yesterday that I was waiting for more merino yarn. The order arrived today, but the yarn for the EG wasn’t with it – “discontinued!” I tried phoning the manufacturer to see if they may still be making it but just not supplying it that mail-order company or, if it really is discontinued, whether they still have any left in stock. No answer. I’m thinking that the mill may be shut down today rather than restart for just one day after yesterday’s holiday. I am supposed to start this knitalong early next week …

Next thought was to try to get the merino I used for the swatch in a colour I’d want to use, but of course I can’t find the samples for that. I decided to phone the shop anyway and ask for a verbal description of any pastel shades, and if all else fails, get it in white/natural and dye it. No answer. It seems the shop is shut this week too. It doesn’t open on Mondays, so even if I phone her again on Tuesday, it isn’t likely to reach me earlier than next Friday or Saturday.

I phoned another mill to get information about their fine weaving cotton. You guessed it … they were closed.

To end on a happier note, we may have found a way to get rid of an unwanted wheel. It is a fairly modern wheel, possibly Russian-made, saxony type with a 16″ wheel. We bought it second-hand a few years ago because we were trying to take two Ashfords (Traveller and Traddy) to meetings in a very small car. Soon afterwards, I treated myself to a Joy, and we replaced the car with a bigger one, so the saxony has rarely been used.

We have 4 other wheels in the house now. DH uses my original wheel (the Traveller). I use the Joy as my main wheel. My old Traddy has a lace flyer on it at the moment, though we may get a jumbo flyer for it eventually. The newest member of the flock is a yew Timbertops chair wheel, bought used just before Christmas. I need to clean it up a bit and oil it, as it hadn’t been used for a while. Jim Williamson (Timbertops) is kindly sending me a copy of the information sheet(s) he sends out with new wheels, so I’m waiting for that, and meanwhile getting the saxony fit for sale.

This seems an appropriate day to finally start a blog, though given my difficulty in maintaining a diary I wonder how good I will be at updating this. I suppose the only way to find out is to try …

This is intended to be a blog of my fibre activities, not my personal life (I bet you are relieved to read that!) So, what do I have to report today?

I have a number of projects I should be starting in the next few days. Two of them are knitalongs, which will be a new experience for me. I’ve been swatching for one of those, the Estonian Garden wrap from Fiber Trends. My first swatch was using a grey Shetland singles (not spun by me), but that skewed badly so I’m going to save that for a garter stitch lace project rather than try to block the skewing out of the wrap. My second attempt was with a 2/15 merino weaving yarn:

I like this one, the look and the hand of the fabric, but I don’t have it in a colour I’d like for this wrap and I can’t get more before the knitalong is due to start. I do have some 2/18 white merino yarn on its way, so I’ll probably swatch that when it arrives. If it works, I’ll dye some for the wrap.