Monday, January 19, 2009






Dyeing






It's been a stressful few months here. My dear Mom got sick in October with pneumonia. She has dementia, and each illness has taken away cognitive skills. After several weeks of rehab, she just wasn't getting better. She has had to stay in a nursing home, and has moved to the Alzheimers unit. She is much happier there, as there are a lot of others at her level of functioning, so she has more people she can socialize with. She has always enjoyed talking with others.






I took a week off work to finish moving her stuff from the assisted living facility she had been at for the past years. What a chore! My garage is overflowing! Come warmer weather, I will go thru all the wonderful stuff that she had there, as well as what was at her apartment (and is also in my garage). As a life long crafter, there is plenty to go thru.






Part of my vacation time was also for myself. I had great plans to clean house and organize my stash, what a joke! I think I made more of a mess than I did to clean up






All the wool I've been collecting was calling to me for color. Recently I found the dyepot and a collection of dye stock that had to be nearing 20 years old! So I got busy


On the left is part of a pile of silk hankies that had been languishing upstairs for a couple years. They look much prettier in color! There are still a few white ones waiting... Next to that are some Cotswold curls, in back are more curls in yellow. The pink and light green is Suri Alpaca. The yellow is overdyed light brown. The other assorted colors are mill end merino/nylon.





A little spinning was also done. Finished the first bobbin of slippery merino/tencel laceweight. Now need to spin the second bobbin and ply.

This pretty little batt was spun into a small skein of thick and thin, plied with a Crystal Palace glittery yarn. It's only 20 yards. Spinning art yarn is my next endeavor.
Yesterday I took the drum carder apart, cleaned it, and put it back together. The drums were too close together, there is now a little space between them. Have been reading Intertwined and Ravelry groups for art yarn spinners. Just need to get going with the drum carder now that I have clean and colorful yarn. That will be the subject of another posting, hopefully not too far in the future.