The never ending scarf part III

I have been knitting this scarf off and on, since April.  I learned this pattern from a fellow knitter friend last October, while sitting and spinning/knitting with the fellow lilies at the National City Train Depot.   Although I do not know the name of this pattern, it is still my favorite at this moment in time.  Sort of feathery, and the mistakes hide very well.  

I started knitting this with one small ball of yarn, then ran out and had to start with a second ball.  This afternoon I started at it again, and decided  that I want to make this a long scarf (to wrap around my head, of course).  So, naturally, as I ran out of the second ball, I had to switch to a third.  I could never have planned how beautiful this would turn out, and this is a great reminder to me to always be adaptable, flexible, and to go with the flow.  You can never plan fun.  And beautiful things are born usually with little effort, and lot of patience.  

Once again I find myself mezmorized by the colors that I dyed- there are so many hidden in here I cannot begin to list them all.  When I dye wool I always write down the colors and repeats that I chose, as well as the way I dyed it.  If I remember correctly, all of this yarn was "painted" using the sponge method.  And every color in my dye stash is present here.  With a three ply yarn one can never go wrong, and this scarf will last forever, as a three ply cord is not easily broken.

Dave- I know you are reading this- and I hope you enjoy.  We should meet up soon, until then email me your favorite colors and I will start on something for you.  Can't guarantee it will be ready anytime soon, but nevertheless...  let me know.  Also- I won't be at RBD this year :(  Wish I could....  I do hope you have fun in Montana...  Just let me know when you get back from the wedding?

Here is one more pic of the scarf, you can see more of it in this one...  And, Kevin says hi everyone.  He has been sick the past 2 days and is slowly getting over his summer cold.  Luckily he is a trooper.  Fingers crossed I don't catch it.  

Hope to finish this never ending scarf part III by the end of the.....  summer?  By the way, this is the third scarf I have knit using this pattern.  Second one is also almost complete.  More later on that one.  From the yarn fairy.

Floppy Beret and Skinny Scarf

I had made this yarn some time ago, perhaps in late December of 2011.  Using combed USA top from Village Spinning and Weaving that I dyed with mostly hunter green, with some yellow,  and I plied it with more combed top that I dyed plum mixed with copenhagen blue (and a little royal blue because I couldn't help myself).  I also spun some raw wool that I got from my friend Lorraine's sheep, I washed it and hand carded, and plyed it with some gold.  I also mixed in some little flecks of gold & bronze to add some sparkle.  Here is the skein of yarn after I soaked it to set the twist and it dried, very funky:

I was home about 6 weeks ago visiting family, and for a beautiful wedding reception for an old wonderful friend, Ann, and her new sweet hubby Jarrod.  Congratulations to Dr. Jarrod Smith :)  Well done.  I must admit, I enjoyed myself very much with these old friends, and also enjoyed the weekend with with my grandmother - grandma Camilla, who is a long time knitter/crocheter.  I mentioned this before on a previous post, she wanted me to bring her some of my handspun yarn, so I did....  and she is currently working on making me a hat.  I brought her some extra yarn (of course...) and while I was in Yankton I got in touch with my dear friend Joe Yaggie, and after a late night rendezvous I tracked him down the next day at Majestic Bluffs and dropped off some yarn for him to have some fun with.  I ended up giving him the same green/gold/white/plum yarn that is pictured above.  He is a very creative and cheerful person, and someone who makes me smile no matter what!  So, today I come home from another crazy day at work, and what do I find in the mailbox???  Joseph W. Yaggie Originals:

Joe also made me a skinny scarf, and I temporarily tied it on my fiddle case as a strap, but now am hesitant because it is so pretty I don't dare stretch it out.  Will make for a nice belt, too.  Here is a picture of the hat next to the fiddle case with the skinny scarf draped through.  The hat has a cute flower, which comes off if I chose to take it off.  I could pin it on my shirt or jacket...  I am in love with it!

On to make more yarn, after dinner with the boys.

Downstairs Dye Day

No one reads my blog, except for a brilliant CBS editor...  But anaway, here I go!  

This weekend was very productive around the house, and with friends.  Enjoyed hiking at Torrey Pines North Extension, and on the beach at Torrey Pines, did some yard work in the mornings (too much perhaps).  Delicious food all around, and now finally sitting down to relax with a hard apple cider.  On to today, Sontag.  Today has brought the usual putzing around.  I made it a point to get a new book, to weave a little, to make pancakes, not drink too much coffee (it is Sontag, for crying out loud), and I even squeezed in a little nap after visiting with my grandmother who told me that she finished the hat she knit for me.  She said she put a darling little flower on it!  Besides all of that I still wanted to keep myself out of trouble and off of the streets, so, I also made a point to dye some prepared top.  And, instead of working upstairs, I brought just what I needed downstairs, and dyed in the kitchen down here.  I kept the front door open to air out the wonderful vinegar smell.  

Kevin helped me with my indecisiveness as I struggled to pick out the right colors to dye with.  Usually picking the colors is not a problem for me, and I don't even have to think much about it.  But, today for some reason it was a little bit harder to decide.  So, I let Kevin pick.  He picked Scarlet Red and Gold. 

Here it was cooking.

And, here after it is done cooking.

And the second and final rinses.

Not much of the color bled in the rinse, so that is good.  But, I still wish they were more colorful.  Maybe I need to lower my expectations, and perhaps I can ply this with something bolder and it will be just fine.

I am happier with it as it is drying.

Here is some three-ply yarn that I finished the other week.  Plum, Plum & Scarlet, and Gold.  Turned out beautifully.  I made quite a lot of it, and will hang it by the kitchen window until I decide what it shall become.

Now off to make some bow-tie pasta with no sauce, the way Kevin likes it.  Have some dough that I will bake, with some garlic on top.  And if the basil is still fresh enough it will accompany the garlic.

Here is Kevin at the beach, and one of his drawings in the sand.  He wrote "No fireworks" I think he remembers a new sign that we saw in the forest from camping last weekend.  Or else he heard us talking again about how unfortunate it was that all of the 15 minutes of fireworks went off around San Diego Bay within less than 20 seconds this year.  Oops, maybe someone hit their big butt on the switches.  At least now I know we didn't have the movie turned up to loud, we were watching Mouse Trap and I thought we missed the fireworks show and only heard the finale.  Good to know I'm not losing it!

no *fireworks.

Sky Blue Old Ivory two ply

Made some yummy bread, loaded with garlic and fresh basil.  I was introduced to this recipe some time ago, and have since been perfecting it.  Thank you to a dear friend Teresa for teaching me how to take care of dough!  

Also- I two-plied the Old Ivory and Sky Blue roving that I dyed previously.  It is balled up and ready to send to  my grandmother, who wants to make me a hat with it.  I am plying some more yarn for her to keep, too.  I heard she has recovered smoothly from a recent hip replacement surgery, so I need to get this in the mail.  Here is is soaking:

Here it is dry, and balled up.  Turned out great.

Green three ply

I plied this yarn tonight, of green, green and gold.  Now back to the blue and ivory.  With two spinning wheels it is easy to get side tracked....

Cape and apron

So... I have been hung up on the ruffles on the dress that I am making, so I deviated from the dress and decided to make an apron.  The apron is very ruffly and full in the front, as I was sub-consciously practicing ruffles...  I guess the apron didn't keep me busy enough because I decided to make a collared cape.  And the cape turned out stunning.  It is dark blue on the outer part, and lined with a green grass print.  I even added a white lace ruffle around the neck.  I found the pattern in a book about making historic attire.  the diagram was very small, so I think I did pretty well considering the small print.  I will wear this to Old Town this Saturday, while I sit with the ladies.  Hope I don't knock anything over with the cape.

Old Ivory and Blue Sky Dye Day

Yesterday I dyed some combed blue faced leceister wool (thank you Susan) with two new colors.  I was excited about trying the Blue Sky, and not sure what to expect from the Old Ivory.  Here is the wool before I got started:

The bfl is so soft to work with.  And the fun part is you never know what you are going to end up with.  Here is the fiber about half way through:

Ok, so then I decided to add some Turquoise Blue.  

I can never seem to keep it at just two colors.

I let it sit for about 40 minutes all wrapped up.  Then steamed it for about 40 minutes.  Pulled it out and let it cool in the sink for about 10 minutes (I will spare you the picture of it), then rinsed it.  To my surprise, the blues did not bleed at all:

Will it be yellow?

The Ivory is changing as it is drying.  Next weekend I will spin singles and then ply this against itself, probably just a two-ply yarn.  

Late last night the turquoise became green.  More on the Blue Oyster mushrooms later.