So far, so good...even if the Yarn Along post (that I am GOING to do every week this year!) is a day late. I even doubled up posts for Tuesday so there wouldn't be a conflict for Wednesday. Sigh...
I've now spun two bobbins of Liddy and a small skein of Emily/Annabelly on the CPW. At the house I clocked 310 yards of Hershey on the Joy. I also found (another) hat pattern I just can't live without, so Miss B and I dyed some stashed Jester yarn for that. We also dyed some roving for her and half of a 2013 Elizabeth fleece that I found when I cleaned up the barn last year.
We started with a skein of medium gray and a skein of dark gray. I also had a skein of dark green and medium green Jester already dyed from a project from several years ago...unfinished, like so many others, languishing in my stash.
I was happy with the dark green, so left that as-is/as-was. The light green (far right) got over dyed to make the dark navy and dark brown. The dark blue was done with one of the three blues I have that I didn't think to make a note of. I'm pretty sure we added some black to darken it as well, but again, no note. Make Yarn. Use Yarn. LABEL Yarn :-o.
The brown was done in stages. First we used red over the green and then over-dyed that with yellow. We still weren't happy, so over-dyed that with brown. Jacob is a great yarn for beginning dyers because it takes a ton of abuse.
The white is a small skein of Annabelly I had left from what I'd had to spin to finish off the collar of the Jester sweater several years ago. I love that she is going to be part of this Jester project as well :-). She was the first of the Belly lambs he adopted all those years ago.
I should have been ready to cast on, but I decided to take down of the Christmas decorations yesterday...which then gave me too much time to stew on everything...and this morning I decided I wasn't absolutely happy with the dark green, so we over-dyed it a couple more times again.
The small squiggle of yarn next to the light green is where we started. The brownish green next to it is the original dark green over-dyed with orange and the skein next to that was the same original dark green over-dyed with brown. I think I'm leaning towards the orange green at this point. Now I just need to "git knittin".
Here is the hat. It's Gone To The Mountains by fellow Yarn Along-er Andee Fagan. Here is the story behind the pattern. Not only is it really pretty, but the pattern is for a good cause as well ;-).
Here is the Hershey skein. New followers are probably wondering what I used to dye this chocolate color. Actually, you are probably wondering why a grey sheep is named Hershey in the first place, now that I think about it ;-). Here is why. Isn't he cute? And wow, look how young everyone looks! And the "big white lamb"? That ended up being Rocket - Andy and Levi's dad :-).
I have a couple neat books to share and I'd include one here, but it's getting late and I need to go haul all my house plants back in the house. Yes, after several days in the single digits, it's been raining and mid to upper 60s. Everyone got out for a good shower and drink and needs to come back in in the off chance it hits freezing tonight. Plus, I'd like to actually Cast On and Use Yarn! :-D
Joining in with Ginny...
5 comments:
You dye, overdye, then decide "No, it needs to be more x color" and dye again the same way I start knitting anything. I always say that everything I knit, I knit at least three times - the first swatch, then about two inches of object. Then "no, what if I...?" which means frogging, another swatch, and starting over. This is either followed by six inches of knitting and the realisation that Gauge Swatches Lie, or "Eh, I liked the first way better." Either way, beginning again!
But your colors are truly lovely - such depth! And if you get tired and frustrated hauling plants in and out, not only are you not alone (our monthly temperatures resemble a sine wave), just imagine yourself wearing the Bellies and Hershey on your head! Balancing all of that sheepiness. Then mentally take off all of that ovine weight - and you'll feel great!
You ended up with gorgeous colors. I look forward to seeing the hat.
The photo of Hershey sleeping is adorable! The hat pattern will be a nice addition to your winter wear, and it's such a good cause. Will enjoy seeing your hat develop!
Beautiful colors and you spin amazing yarn! Love your blog and pictures.
Beautiful yarn !
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