Spinning Away

I have a stash of plant dyed fibre. I was absolutely fascinated by the process of plant dying: the gathering of the plant material, the mordanting, the dyeing, the crafting of things with it. I planted dye gardens, gathered as I walked, I bought more stuff than I probably needed and made numerous things out of it. It was all part of my being a Waldorf School Handwork teacher. But alas, I am no longer that, my kids are grown up and I no longer need hair for fairies, beards for gnomes or a really itchy handspun hat that my son Joshua did lovingly wear.
In the meantime I have discovered that there is life beyond plant dyed fibre and have moved into that world. So what do I do with my stash?. Well, I decided to transform it and have been spinning it into skeins that I dream I will knit up into a blanket. Everyone needs a blanket.

Summer is passing

Well, here in the Okanagan the summer seems to be waning and I think that the days of swimming in the lake are numbered. In the yarn store I work, the Art of Yarn, people seem to be thinking about knitting again. I sure am, though I never really stop, and while camping I knit 2 cowls. The first one was knit in Malabrigo's Rasta which is a super bulky merino wool. It was soft and will be beautiful to wear. I'm not sure I like working with such big needles, though I may make another one since the yarn was so much fun and I loved the effect. The second one was knit also in Malabrigo but the Twist. It was easy and quick to make and almost as soft