Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Dye harvest 2013

This past Saturday we had our dye harvest party. I didn't get pictures or emails of any participants, but we had a good number - not too few, not too many. On the Wednesday before, I dug up some madder and started soaking the roots:
Madder roots
 One thing that's fun to knit is space dyed yarn, made into a giant loop (10 m or more):
Wet Tofutsies tangle

Dry Tofutsies giant loop

Fleece, roving, Kenzie yarn
 The lovely purple stayed in the pot, while the yarn turned dull blue:
Purple basil pot

Dye garden today, flax in foreground

My prize Kenzie yarn with dyed leftover Kenzie
 What prize, you ask? My prize from Skacel for playing along in challenge 3 of the Fiber Factor.
Tofutsies: basil and tamed giant loop

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Tai Chi camp

Last week we were in Orangeville, near Toronto, camping out for CIT week. It was so crazy this is the only picture I took there:
Chanting stations
I took this picture because it was so odd - this is usually our big empty practice  hall. They had us kneel here for a few photos, but we didn't actually chant here - it was all theater for the Canadian tax people doing an audit of the Society.

Anyway, there were 700 in attendance, more than can practice in this hall. There was overflow on the back deck (except during rain) and in the old practice hall. The food service was excellent, but our numbers put a strain on the plumbing, especially when someone flushed something they shouldn't have down a toilet. We were told not to flush after every use, but that's hard for some and I had to show the way. The Alaska saying is "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down."

We had our tasks to do: washing dishes, restocking porta-potties, etc. During other breaks I made some progress on the sleeves of my sweater, but they sure went slowly. I finally finished the sweater just now, two days after the deadline. Oh well, the pattern is too crazy to write down, much less expected to sell the yarn (which was the theme this round - sell the yarn). Nevertheless, I made what I wanted to and the thing is soft, warm and will fuzz up with washing. Here it is:
My "blank slate" sweater

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Blank Slate

I've been working on my next item for the Fiber Factor challenges. Ten days to go and I don't think I'll make it in time, what with the sleeves not even started. It's a crazy sweater - so crazy I'm not writing it up, other than some notes on Ravelry. I like the yarn, but I'm thinking I'd like the sweater better in a Noro yarn. You're not surprised, are you? Anyway, this is where I'm at:
Start of Blank Slate




The fair starts tomorrow, which means the hard part for us is already done: entry day, judging day, and booth set-up. My fish sweater took class champ, but not grand champ - and I didn't lose to the thing I thought I'd lose to. I got a theme ribbon for a knit salmon - the theme is Salmonchanted Evening - and another for the fish sweater.