Visit Spinster’s

We took the weekend off for an “away date.” We drove to Baltimore to see the model train show, where I got an interesting book about the Pennsy Railroad, Conemaugh Branch. Little known fact about me – I have lots of old books about steel mills, railroads, and coal mines.

From the train show we headed back towards the city so that I could visit Spinster Yarns and Fibers on Harford Rd. I did a little stash-enhancing and also got to visit with some old friends. Andrea carries some unusual yarns that I have not seen in any other shops, including yarn from Thirteen Mile Yarns, who produce predator-friendly, plant-dyed organic yarns.

We spent the night at the Inner Harbor and had a fabulous dinner – Restaurant Week in Baltimore was concluding.

Knitting has been slow the past week, work interfered. But last weekend I was able to give my friend Jen her new Clapotis. It will keep her snuggly in her chilly office and she loved the colors.

Since I do not have photos to post with this entry – click on over to the Red Scarf Gallery, where photos are up now that the scarves are ready to be sent.

 

weekend update

Finally, after very slow progress, a scarf from Kidsilk Night is finished. Never again. I clenched the needles so tightly the entire time that I was knitting this lovely little cloud that I ended up needing a stick-on magnetic heating pad on each shoulder. However, the recipient is special and I do not begrudge the time or discomfort. Instead I thought of her the entire time that I was knitting and sent many good thoughts her way. Today I will block, but right now it is all puffy:

This morning I cast off a ripple stitch scarf for myself. Still needs to be blocked, but here’s a shot from yesterday, when I was close to finishing:

It is made with alternating strands of a semi-solid, Oasis Yarn Seduction Silk,

and a two-plied sock yarn from Rio De La Plata.

Knitting a scarf with sock yarn takes a little more time than knitting with worsted! My last three scarves have been with very lightweight yarns, all very enjoyable to knit.

I have some Big Kureyon drying – I soaked it yesterday because I plan to knit something with it that does not like to be blocked. That’s right, I am so in love with my first Clapotis that I have to make another one. Every time I wear it I get comments. Casual, but elegant and drapey. It looks great with a denim jacket and still works at the office.

Meanwhile, I will be swatching for a jacket or sweater. I would like to knit one more big winter project before thoughts of spring take over. I think I have knit thirteen scarves this season. Seems like a nice round number.

In the backyard, a sharp-shinned hawk has taken to perching on top of one of the bird feeders every morning. A broad-shouldered hawk and a Northern harrier have also been frequent visitors. I will be trying for some good photos.

If you would, please leave a comment with your favorite podcast. Somehow I wound up with an iPhone. : – )

 

Walnut Dye Results

I couldn’t bring myself to dump out my large pot of walnut-y goodness until I used it all up. On Friday I dyed:

3 skeins of E.Lavold Silky Wool

1 skein of Louet Gems

1 skein of Cascade

I simmered the Cascade for about an hour, and the rest for 90 minutes. I wanted the Cascade to be a medium shade so that I could knit something interesting with all of the worsted weight. I was also hoping to somewhat control my results on the Silky Wool because I have 6 other skeins that I want to work all together.

Except for the baby alpaca, which dried quickly and has already been put away, everything else is here:

and clicking the photo will take you over to my Flickr page, which has notes over the individual skeins.

In answer to a question, my dye recipe is more or less this:

Gather walnuts, hulls and all. The outer hull, which starts out green and eventually turns dark brown, is the important part. Soak these hulls in water at least overnight, but longer is better. The first dyebath that I did with this year’s nuts soaked for a few days. This second batch soaked for 4 weeks. Dump the walnuts and their soaking water into a big pot and boil for an hour. Wait for the pot to cool and strain out the giant mess. I put a large colander in my pot and the walnuts more or less stay put, which makes straining much easier.

Wet out the wool, stick it into the pot, and simmer. Move it about the pot gently from time to time. Because it takes some time for the pot to cool, I usually end up doing the actual dyeing the next day. I don’t want to shock my wool by putting it into a hot dyebath. Sometimes I remove wool from the pot, let it cool, and then rinse. Sometimes I let the entire pot cool off before removing the wool – this results in a deeper shade.  Different types of wool and wool blends take the dye in a range of shades, and the amount of walnut material per weight of goods makes a difference too. No mordant is necessary with walnuts.

I have kept a dye notebook for two decades with fairly detailed notes and samples, but it’s okay to play and not be so obsessed. I have never seen a natural dye bath that was not lovely.  My favorite reference book for natural dyes is A Dyer’s Garden by Rita Buchanan.

Yesterday I cast off on a Clapotis, knit from Silk Garden 252. It’s all soft and drapey and will go to work with me.

 

What I cooked for Thanksgiving

The weather was perfect for outdoor dyeing today. I’ve had another 10 pounds of walnuts soaking in a bucket for several weeks. Today I dumped it all into a kettle and simmered it, strained it, and added wool yarn. I dyed:

875 yards of a laceweight – 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk

1100 yards of Henry’s Attic Pony

600 yards of Kona superwash, fingering weight

400 yards of worsted weight in two skeins, one skein simmered only half as long as the second

I managed to finish before the rain and wind took over. Everything has been rinsed and now I am waiting impatiently for it all to dry so that I can see the final colors. Each yarn took the dye a bit differently. It’s all much darker than the batch of 1500 yards of bulky weight that I dyed in October, because today’s dye liquor is very nicely aged, and I simmered for close to three hours.

We had a lovely seafood paella for dinner, and reminisced about day-long Thanksgiving cooking sprees that are long past.