Picking new dye jobs

Hosting a Guild Meeting

Oh, fun! I get to host our next Wachusett Spinners Guild meeting this coming Sunday. Very excited, and a little stressed. Housekeeping is not one of my strengths, and we have a sizable home for just two humans and two dogs. The canines keep us in plenty of dog-hair tumble weeds, and we humans are rat packers. Stuff is everywhere. Signs of intelligent minds, right? So, I've warned a few of the ladies, and Betsy commented that the Guild members were sure  to leave plenty of fiber matter behind so who really cares? Okay. I can do this.

Samples of natural dyeing experiments from last year. Note the hot turmeric yellow! Who knew?!

Have been picking my naturally dyed fiber collection while watching news and movies with Jeff in the basement home office. Multitasking in this way makes me feel  very productive. Handling the different fleece fibers is fascinating. Border Leicester compared to Southdown compared to Finn/Suffolk compared to Mohair. So satisfying. Hmmmmm, maybe today is a fiber indulgence day after all!

What a month!

I will let the pictures do the talking. Family and friends in Hillsdale, new dog (Igby), new experiments with washing and dyeing in the studio, and much more still to come.


Here we go. . .

Nino, Elaine and Mom.

Oliver and mom play a board game.

Mom and Adam (does he look like Dad?)

Silhouette of Oliver in the tree house.

The young Indiana Jones?

This is Igby.

The boys are getting along quietly.

Carrot tops are easy and fun to work with.

Testing out different dye bath recipes.

The stash is growing, and growing, and growing. Looks nice in mom's handmade baskets.

Drying calendula flowers.

SO EXCITED! The new picker! Chris and I are sharing it, and the fun of using it.

Self portrait.

Just love this book.

During a break, we played Jeric's favorite game -- Shred the Twig!

Food coloring-dyed mohair freshly picked. Note the before and after samples.

Ok, this is so bad . . .

My friend Sara's new blog The Salty Ewe is a wonderful read. Puts me to shame. Here it is AUGUST, and I actually have been fiber-busy, but who would know it? So, back to posting.

Some of my July and, now early August activities have included:

Meeting with the Guild women and experimenting with a new large drum carder, and a rather intimidating (think medieval!) wool picker. We made beautiful batts as you can see . . .


And, some nice mother-daughter time at the Hillsdale farmers' market . . . something we both enjoy doing together.


Of course, spending a few days a week volunteering at the Worcester Animal Rescue League remains important to me, and so rewarding. One of my favorite girls is Bobbie Lee, a banshee in her kennel and a doll on the leash. Just a gorgeous girl.


And,yes, time with dear friend Sara in ME last month was heavenly.Jeric and I slept in her camper, went for nice walks with Sara and Beate, and enjoyed the sights and sounds and smells of the sheep and their wool. Dyeing and washing on her porch in some the nicest summer weather we've had, was, in my opinion, a gift of a day.




Big plans for August include another dye day with Sara, giving a workshop with the Guild at NOFA/Mass' Summer Conference 2010, and much more picking and carding!