Fibre Revisited Day 3 May 10

I you remember the first patch I dyed in the greece (unwashed) was green and it took me many many washes to get all the excess dye out of the fleece.  So today we will look at the second pot which I soaked in cold water to remove some of the dirt.  I drained this and let it sit in the sun just till it got the icy cold water from the outdoor tap.  I then put it into a cool dye bath of a very dark brown and red dye stock.  It took a long time to heat the pot up on my little electric burner.   I thought I might not have got it clean in the dye pot but it feels lovely.

The 3rd pot I actually washed the fleece first too see what the difference in the final produce would be.  This batch took really different from tip to cut end and I got a lighter green than the first pot even though I used more dye of a similar colour.  I am not measuring my wool or my dye so I can’t reproduce anything that I get but that’s the fun of it.

It took much less rinsing with this batch as it was clean before going into the dye pot. So looking at the 3 different ways I dyed these I came to the conclusion that the end result was the same so it all boils down to do I want to use that  much time and hot water to rinse the unwashed fleece after dyeing.

The green in the pillow case is the first one I dyed, the brown was the second and the one closest was the last of that batch.

Next in this fleece will be the picking it apart and then carding in preparation for spinning.  I am determined to get all the fleece washed and dyed while the weather is nice so the carding and spinning will have to wait.

Tomorrow I will tell you about all my ooppes of today.

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Fibre revisited ground zero

I’m going back a bit from my last post as much to keep myself organized as telling my fibre story.

We got home from the farm and Fred unpacked the trunk and put it on my dye table

it didn’t look like that much when we were at the farm.  I know I have showed a picture of the bags already but it just looks like so much more sitting on the table.

While I already had one dye pot on the go I dumped my first pick fleece on the drying rack to sort it and take all the bits of straw and grass etc. out of it.  Then into a bag to be taken care of later.

Let’s have a closer look at it. I wish I could put the smell and the feel of it in this blog but……

This is going to make some mighty good yarn.  It will puff up and be soft and wonderful.

As to day is Mother’s Day I am going to stop here and continue with day one tomorrow.

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Fibre revisited day 1

Ater years I decided to get back into dyeing my own fibre so my first step was to visit my friend Cindy and pick up some fleece.  I ended up getting 5 garbage bags full of fleece

next pick a bag and see what we have.  I decided on the biggest bag which had more than one fleece in it and I wanted to see what we had.

Now came the part where we have to make decisions, what to keep and what to throw away.

I decided the first day would be dyeing in the greece which means I’m not going to was the wool/fleece before I dye it.  I picked a kaki green for my first colour and I knew that because of the greece I would get an assortment of shades in each lock of fibre.  (for those that don’t know what a lock is I will explain it later) I put the dye, dish soap, vinegar and hot water in in one of my many dye pots and stuck it on the burner.

Many steps up and down from carport to kitchen filling the pot with hot tap water, pooped already.  Filled the pot with more water and then stuffed in the fleece.  Cooked it for 45 minutes after it came to a boil ( yes I know I’m not supposed to boil it for all my fibre friends reading this)  Now started the very long procedure .  Because it was dyed in the greece or with the lanolin still in it as well as all the  dirt that a sheep accumulates  it must be rinsed right away before it cools and the greece re-adhears to the fibre, this must be done in very hot water so the fibre won’t be shocked and felt on you. It is also not a very efficient use of dye as a lot of it gets washed down the drain with the dirt and greece.   Finally I get fed up with all this re-rinsing and put the batch in mesh bag and put in the washer to spin out the excess water.

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A lesson learned

Sometimes we find ourselves in strange unknown places and that’s exactly where I found myself this past weekend.  When my daughter Joellyn phoned and said her hubby and oldest son were going to a Mixed Marshal Arts competition in North Vancouver on the weekend and that her and their youngest son were coming as well Fred and I decided it would be great to pop over to the mainland and see them.  I knew that Eli was involved with a boxing group at the church they attend but didn’t really understand anything about it other than it was a good exercise and energy releaser.  We were looking forward to seeing  what Eli has been up to lately.

At this point I must tell you I am a pacifist of the first order  and yet I found myself at a mixed marshal arts competition. If I had been wise I would have looked up mixed marshal arts before going and I wouldn’t have found myself in the emotional state I found myself in.  I tried very hard to be a good grandma but found myself breaking down as I watched little girls of about 4 years of age punching and kicking one another, now true they were wearing protective gear but here were someones little babies hitting and kicking each other when “I thought they should be playing with dolls or toy trucks”.  At the other end of the arena were the older teens doing the same thing but with much more power behind every blow and soon there was blood. “Doc Martin” and I can’t handle the sight of blood and it does effect our day to day lives, and on this day it made me crash and before I knew it I was crying and my grandson hadn’t even started his first competition.  We left the arena and went and spent the day with our younger grandson who just didn’t want to get out of bed but was soon tempted to join us in a trip to the mall.

Sunday we woke up, had breakfast and headed back to the arena.  Thankfully at this point I was in better control of my emotions and was able to watch Eli win a silver medal in his last competitions.  I still don’t know the names of the 3 different disciplines he competed in but I do have a better understanding of what they are doing.

It has taken me a week to come to grips with all of this and I have finally decided that although it may not be my cup of Latte’ (don’t like tea) it’s ok for others to enjoy it and take part in it.  This may not seem like a big deal to you but it is a huge step for me.

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some pendants

here are a few pendants that I have made, in blues and purples

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Back in the Saddle or I’m making beads again

I’m slowly getting my stash listed on ArtFire and Etsy but I still have a lot but I decided it didn’t matter how many beads I have I still need to make more.

The blue and green one is from my stash and the Raku one is newer one.

 

Just a bunch of dots

 

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Sorting, yes I said sorting

Well here we are past the middle of September and I still haven’t listed any new beads on  my Artfire shop   http://Sueze.artfire.com   or my Etsy shop.  http://www.Sueze.etsy.com/

I have been having too much fun playing with beads instead of making sets of beads to sell but I finally have some sets ready to list and still I am sorting.

A tray full of sort of sorted beads

There is always more than one way to combine beads, at least that’s my excuse for all this playing.

Today the torch is calling me but then so are the beads, computer,loom,dog, oh yea and the 101’s game on facebook.

Well maybe I will list something before I go back to the torch.

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I made all of these??

Last week I decided I was going to get rid of some of my beads.  My first idea was to have a grab bag sale on my ArtFire shop so I ran it past my darling daughter who make lovely jewellery, well she didn’t think it was such a good idea as she would want to see what she was going to get.  I thought maybe just grab a handful and put it in a clear bag and take a picture of it but that didn’t fly with me I’m too monochromatic to be able to do that.  I finally settled on picking beads of similar colours and made some bags and then I had to make sets and this is what I’m left with I think I still have a ways to go.

The whole thing

What you want a closer look? 🙂

cookie tray of beads

Oh wait that’s not all.

cookie tin full of beads

And then there are these that I don’t know if I can part with.

sorting

Well that’s it and tomorrow I think I will sit at my torch and make some more 🙂

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Good bye to my best 4 legged friend

One never truly appreciates something or someone until they are gone.

Four months ago our little Rudolf Vanentino aka Rudy/Rude Dude/The Rudester/RudyDudy  passed away, he was my best bud for 15 years and even now as I write this tears come to my eyes.

I am rather dashing

In case you can’t tell Rudy was a mini Dachshund and a very dashing fellow was he.  When he was 10 months old he gave his first bark- it was a very momentous occasion not only was it his first bark but he was also showing his great prowess as a guard dog for he warned us of a break-in that was happening in our home as we slept.  From that time on he let us know when someone was coming up the walk, knocking at the door and occasionally when the phone was ringing.  He was not a yappy dog by any means but no one could sneak into our house without us knowing about it.  He loved our grandsons to bits and when they moved away he missed them terribly.

He always covered himself up when he was sleeping either on the sofa or in him many beds (one in each room) so when sitting down you had to make sure that Rudy wasn’t under that blanket on the sofa.  At 6 months he taught himself how to sit up and beg (sitting up is something you should never teach a Dachie to do) but when they teach them selves what can you do but give in. I don’t believe I can’t find a picture of him sitting up.

What can I say even an old man can take a good picture

Even though he was getting old he was still a very reliable alarm clock, waking Fred up every morning at 6 am.  He was very good about time he would let us know it was 5 pm and time for supper and at 8:30 pm it was time for his evening bickie snack.  10:00 pm it was time for Fred and Rudy to go to bed and Rudy always let Fred know.

His tongue hung out the right side of his mouth because he had no teeth there but it just made him look cute in his old age.  His eyes were clouding over but he never lost his sight.  He loved when we would go camping and he especially loved when we went to visit the grandsons. Rudy grew up with Cornish Rex cats and when our last one passed on he really seemed to miss the interaction they had.  He never played fetch but he did have a favourite toy-a pound puppy- which his new brother ate 😦

In 2006 we brought a new puppy home for Rudy his name is The Duke or Duker and he is a English Springer Spaniel. When we brought Duke home he was already bigger than Rudy’s 10 lbs but Rudy never let him forget who the boss was.

I'm the Duke!

I’m Rudy and I’m am the ALFA DOG!!

Are you sure this isn't my bed?

Size didn’t seem to matter much when they played Rudy always ended up with Duke pinned and Rudy proudly proclaiming the prize, well there was no prize but he was definitely the winner.  As Duke got a little older and a little taller the game changed from 4 on the floor to Duke lying down and Rudy jumping all over him with Duke encouraging him with nose bumps and a few bats with his paws.

What do you mean you don't want to play anymore?

Rudy is gone and our life will never be the same.  Good bye old Friend!

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Beads for silent auction

I should have posted these pictures last week but just got bogged down with life so better late than never. 

The jewelry was made by Kat using my lampwork beads plus beads from her stash.  The pieces will be donated to the 

National Aboriginal Day Silent
Auction (towards the Aboriginal Law Student Scholarship Trust Fund) June 24 and 25.

I’ll let you know when Kat has her Etsy Shop up and running. 

If you want more info on the silent auction contact me for a contact number.

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