Jocelyn's Green Alpaca Hat

Jocelyn just listed this darling hat in her newly established Etsy shop. I met Jocelyn last year when she was in Germany and she ordered some yarn from me. I think she does something with law (an attorney, maybe?) for the military. She's now back in the States. Jocelyn is one of those cyber friends that folks feel a special connection with - and she loves her dog so she has to be a terrific person.
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This hat is from yarn from our white alpaca, Pollux, that I hand dyed. So go visit her shop and keep a close eye on it because she is a beautiful knitter.

Girls Go Wild

Yep, we got as wild and crazy as we small town women can get. Saturday knitting and lunch with ourMiddle of the Mitt fiber group. Pam was our instructor for double knitting....you know, like you can end up with a tube, or a pocket, or a pencil holder, or........... well, best not put it in writing but our friend Kathy has made and decorated a few. Too bad that she wasn't there to learn this new technique. Pam is a knitter and pattern designer extraordinare and you can visit her blog here, and her Etsy shop here.

Majacraft Dyeing Magic

I do love spinning on my Majacraft. I started spinning on a Louet and it was very nice, then I just sat down and played on a Majacraft and fell in love. To top that off, the company had just introduced the one with the alpaca carved on it. Well, that was an omen for sure, I ordered one.

She came with the plastic spindles and I was told by several folks that I could dye on them - but haven't found anyone who actually does. I tried it and how fun! (I normally spin with my Woolee Winder).

I mixed a little Periwinkle and Hot Fuschia powder together, poured hot water on it and mixed it up. From past experience I know that the Periwinkle will pop out some pink somehow.

I dumped the dye solution into my dye kettle with some almost boiling water. I eased two spindles of white handspun (that had been soaking in a vinegar/water solution overnight) into the hot water, and let it simmer for about an hour.

In the picture I smooshed some of the blue aside so that you can see the pink underneath. This was all a nice surprise, because I expected the inside to be white. See below for the yarn. ↓

Spindle Dyed Alpaca

I ♥ the way this turned out and am anxious to knit some up because I think the knitting will gradually change from pink to blue. That would be really neat in a hat, I think. See the little blue dots in the pink..... The plastic spindles have 14 little holes up the hollow center and the blue dye seeped into the spindle.

SarahJo from Grand Rapids, MI

No, no, I didn't make these lovely wrist warmers. I just can't crochet even though I've tried a couple of times. SaraJo from Grand Rapids, MI purchased the yarn from me a while back and created a couple pair of them. You can purchase them in her Etsy shop SarahJo. Go take a look.
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I have just one skein of this lovely yarn left. It is a blend of Lady Belita and white Merino sheep that Stonehedge spun up for me. I love to send fiber to Stonehedge because it is a small family operation in East Jordan, Michigan.

A Successful Experiment

I need to share this happy little experiment with you. I finished dyeing the roving on the left and quite a lot of dye was left in my crock pot. So, I poured it into the canning jar, added a glug of white vinegar, and stuffed in the little 95 yard ball of handspun that was waiting for a project in my knitting basket. I zapped it in the microwave for 3 minutes and let it cool. The color was totally exhausted and the yarn came out beautiful because the outer part of the ball was much darker than the inside. Really pretty as you can see below. It was in my Etsy store about five hours before it sold.