As I’ve done for the past few months, I have used the Project Spectrum color guideline to help me choose sock yarn and spinning fibers.

This month, I knit socks for Lois with yarn from Brooklyn Handspun. Lois, who will knit fiddly baby dolls and Aran sweaters and other things that are beyond my scope, will not knit socks. I, of course, would prefer knitting socks to just about anything else and therefore stepped up to the plate and made her these socks.

They were a huge success! She wore them to work the very next day and received loads of compliments from other knitters. I am happy to have made these for my dear friend. And don’t mind that she showed them off one little bit.

My other green projects included spinning this:

Into this:

This was my first time spinning with the Grafton Fiber batts and I just loved it! The fiber practically drafts itself and that helped keep my spinning pretty even.

I also spun this:

Into this:

More first experiences here, this time with Fleece Artist roving. It wasn’t as easy to draft as some fibers I’ve worked with but the colors are beautiful and I love the finished product.

And now, on to June and the color blue. Don’t we all have loads of blue in our stashes?

I’ll be knitting socks from this

Oooh. Yummm. Denim Blue Yarn from Jessie at A Piece of Vermont. Have you ordered yarn from her yet? You really should. I’m just saying.

And I’ll be spinning Foxfire Fiber batts.

I may have gotten a head start on the Foxfire this past weekend. I’ve got the blues and I just couldn’t wait.

So I’ve been composing in my head for two days, trying to come up with a way to explain the beauty of the Massachusetts Sheep & Wool Festival. I had a fabulous time with friends and fiber but the words just weren’t coming.

Well. When I came in the house last night, after a very pleasant cook out on our deck with only my father-in-law for company, I read my dear friend Cate’s post about this past weekend. You must go read it, too. Now, please.

Yeah. I’m done with the words for this because there’s no way I could say it better than Cate did. My little knitting hobby has become such a huge part of my life and the friends I have made because of it, well, it just amazes me. For these are not just blogging acquaintances but real life friends. Even now, I feel like words are failing me. Just read Cate’s post again if you want to know how I feel.

I do, however, have pictures.

The fairgrounds. Really, the whole festival wasn’t much bigger than this. And yet the size was perfect. I know, I sound like Goldilocks, but this was just right.

Sheep in crazy, psychedelic coats. I’d be embarassed to wear either of these coats, were I a sheep.

Morris Dancers. Or, dance softly and carry a big stick.

A fleece. Half of this belongs to me and the other half belongs to Laurie. Because, when Laurie offers to split a Blue Ribbon winning Coopworth fleece with you, you just don’t refuse.

Oh. Another fleece. This one is all mine and, while it only won a red ribbon, I fell in love with the crimp and just had to have it.

Assorted fiber purchases. I’ve decided that I buy fiber according to the weather. New Hampshire was grey and cold and rainy and everything I bought was either beige, grey or brown. Massachusetts was bright and hot and sunny and everything I bought was bright colored and fun. So, really, between the two festivals, I’ve got it covered.

I would be remiss in this whole fiber story if I didn’t recognize and thank my husband. Dale is a trooper. He not only visits and socializes with my friends but he also lugs around 12.5 pounds of fleece, assorted fiber and bottles of water. He’s willing to sit and talk with virtual strangers until 10 pm at night, even while facing a 2.5 hour ride home, just so I can spin on Marcy’s new gossip wheel. And he only mildly makes fun of me when I try to spindle spin the day after the event. Despite being taught by a master and enoucouraged by the various members of the Spindicate, I still have issues with the spindle. I guess this means I need another get together for more lessons with my friends.

So, really, that about sums it up. Just one more thing, in case I haven’t said it yet. I had a fantastic time.

My first poppy of the season bloomed just in time for Memorial Day.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row

Enjoy your cookouts and please remember those who have gone before.

Remember these?

The long-suffering, never-ending, knit on size 0, Final Four socks? I started these on April 2nd. Pathetic, I tell ya. Of course, I’ve finished two other pairs of socks since starting these, but still, I’m sick of them and determined to finish.

Here’s my motivation for finishing.

Mmmm. Trekking XXL. For the Trek Along With Me knit along, of course. I already had all four of these skanks in the stash, just so you know. You thought I just collected Vesper? Nope. Trekking, too. And maybe some Opal. Oh, and let’s not forget the Socks That Rock. But I digress. I must decide which skank of Trekking to knit first. Any favorites? I’m looking for guidance, dear reader.

Oh, one last thing… My Iris are in bloom.

I’ve been postponing a Good, Bad & Ugly post for about a week because I don’t really have enough bads and uglies to even things out. So, this time, it’s almost all good. And that’s not bad or ugly, is it?

Good: My nephew Steve earned the rank of Eagle Scout on Sunday. Dale, who has been both Assistant Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster of Steve’s troop was so proud. The whole family was in attendance for the ceremony and reception and it was wonderful.

Steve, Lisa (Steve’s mom and Dale’s sister) and Dale. Too bad there’s no family resemblance, eh?

Good: I know I said it was great to see the whole family at Steve’s party. But can you guess who I was most excited to see?

My adorable granddaughter!
She just gets cuter all the time. And I managed to get her measurements so I can knit her some stuff. Yay!

Good: Since joining the Y I’ve lost 5 pounds. I’ve also lost 5 inches from various parts of my body.
Bad: You all can guess where I’ve lost the most inches, right? The only place I actually don’t mind keeping inches.

Good: A rainbow in my backyard Sunday night. It was a lot more vibrant before I took this photo. So bright that I gasped when I saw it.

Good: I hosted another spinning night at the library. Five people came, including Martha, Maggie and Blogless Sharon. Also in attendance was a woman who is a member of the Harlow House Heritage Crafters. She owns an original Canadian Production wheel. It’s actually the one that David Paul used as his prototype for his reproduction wheels. It’s gorgeous and I was very excited to meet this particular wheel. And, I learned to Navajo Ply! And, Maggie brought me some of her soap! I’m loving this group, I’ll tell ya.

Good: Speaking of Blogless Sharon, her daughter Heather has started a blog. Go on over and say hello, wouldya?

Good: I’ve finally met Melanie and her twins. The babies are adorable and Melanie is a sweetheart. I’ve been able to visit twice and can’t wait to go again.

Good: Prizes and Prezzies. In the past couple of weeks I’ve received a Martha’s Vineyard postcard from Deb and official Maryland Sheep & Wool notecards from Norma. Clearly, I’m not on the shit list if I’m getting gifted, right, Vicki? I also won a custom made bag from Julie as a prize for donating to her Relay for Life fundraiser. You can still donate. Maybe you’ll win a prize, too. Speaking of donating and prizes, don’t forget to pledge to Claudia’s MS Bike Ride. You could win some great prizes there, too.

Good: Massachusetts Sheep & Wool is this weekend. And now that I know how to Navajo Ply, I can gleefully purchase all those lovely multicolored rovings. Yippee!

Who says you need a hot date to have a good time on a Saturday night? When I found myself with a free Saturday evening because Dale had a band job I got right on the phone with dear Blogless Sharon and invited her over for a yarn dyeing festival. And we did festival it up a bit. There was a bit lot of wine and a bit of cheese and quite a bit of dyeing.

Since I had successfully mastered already attempted space dyed yarn, I decided it was time to try some hand painting. So, out came the dyes and the squirt bottles.

It was really simple and really fun! Following Dave’s very scientific instructions, I put 1/2 tsp of powdered dye (PRO Chemical One Shot Dyes if you’re shopping) and a plastic spoonful of vinegar into an 8 oz squirt bottle from the beauty supply shop, then filled the bottle the rest of the way with hot water. We then took wetted skeins of yarn and squirted them with dye. Then we wrapped them in plastic wrap and steamed them for about 1/2 hour each.

Right out of the steam pot

Unwrapped. Note the presence of wine. Just saying.

We made four skeins total and here they are hanging out after they had been rinsed until the water ran clear.

I left them there to dry over night. In the morning they were still a bit damp so I stuck them out on the deck in the sunshine. Finally, after an hour or so, they were dry and I set about re-skeining them.

Voila. Hand painted yarn. One is for my dye pal and Sharon and I are fighting over dividing up the other skeins.

I had my first dyeing adventures this past week and, oh boy, was it fun! As Geena Davis said in Thelma and Loise, “Now I understand what the fuss is all about.”

Using the book Dyeing to Knit, an email from Angelia, and the blogs of some experienced dyers as references, I began my journey at the kitchen table.

Here we see Dyeing Command Central. Note all the assembled supplies: laptop, vinegar, newspaper, measuring cups, dyes. Everything is ready to go.

To make my first attempt easy I decided to use the space dyed method as described in Dyeing to Knit. Basically, you immerse a skein of yarn into a dye pot by thirds. For the first third of the skein you use the darkest color. When that color is all absorbed you lift out the yarn, rotate it by 1/3, add the next color to the dye pot, and put the yarn back in. When that color is finished you do it again. Finally, when the whole skein has been dyed and all the dye is absorbed by the yarn, you drop the skein into the water and simmer for 45 minutes to set the color.

Simple, right? Frankly, anything is simple if you plan ahead.

I set about soaking some Knit Picks Dye Your Own sock yarn (sold out, don’t bother checking) in warm water and vinegar. And I encounter my first problem. The skein is only tied in 2 places and when it hits the warm water I wind up with a messy tangle of yarn. Hunh. Note to self: next time, tie the skein in a few more places before wetting.

Ahhh. The first color hits the yarn. And Carole’s second issue erupts. If the dowel sits across the dye pot too much of the skein is going to get dyed by this color. Did I check this in advance? As in, before I dunked the yarn in the dye? Nope. So, here I am, holding the yarn above the pot, trying to figure out a way to suspend it in mid-air. And, of course, I can’t let go and no one is here to help me.

Necessity is the mother of invention. And I’m really glad I keep the cast iron fry pans right next to the stove.

The second color is applied. Mmmm. Green.

And here’s the thoroughly dyed skein, simmering happily.

Finally, a hank of space dyed yarn. Not bad, I think. Of course, I was going for magenta, bright blue, and spring green and wound up with cranberry, navy blue and hunter green, but that’s okay. It’s all about the learning experience, after all. Oh, and the fun. And I had lots of fun.

But wait! There’s more! Tune in tomorrow to see the hand painted skeins that Blogless Sharon and I created together on Saturday night!

As you probably all know by now, because I talk about it ad nauseum, I bought myself a Jeep Wrangler last August. I’m pretty sure it was a manifestation of a midlife crisis but whatever.

Here’s how it came to be. Dale and I have a niece who lives on Martha’s Vineyard with her husband and kids and every summer Hannah goes to visit. Last summer, Dale and I brought Hannah over and planned to stay for a couple of days to tour the island. We don’t bring our car on the ferry because it’s terribly expensive so we rely on Beth and Stuart for transporation. (Can you see yet where this is going?)

So, on this one beautiful sunny summer afternoon, we decide we want to drive around and visit Oak Bluffs. Stuart says, take my Jeep. And we did. And I fell in love. The top was down and the doors were off and the sky was blue. I was with the man I love and AC/DC was on the radio and all was right with the world.

We came home and I announced that I wanted to go buy a Jeep. Dale quietly pointed out that having a Jeep in real life wouldn’t be like being on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. I said I didn’t care. I just knew I was meant to have a Jeep.

We shopped and I fell in love with this one.

Never mind that it had no doors and no top, it was love at first sight and I had to have it. So I bought it. With my own money – a first for me. I ordered a top and some doors and figured it would be great for the fall and then I’d put it away for the winter. But then winter came and I couldn’t bear to drive any other vehicle. So, I drove this Jeep with canvas doors through cold and wind and snow all winter long.

And now. Now. Summer is almost here. I’ve had the back window rolled up several times and the side windows out once or twice. I haven’t taken the top down yet but someday soon it’s coming down. And the doors are coming off. And the AC/DC will be blaring. Or maybe Led Zeppelin for Margene. Because there’s nothing like a door-less, top-less Jeep with loud rock ‘n roll. It makes a girl feel young and in love, ya know.

See that title up there? Say that 10 times fast. Yeah.

I’ve been wanting to knit one of these ever since I saw Judy’s at SPA. I love the simplicity of the pattern and the small size of this shawl. Perfect as an accessory – you know, when you don’t want to look like a total dork in a shawl (with a triangle pointing at your ass, right Norma?) but you need a little somethin-somethin to jazz up your outfit.

Please excuse crappy bathroom mirror shot taken at work. I had no photographers available.

I got the yarn, Purple Koigu, from Scout back in April with just this project in mind. The pattern calls for three skeins but I actually only used two. I modified the center stitches just a bit – I like a plain YO K1 YO for the center stitch increases rather than the sturdy center section the pattern asked for. While it’s a simple pattern, I did have to pay attention. Every once in a while a row would kick my ass and I’d be tinking back.

In spite of some of the challenges, it knit up quite fast. I started on a Saturday and finished on a Thursday. And I added beads to the cast off edge. It was my first time knitting with beads and I followed this tutorial from Knitty. I had great success with the dental floss threader method and I can’t wait to add beads to my knitting again.

In fact, I’ve got some more Koigu marinating in the stash. I’m thinking it would be really nice to have another one of these shawlettes, this time in blue!

Are you ready for the second installment in the continuing fiber festival adventures of Carole and Dale? Well.

I knew it was time to leave the fairgrounds when the legs of my jeans were completely soaked – they had wicked up from the hem and my jacket had dripped water down on my thighs and the two wet areas met at my knees. Yuck. I felt bad about missing some of the buildings but I knew I couldn’t take anymore. So we left and headed to the hotel.

Can you say sublime? A king sized bed with an in-room jacuzzi couldn’t have been more welcome after a day in the cold and wet. And yet, we had made promises to meet good friends for dinner and I didn’t want to let my buddies down. I knew if we didn’t get ready and leave that hotel room within 10 minutes that Dale would never get me out the door. So, I changed from wet to dry clothes, including my newly finished shapely shawlette, freshened up the hair and make up and we set out to find Margaritas.

We got there about 5 and didn’t expect anyone else until after 6 so we sat in the bar. Rough, I’ll tell you. The Negra Modelos kept coming and we had a great time. It seemed like minutes and suddenly there was Maryse and Joe. And then Kat. Finally in came Debby, Kellee, Wendy and Rob, and Elisa and Mike. My buddies. Dinner was fantastic, the conversations ranged from silly to serious but that jacuzzi was calling my name so we left the others at the restaurant and headed back to the room.

Dim the lights. This blog is rated G.

In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed up to drive around Lake Winnipesaukee. Of course, Patternworks is right in the path of that particular scenic drive, so we stopped. Imagine my surprise when I heard Dale talking to people in a different room and there was Wendy and Elisa! It was really cool to bump into them and share more yarn-y pursuits. I might have slipped and made a few yarn purchases. Debbie Bliss Denim Aran was on sale, I couldn’t help myself.

We finally headed home mid-afternoon. The rain had never let up and the sides of the road were flooded in many places. We made it down Route 1 South only to hear they closed it within minutes after our pass through. There is a state of emergency in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and some pretty serious flooding in areas. Send good dry thoughts that way, okay?

It was a great trip. I got to hang out and shop with good friends. I got to eat good food and drink good beer. I got a bit of romance with my hubbo. I got fleece and yarn and a bit of time away from home. I know we would have been more comfortable if we had been out in the sunshine. But I don’t believe for a second that we would have had more fun!