I have so much I want to tell you.................

I have so many irons in the fire that I want to share with you.  Today and tomorrow I am taking a spinning workshop with Jacey Boggs.  She is teaching us how to make controlled art yarn.  Today we made cables and tomorrow we get to make coils.  We actually did more than that, but I had to put it in a nut shell so non-spinners would not be asleep by the time they finished this paragraph.  Oh, by the way.  Jacey is famous in the spinning circle.  I even have a DVD  of hers and she has a book coming out very soon.  Now you know what I want for Christmas!!!   We are in a classroom at WSU.

Nancy is the one on the left and she taught me how to spin.

Jacey is the cute one wearing boots.

Nancy and April were in my spinning class back in 2003 ???

I also want to show you a tool I find helpful in felting  It is called a soap saver sack.  It is like the bath scrubbies as far as the material, but it is a bag to hold all of the bits and pieces of soap.  It is also helpful for older people or people that have a hard time holding soap since it has a cord to put around your wrist if you wish to.  I like to use this for rubbing the knitted or crocheted piece when I am hand felting something.  I know you can toss most any piece into the washer and dryer when felting, but I like to have more control over what I am felting.  I also tend to use a lot of mohair and it would clog my drains.  I have this item on my website---in pink.  I may have a couple in purple it you do not wish to have my favorite color.  LOL

I also found a good use for roasting pans.  I do cook and I am pretty good at it, but there is only so much time in a day, so we eat out a lot.   I love the home to smell like baked goods even if I am not baking.

My roasting pan is full of fragrance melts.

The last thing I will share with you this evening is how I rainbow dye wool.  I have a pan of kid mohair on the burner at this time.  I vary the number of colors and the colors from time to time.  I try not to add too much dye since the object is for all of the dye to be exhausted into the wool.  This means that you want the wool to be tired.  LOL  No, it means that all of the dye goes into the wool and is used, leaving the water clear.  This is what we desire, but do not always obtain.  If I have left over dye in the water when I am done, then I toss more wool into the pot with the leftover color and use it up, or add more color to the pot with the leftover with the left over color and use it up this way.  Don't throw it away.  When dying or creating, as with any media, observe the safety precautions.  Learn the desired or preferred methods.   Then do it any darn way you please!   It is art and you are the creator.  Now, back to my method, sorry but I got sidetracked.  LOL  I usually place wet scoured wool into the dye pot.  I add water with vinegar or salt or both, depending on the dye used.  Then I circle the inside of the pot along the edge with one powdered color.  Then I stripe or put an X or use more circles with the other colors.  Sometimes I place a little half way down the pot first so the bottom has color.  Then I may place a weight on the wool after I have had it on the heat for a little while.  I don't like to boil the wool, just get it nice and hot and let it stay hot for 30 min. or so and then turn the heat off and let the wool cool by itself.  If there is extra water around the edges of the weight along with some dye in it, as seen in the picture, it gives you the opportunity to place more wool around it.  I do not always wet the wool.  I like the wool to vary as I spin it since I get bored too easily.  I seldom spin white wool and dye it.  I like wool, even when using one color the have variations in it.  One thing I should mention is the need to follow basic rules when it comes to colors.  If you place blue and yellow together you get green,  if you place red and blue together you get purple, and if you place green and red together you get brown.  Watch the placement of some of your colors so you do not get a pot of yuck!  I personally like brown, but find that I do not need to dye brown since there are sheep which are naturally brown.

I was able to get all of the variations in this fiber using one dye pot.

This was dyed with the left over dye in the above dye pot.  It is a lovely gray and green.