Aw Shucks!

Oh I know...this is totally unfair...but too cute to pass up! This is the Princess (Abbie) and her Paw (Don) snoozin under her new "sun tan lamp". Don installed this lamp for me last weekend and I think I'm the one that uses it the least so far. lol. That will change soon. That there is my "knittin spot" and I've already ordered him a lamp for his side of the couch. The cat will have to decide which side of the couch she prefers more. Not my problem. lol I know which side I prefer!





This is a shot of Melissa's yarn during the plying process. I have to confess that I have not spun in a while ( a couple of weeks) and experienced some problems...mainly wheel adjustments....during the recent spinning session at my house. Who knew you could forget basics so quickly?! The picture is pretty acurate colorwise (on my screen, anyway.) and I'm finally learning to loosen up a bit during the plying process. This yarn is coming out looking more "yarn like" and less "cable like". The plying twist is a bit looser and more soft looking, which is what I was aiming for. That's good news at least. Now for the bad news. After recieving the pattern for the slippers....it's discovered that I only have approximately 1/3 the quantity of "purple" yarn for the slippers. This is remedied by either (gasp) buying a co-ordinating color for the cuff and sole....or spinning more purple....or spinning the co-ordinating color. Did I confess to being totally sick and tired of spinning this purple. Did I mention that I spun approximately 3 feet of green just to get the purple taste out of my fingers?!!! OH WELL! Looks like I'll be dyeing something again. I do have some white that is already partially spun. I could finish spinning and plying that....determine if it's the appropriate length....and dye it in yarn form for the project. That, of course, is allowing that the dyeing gods will smile down on me and cause a workable dye project to be completed. If you wonder at my cynicism....read past dyeing project posts. ;) I don't think I'll shoot for purple again...maybe something to go with it for the soles and the trim. hmm....I'm thinking grey....but if you've seen my black tries.....you'll understand my reluctance at trying grey.

Don had a most fabulous idea. He is allowing for the option that I have not made some huge critical error (gotta love him for that!) and suggested testing our water to see if the water is inbalanced enough to cause dyeing issues. (DUH! why did I not think of that myself?!) He also suggested a dye bath experiment using the same dye bath but the water in one would be tap water..the other would be distilled. Side by side experiment with photos and bloggable explainations. I think it's a plan and will schedule it in on a Sunday so I can make him play Mad Scientist with me. lmao.