Monday 7 January 2019

Like a child in a sweet shop

The trouble with liking to do creative things is that they keep multiplying. My butterfly brain is flitting again.

On Saturday Alex and I went to a yarn dyeing course (finally found one near us!) near Durham.  Woolaballoo (I tried to put a link in here but it won't work - sorry) was hosting a simple yarn course using an 80%wool/20%nylon mix yarn with food colouring and vinegar.

The yarn was pre-soaked in a vinegar solution (bit pongy) and we went straight to 'painting'
I already had a pretty good idea of how I wanted my finished article to look seeing as I had been drooling over indie-dyed yarn for the past few months.  Alex waded straight in with confidence and after a couple of tentative dabs I got my rhythm, not with a paintbrush but with a fork!
When we were satisfied we rolled the yarn into a clingfilm covered sausage and heated it in the microwave to set the colours.
When it was sufficiently cooled (it 'felts' when the temperature changes too quickly), we doused it in a bowl of washing up liquid and rinsed it.  A quick twirl in a salad spinner, dedicated to this task, and the yarn was ready to hang to dry
We took our damp and slightly smelly concoctions home and they finished drying overnight.
Having used yarn in skeins for quite a while I was familiar with the gentle technique you need to wind it into a ball. Alex, less familiar with the delights of yarn winding,  had a few more problems -
Aarrghhhh... it's a learning curve!  Will says she has made more sense of it now though! Just hope little Zula doesn't get hold of it in this state.
I picked a lovely cowl to make, although I'm just a little nervous that the wool is sock yarn and may be a bit scratchy,  but we'll see.
It is really pretty with cables and lace and I'm currently on Round 16.  The pattern is just beginning to emerge although the sprinkly nature of the yarn makes it a bit more difficult to pick out than a plain colour.

Sunday was a lovely day - the boys stayed until about 11 and then the day was mine! My little white hen laid a double yolker which I had for breakfast as a special treat, as Ben wanted a brown egg rather than a white one for his breakfast
We played with engines and building blocks and decorated biscuits as well as taking selfies -Ben's new teeth are emerging
His speech is tho thweet!  He will be moving to his new school soon - I think they are going to transport him here until half term and then move after the break.  They will be staying with me for a week to ten days to allow a complete re-paint and new flooring to be fitted in their new house.   I think it was a bit manky to judge from their comments. Max will stay at his nursery until September when he moves to school. They don't want too much disruption for him.   Alex says I can go and stay with them if it gets a bit noisy (I really don't like noise)

So - Ben is with me this morning as there is  a teacher training day at his school.  I'll take him to work at lunch time and relieve Steph so she can pick Max up later.  Life is like a jigsaw at the moment.

I did a quick tension sample for the Sweet Pea CAL at the weekend although I'm not going to start this straight away.  I'll be using the hook suggested as it came out the right measurement. Having finished Ben's Corner to Corner I am in need of a simple 'mindless' project and the striped blanket fits the bill perfectly. 
I'm going to get everything out and put it into some kind of order as I have to fit in time to work and time to work on samples and patterns for the class somewhere!
I've chosen some nice bright colours for next week's patchwork class and the pattern is written. I'll cut it out tonight after work and then sew it on Wednesday morning before work.   The trick is to have things prepared so as not to waste those precious moments. Let's see if I can follow my own advice. 
Alex's friend is coming in a couple of weeks and we are going to make some lotion bars as Sally is very environmentally conscious. Lotion bars cut down on plastic bottles which has got to be a good thing. 

Another excuse for me, of course,  to create.

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