April Fool's Day -

Yes, and I am one of the fools that had to work this morning for inventory! So, this is going to be short as I am now a little behind at home -

I got it in my head to do some dyeing last weekend, and here are some of those results. The roving in the roaster with pink, blue and green dye:

Here is the BFL drying on the drying rack in my room- I am so very pleased with the way this turned out!

And here is the Romney-Corriedale cross fleece in the remaining dye bath.



I've already started combing this fleece and it's looking like it will be really pretty when it's spun up! It was a lot of fun to dye, and I am thinking about my next project, however, I really need to get a handle on the amount of works in progress I have going!

I bought this for the Anitque Lace wrap I showed you all last time. It is Lady Godivia in Ivory and it is gorgeous, and apparently the picture is huge, I keep trying to scale these down, but not having much success this morning! This is not a great shot, but my kitchen is a bit dark, as I missed the morning sun, since I was at WORK.

Don'tcha just love Springtime!?

This is just my favorite, favorite time of the year! The grass is greening up (actually, Chris has mowed the front and back yards already) the bradford pears, redbud trees are in bloom and our crabapple tree is almost in bloom, but here is a picture from last year and I will take one as soon as they pop for next week.





I bought the three bobbin tensioned lazy kate to go with my Jensen wheel, and I have to say that most of the time, I really don't mind spending more money to get a piece made from an artisian's hands as I feel they are trying to make a living too. But, this piece kind of takes that to my outer limits. I spent $129 on this:



I do believe I could have made this one myself, take three size seven needles, and one screw with a string on it, one box from the wood pile and there you go. I do realize this was made by Mr. Jensen, and I do realize this is made of cherry, but do you honestly think this is worth $129? The one and only reason I purchased this was because the Tina's bobbins would not fit on my Majacraft Lazy Kate. The Rose bobbins will fit on this one, so I will more than likely sell the Majacraft Lazy Kate now. I am not one of those that has to have all matching items - who's going to see? And who cares? I guess I am being a bit bitchy about this, but gee whiz, huh? That's a lot of fiber or yarn that could have been purchased instead.

Ok anyway, on to other things: I am going to Maine this summer with my daughter for our summer pilgrimage back home. My brother's only son is getting married at the end of June, so we will probably freeze, as we normally only go back towards the end of the summer vacation to allow the lake water to warm up to a comfortable swimming degree. And to allow the general air to warm up too! I mean it's usually around 80 degrees at home at the end of June, but not in Maine, and that's for sure! Ok, so all that to say, I am going to try to make this:


This is Antique Lace by Ilga Leja, it is made with Fleece Artist's Handmaiden Lady Godiva, and you need two skeins for the smallest size. It really captured my heart, so I decided to ask Lisa if she had anything in taupe or light brown in color, like dockers tan, you know?

And Lisa made me this:

Now, this color was supposed to be more brown, like "tea stained", so I went ahead and ordered it. The actual skein itself is light gold, and it is truly gold, no brown tones whatsoever in it. I don't think this color will match my dress, the dress is a deep bright coral - so, I dunno. I plan to make the antique lace with this anyway, but I probably won't use it for the wedding. So, it's been that kind of week for me.

Kai is one more motif further and next I start the replacement motif. It appears I can get one done a week, so I will so this to you all next week. On that note, I hope you all have a great week and see you next time!

What makes June a Dull Girl?

One financial month end, one yearly budget, and one monthly forecast, completed in 8 days equals one tired, worn out June!

So, needless to say, I have not gotten any further with Kai except to say that I have come up with a new motif for the one I really didn't like. Now, let's hope the yarn is the same, although I usually don't use all yardage given for a pattern, so I think I'm ok with this.

I did take Friday afternoon off from work, since I had to be there Wednesday from 8am to 9pm which included a 3.5 hour phone call to Japan and the whole conversation with the teleconference group was in Japanese. Ok, why did I have to be there??? I don't read or speak Japanese, although I am thinking it's high time I learn!

I did wash a fleece that Peggy and I split up on Tuesday night. This is a Romney - Corriedale cross, and it feels really nice! There appears to be a lot of discoloration to the tips from mud and dirt and dust, though, and I am a bit disappointed with that fact.




Is it possible to get this out? Here is some of it flicked out:



Peggy and I had split the fleece up into colors, and I thought I had taken the lightest color, after washing it appears I have three colors! So, this should be a lot of fun.



Another project on my wheel is some Romney that is spinning like a dream! I have completely filled my bobbins up and I have placed an order for the tensioned lazy kate that goes with my Jensen Tina II - have I told you guys how much I love, love, love this wheel??? This is the dark Romney I purchased from SkylineFarms, I also have a lighter color brown/black and white is coming. In my stash I have pinks to go with this, can anyone see where I'm going with this? Fairisle? Mill Pond by Schweitzer? I think so!!