"Tell me why??

I don't like Mondays.
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
I want to shoot
The whole day down.” *


Actually,my problem seems to be with Fridays, but there are no songs about that! The last 3 Fridays have been an exercise in nerves. We started out by having to put Shadow down on the 10th. He was 17 years old, and it wasn’t unexpected, but very hard to handle none the less. Surlymon and Fozzie took him to the vets, and Surlymon laid his head on Shadow’s and he purred off to sleep with his boy loving on him. It was heartbreaking for Surlymon, Shadow has been his pet since Surly was 2.

The rest of that weekend was spent with members of my family, who came down to do some shopping. As my Mom was heard to remark “You might be a redneck if you buy your spring wardrobe at the Bass Pro Shop”. Oy vey! Cool Sis is now very very preggers and she looks so cute—all belly all the time. Baby Sis went thru my house as if she were at a home furnishing store, saying “I’ll take that, and that, and that”. She tried to make off with my 1920s Columbia Graphola, but was quickly corrected by Mom. She did get my aquarium, an Oriental fish bowl, a vase, a bowl, a wall fan and some small jars I got in Thailand.

The following Friday began with Fozzie calling me at 0715. Now, ya’ll know that I was sound asleep at 0715 with no intention of being awake any time soon. Fozzie used the secret code, and when I answered, he told me to come and pick him up on the beltway. The 98 Dodge Grand Caravan had died. Holy cow. There was no reviving the old gal, she was long dead after 290,650 miles. No complaints, she served us well. The only problem was finding a replacement and the new car payments that would come along with.

I’d rather be shot in the head than buy a new car, I hate dealing with the car dealers. We lucked out, picked a new van on the lot that we liked, thought about it for the weekend and went back to buy it on Monday. We now own a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT, dark blue, auto remote sliding doors and tailgate, and the newfangled fold away to the floor seats. Pretty slick.

This Friday began at 0230, when Fozzie tried to wake me up and tell me the waterbed was leaking. I went for my annual checkup on Thursday, and along with my head drugs got prescriptions for 800mg motrin and 10mg flexeril for my back ache that is 3 weeks old. So when 0230 rolled around, I was well down for the count. Gotta love that flexeril. My main complaint, besides the time, was that my side of the bed was still dry! But he rousted me anyway and sent me to the spare room,the most uncomfortable bed in the world. I’m beginning to see a pattern here.
We lucked out on the waterbed, Fozzie was able to find the leak and repair it—no big bucks spent on a replacement mattress. This time.

So as I go cross Fridays off all my calendars, you can sing along with me and the Boomtown Rats.



“I wanna shoot the whole day down”*
Boomtown Rats, 1979, I don’t like Mondays.

Adventures in Kool-Aid Dyeing

BlueJinx has nominated me to be the official dyer for our spinnings and rovings. I gracefully accepted, I think. I bought several books and did much on-line research. After reading about poisionous chemicals, dangerous fumes, needing respirators, and all the equipment needed, I decided to go with something easier and less expensive. Yes, BlueJinx had suggested this to begin with, but I'm a do-it-all-the-way type person. I had to check out the options.

BlueJinx shipped me some roving (Blue-Faced Leicester, natural), about 2 pounds it appears, all of her initial spinning attempts and some kool-aid. I bought some stuff too. Here is what I have to work with:

Once I get finished paying with Kool-aid, I'm gonna try the water that dried black beans were soaked overnight in (no, I'm not kidding) and avocados (not kidding on this either). Wonder what happens with tomato's? I'm sure someone has tried it.

Five Days Later. Here's that Koo/-Aid report you've been waiting on Jinx. This morning I started dyeing.
First thing I realized: While I may have an idea how to do it - I didn't know the most important thing - what am I aiming for. I finally settled on trying to dye an ounce of wool roving in each color to start with. Once I see that I'll go on to blending and multiple color dyeing.
Second thing: - KA mixed with water and vinegar stink when they are microwaved with wool. I suppose it could be that microwaved wool stinks. Whatever.
Third thing: I don't have enough non-reactive pots, pans, bowls to do several large quantities at a time. I've got plenty of mason jars, but they aren't big enough. I could have did smaller bits but I didn't want to waste the KA/vinegar mix. Why this bothered me I'm not sure? It's not like KA or vinegar is expensive.
Fourth thing: All the directions I have are for using spun or skeined wool. I'm using roving, hope that directions are the same.
Fifth thing: I need to use bigger pans. Or something. As soon as the wool hit the steaming KA it started soaking the dye up. Even with me tenderly poking the wool into the liquid some spots didn't get as much dye. Some didn't get any! I was scared to poke too much in case I felted it. Everything said cook the wool for about 30-40 minutes or until the water was clear. For most the water was clear within 10 minutes. Beats me.
So here are pictures of my first batch of KA dyeing.The flavors used, from L to R: Black Cherry, Orange, Strawberry, Fruit Juicy Red, Grape and Cherry.

Sitting & Spinning

Hi there. Long time, no type. I really didn't have anything to say. That cold I had while I was reading OTC cold medicine labels came back as a sinus infection. That was interesting.

I bought a spindle last summer while I was visiting Jinx and Fozzie. Couldn't get the hang of it and finally said "phooey". I got that out again about two weeks ago and said "I'm gonna get it this time." Hours of web research resulted in some very basic, easy to understand direction, much easier to understand than the four books I have on the subject. I sat down and spun the piece of good roving Jinx had given me last summer. Here is my first try:

I got excited. This was easy!!! So I started searching for a local source of roving. (And an on-line source.) The only local source had a half ounce pack of roving only they called it felting wool. Looked like roving to me. And it spins like roving. I believe it was Blue-Faced Leicester, a little bit in each of the four natural colors. That half ounce went quick. And I love the colors.

More, more, gotta have more. In two days of searching I found on-line sources for at least 43 different types of sheep wool. Then there are the exotics (at least 10) and plant possibilities (didn't count those). Did you know that cotton naturally comes in white, green, red, brown, mocha, ecru, khaki, and light green?

DH and I went to visit his Mom this past weekend. I had heard of a store in her area that probably had rovings. Went there. Came home with a new lighter spindle, a mini niddy-noddy and this: Merino - Mojave colorway, 4 oz

And this: Merino - Garnet colorway, 4 oz

And originally 2.8 ounces of this: Merino - natural color

But you can see I've been busy on that. Appears to be 20 wpi. With the lighter spindle I've had no problem doing a finer single.

DH says I can buy more fiber and more spindles! I still think he's a pod person. Who ever heard of a husband telling you to spin money?

Next: Adventures in Kool-Aid Dyeing and Curbing My Fiber Buying.