The trip to Maine a week ago was great fun. Myria and I haven’t done anything like that for a long time and we had a wonderful day. She got her hair trimmed, I dished with the hairdresser, we shopped, we had dinner and just enjoyed ourselves enormously. What we didn’t get, were ocean pictures. The town was absolutely jammed with day trippers - something we had not expected - and the parking lots were still charging exorbitant fees and were crammed full in any case.
Sigh…
But we’ll be going up again around the end of October (if not sooner!) and I don’t expect the ocean will be going anywhere in the meantime…
I did purchase some undyed wool to play with in the dye pot, Paton’s Classic Merino which I have used before and really is a nice, basic wool.
I promptly skeined two balls of this (200 grams - about 440 yards) and used the same color combination on it as I had on the unacceptable pink wool last week. The only difference was that this time I used a base of strong tea rather than just plain water. Where the previous dyeing project had given me a lovely copper/auburn (see this post), this time, with no other color underneath, I got a lovely, slightly orangey gold.
The two colors will coordinate nicely and I have one more yarn I’d like to throw into this mix. You’ve seen it before (though not for a while). I found it in a thrift shop nearly a year ago but never found a project for it.
This is Pingouin Angelique - fingering weight, 50% wool, 40% angora and 10% nylon. It’s as soft as a baby bunny - not surprisingly :) I want to dye this but having never handled angora in a dye pot before, I consulted an expert - Chris over at Woolybuns (do go see her rovings and her bunnies!) who knows all there is to know about dyeing angora. Armed with her generous and enthusiastic advise and encouragement, I’m going to go for it :) I had hoped to have this done by now, but you know how the world loves to insert itself when you’re making plans. So I’ll probably soak it overnight and do the dyeing tomorrow. I’m aiming for a darkish red with a very slight orange component. Wish me luck!
I’m in the ending stage of the current blanket project, finishing the final rounds and sewing them together as there are enough for each row.
This is the first combination of colors - grey center, blue “petals”, grey border and blue edging. The second combination will have blue centers, grey “petals” and blue borders and edging. This should, hopefully, be done in another week or so.
I had toyed with using yellow for the centers and even made up a square that way. I quite liked it as the strictly blue/grey combination seems cold to me. However, I knew dad probably wouldn’t care for it, dad not being big on yellows. To my surprise, Myria didn’t think the yellow worked either so, after thinking it over, I chucked the idea and stuck to the blue and grey.
However, I found a legitimate way to use the yellow after all. Dad’s new sofa is not his only new piece of furniture. There is also a new recliner. Its labeled color is sisal and right now he’s got it covered with a red and cream afghan that has sun-bleached stripes of orange where it lay in the back seat of his car for years. It has to go :) So I started this…
...which dad doesn’t know about yet. I’m using the same basic pattern as the Little Boy Blue blanket except sized for a recliner.
The yarns for both blankets are Red Heart Supersaver in Country Blue and Light Grey for the sofa cover and Linen and Cornmeal for the Recliner. No, it’s not the most elegant yarn in the world, but it’s perfect for someone who absolutely has to have easy care items, comes in just about every color you could want and is sturdy beyond belief. Just the thing for my father :)
Autumn is beginning to show up around here - not obviously, not yet. But things are beginning to show the merest hints of color and leaves are beginning to fall. I love autumn - it’s my favorite season. Temperatures go down, trees start showing glorious colors, the air is crisp and dry and freighted with the scent of the world beginning to wind down for its winter’s rest. Okay, a poet, I’m not :) But I love this transitional period - watching things change. I love spring almost as much, also transitional, also colorful. Just the palette is different :)
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Chatters is on for Saturday evening - come one come all :)
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Oh, goodness! Thank you for the very kind words. but, gee - their big words to live up to. :) I dunno about expert, I just know what works for me. I hope it works for you, too.
Chris - I finally got to do it yesterday - results will be posted when the yarn is dry. And that looks like it’s going to take a while! I think I like what I got but will know better once it’s dried out.
Thanks so much for your help :)
