There are plants in the kitchen.  In fact, sometimes I think they’re taking over the kitchen.  Well, that’s a lie - I like the look of the somewhat unruly foliage (I prefer to think of it as enthusiastic!) in the window and on the…

...well, there’s a jungle on my fridge.  This is no thanks at all to me; it’s Myria who takes care of them, keeps them fed and watered and generally in good shape.  The plants in the above photo were sent to me years ago and Myria has kept them in good and sturdy shape all this time.  But she does all the work - I just enjoy them :)

I sometimes think of this as the Hanging Gardens.  Nothing like as lush as the original, I’m sure, but entertaining and pleasant all the same.  It’s really nice to have green growing things around :)

I went ahead with the dyeing of the wool/angora yarn and I am frankly puzzled about the results.  I soaked the yarn for four hours before it was completely wet and then it was the heaviest yarn I ever tried to lift out of the sink!  Before it went into the water, the skein ran to about 210 grams.  When it came out it weighed at least a ton :)  I knew then that there might be problems with the crock pot not having enough room but I so desperately wanted to avoid separate dye lots that I tried it anyway.

What I got was a predominantly pinkish/tan yarn with a few brighter spots.  I used about 30% more dye than I would normally have for that weight of yarn and yet it doesn’t seem like it was nearly enough.  The mottled results are my own fault entirely - the yarn filled the crock and had no room to spread out.  I have dyed as much as 300 grams at one time in the past and I never had this problem before.  Is it possible, do you think, that this yarn (being fairly old) is denser, more solid than a comparable item might be today?

The good thing is that the yarn is in fine shape - clean and completely unfelted.  So it’s a good candidate for another dyeing attempt.  This one will be on the stove so I can use a bigger vessel to hold it.  And, of course, a lot more dye :)

While dad’s couch cover is coming along, Sunday I reached a block.  I have nothing against crochet - love it, in fact.  But I missed my knitting!  So, for that one day, I declared a moratorium on the dratted blanket and picked up my (hopefully) lacework for a change.

Oh it was so nice to have needles in my hands again.  And I even made a little progress :)  I’m not working on this for great gobs of time each day, but I am making sure that I do at least a couple of pattern repeats.  I can apply more time to it in a week or so when I get the circus tent blanket done.

Hasten the day…