The Rhinebeck Report

Can you say "CROWDED?" I have been going to Rhinebeck for maybe 15 years, and I am blown away by what has happened to the charming 4H event. The parking lot was already very busy at 9am on Saturday, and got progressively worse through the day. By the afternoon, I felt like I was on the Lexington Avenue Subway Line during rush hour. There was a huge line of tour buses. Who would have imagined? That said, it was a cool fall day, the leaves were turning and I was with good company, so I can't complain. I'll cut right to the chase. BadKitten got a blue ribbon for her weaving. Note the large rosette. That would be Best in Show for woven items. Not in the junior class. In the entire show. I will stop bragging now. She also got a fifth for a lovely silk and cotton plaited twill...
On Sunday, we did the Fleece to Shawl event. You can see our sign and team, waiting for the starting bell. BadKitten was weaving.
Here you can see our finished shawl. We didn't place well because we were "short." That means we didn't make 72 inches in length, so we got a huge deduction. I take the blame because I totally under-estimated how much loss in length we would have. We used singles, and the take-up was really crazy. Live and learn! BadKitten was amazing, not only weaving well, but holding up to the fierce pressure of BadCat. We were pretty pleased with our finished piece.

Here you can see dueling Lyras. I am sure you know which is mine! The judges thought I needed to do a better blocking job. Hello? Did you see my blocking job? Did you see LucyFur supervising? I'll shut up now...
Pears came in second in her class.
The Summer Sampler also got a second...
And here is the Best in Show. This is an Estonian sampler. The judges are very impressed with nupps! It was really nice work.

I am almost recovered and I'll be back by the weekend with a materials list for the Autumn BadCat-a-long. Until then, knit on!

Move over, baby!

This week has been about finishing big projects (or at least trying...) As you might have figured out, I have been busy preparing a special warp. That warp is spun and dyed, but wait! Before it can go on the loom, another warp must move over (and off.) The tale behind this "other" warp is a good one. Some time ago, as a gift to my friend Mary, a bunch of us got this warp together. That included designing a shawl, spinning the warp yarn, dyeing the warp and getting the warp on the loom. Mary spun some yarn for the weft, but never managed to find the time to weave it off. Enter BadKitten. She can weave 72 inches in 2 hours... Here you see BadKitten tying off the knots for the fringe, and a close-up of the fabric. It is 15 ends to the inch, with a Cormo warp and an Alpaca blend weft. I dyed the warp with acid dyes and the weft is a natural dark brown.
And here you can see Mary, showing off the shawl. It came out just as she had imagined it. She calls it "A rainbow over storm clouds." Thanks go to all the "SpinAndEats" who helped with this project.
And on my needles, another larger project I am getting close on. Here is Lyra, coming down the home stretch. I just can't wait to block this one. Very soon...

And finally, here is LucyFur, pondering how to talk to BadKitten about life. While LucyFur was pondering, The Kitten just read the articles, snorted and left the room.
I might have warp progress to show you next week, not to mention Lyra progress!!?? I can certainly dream! Until then, knit on!

And the beat goes on...

I dyed some of that lovely fleece, using natural stuff...that would be cochineal, turmeric, walnuts and goldenrod.
I dyed some of my hand spun yarn too...
Here you can see the fleece drying...
And the yarn drying, left to right...goldenrod, tint of turmeric and cochineal (3 skeins), tint of walnut, cochineal, turmeric with a hint of cochineal. I just LOVE color.
Darling nephew, playing the accordion and doing a color dance.



And there is more to come...I hope some of you are weavers, because I will share the entire project once I am done. Until then, knit on (or weave on.)

Madness and mayhem...what is she doing?

1000 yards of hand spun yarn from this roving, fingering weight, washed and soaked in alum and cream of tartar. I spun this on my wheel last week. I usually use a drop spindle, but not for this much yardage... Big pot of simmering water and Dawn dish soap...
Little baskets of this fleece (belonging to a sheep named Pretty Girl) from Pitchfork Ranch, soaking in hot, Dawny water...

What in the world am I up to?? More later!

A distraction...

so you would forgive me for not getting Isis finished. I am on row 8 of the border. It is smooth going, but the rows are extremely long. If all proceeds as planned, I will finish and block it before I leave for Africa this coming week. I want to post a picture of 'The Veil of Isis' blocking and also the final charts before I leave. Stay tuned. The picture today is a basket full of woven ribbons. The widest in 1.25 inches, just for scale. They are each a few feet long. They are woven on an inkle loom in an assortment of cottons and silks. I like to do small color studies, combining colors I would not usually use in a larger project. I sometimes take color ideas from paintings or things in nature that I like, and do a Small ribbon to see how the colors work in a fiber medium. Until later...