Funny quote from my sister:

"We have 2 chairs and a couch and 2 cats so technically we just have a couch".

It's funny, cuz it's true. :)

I told her if she got a dog she wouldn't even have a couch!

So, we had some leftover wool and silk that we had soaked, but not dyed yesterday. Today is about 90 degrees and blazing hot, so i decided to try a little solar dyeing. i used 2 big black canning pots. The left one has some grey wool, the right one has white wool and some silk spinning hankies. I put some hot water and a splash of vinegar in each pot.


Next i added some jacquard acid dyes - chestnut, burgundy, aztec gold and spruce in the left pot. Salmon, bright yellow, hot pink and some vermillion in the right. i shook the pots a little just to get the color slightly dispersed.


Next i raded my basement for a few big boxes, and my kitchen for a big roll of aluminum foil and some double-sided tape, to make a sorta really sad white trash/ghetto solar oven. I had help, as you can see.
Then i put the lids on each pot, and wrapped them each in a plastic garbage bag.

Then i hauled the boxes and plastic-wrapped pots out onto my hot hot hot driveway, in the hot hot hot sun. (No worries - the neighbors already think i am insane. this should not alarm them too much more). I guess I'll let them sit for a day or two and see what happens!

Yesterday, a couple of us local fiber-geeks got together and had some fun with silk, wool roving, and some jacquard acid dyes. Shown above is an AMAZING gorgeous silk "cap", dyed by Jill. I cannot wait to see how that spins up!!




the proceedings were carefully monitored by this little fellow. :) he wanted to make sure we didn't get *too* wild and crazy with the fun!!

Terri also played us a cd and video from her son's band, My First Earthquake. Very cool, fun band. suppose we can get them to tour the Midwest?!