Dyeing Over the Weekend

It is no secret that I had breast cancer 8 years ago next month, November 9th to be exact. And as far as we know, my body remains cancer free. No, I'm not a cancer "survivor." I don't want the diagnosis to have that much power over my life that I would have to assume a warrior pose. So for me to write a blog title like "Dyeing Over the Weekend" sometimes the words kind of get stuck in my fingertips. But in dyeing this entire 4-day weekend I was really LIVING every moment. Not dying. Totally living. When I work with colors and fibers, I am totally alive and moving from one breath to the next like a dance or wave of peace. Yesterday disappears. Tomorrow is of no consequence. All the colors are beautiful, even the colors that don't "match." I am very attached to that space, and I miss it when I am not there.

So here is a sample of where I have been. Let me know what you see and feel from these colors.

These fibers are handdyed using Pro Chem Wash Fast Acid Dyes. The fiber content is a creamy merino/bamboo blend with a 60/40 ratio. Bamboo does not take acid dye; it requires fiber reactive dyes. Therefore, as you can see, there is a light dusting of frost or even a sugary glaze throughout the top that is caused by the merino uptaking the dye and the bamboo rejecting it. Altogether - a really lovely look, not for everything but it will make some beautiful yarns for some purposes. Here's some more....

I haven't posted in a while so there's a lot to catch up on. Let me briefly introduce my friend Carson Cooper. I call him a "friend" because I felt an immediate connection with him via correspondence. He's a wheel maker. He builds them from scratch - as in by hand. Here's a link to his website called Ztwist..... http://www.ztwist.com/ I'm enjoying getting to know him. He knows things about spinning that I don't know. We have discussed collaborating on some projects together - like making some spindles together - a version for him to sell at sales and a WhorlingTides edition. Doesn't that sound like fun??? Thanks, Carson, for making the most beautiful oriface hooks. Oh, didn't I mention that we met on Ebay when I purchased some of his hand turned oriface hooks in a yummy variety of woods and styles. He's writing a book on building spinning wheels. How cool is that?!?!

No more updates tonight even though there are so many more to make. Tomorrow will perhaps afford me time to add more updates. Off to spin until sleep arrives. I'm spinning some blue BFL scraps to see just how fine I can spin. It is an empirical question....