dear sunday
Monday, March 26, 2012 at 8:31AM i’m willing to share a good deal of my dyeing and spinning secrets once and for all! ha! most of them are dirty ones so if you’re a dyer or spinner by trade you may want to brace yourself.
sunday morning dye pot. hot pot.
i turn on the heat and in go the first bits of merino to become the dark wool. then a few minutes after the pot begins to steam, in go the second bits of merino to become the light wool. laziness brings forth many of my happy accidents so i’m learning to fine tune the art of corner cutting.
sink dump and i thorough hot rinse. now to cool. i squeeze the wool gently, then jelly roll it in a towel and stomp out the excess water and straight to the wheel we go.
singles. dark and light. lovely on their own actually. and yes, you read correctly. i spun the wool while still damp. it’s one of my greatest dirty little secrets. i was impatient once last year and began spinning before the wool was completely dry. it didn’t bother me in the least and i felt like i had more control over the fiber. when i plyed the singles and let it dry it became a smooth, bouncy, soft yarn.
i thought i’d give it another go to see if i could get the same result.
here the yarn is still wet. it seems stiff and has almost no spring to it, but late last night i checked on it and it was dry, smooth, bouncy, and soft as can be! i actually knit a swatch, too which i forgot to take a picture of - and we’re looking at size US4-5 needles making this a sport weight.
i hope that wasn’t too terribly jarring. hee
it was good to get that wheel out, tighten it up and watch the flyer whirl. i needed that break in routine. i needed to remember what it was like to sit quietly and draw. inching and pulling and working those legs.
mae and i did the hard work of weeding in the afternoon. with the warmth and the rain and the fresh soil i laid down, our seeds weren’t the only things springing to life. it seemed over night our entire garden was overrun with weeds. the dandelions. so bittersweet pulling them, yanking and breaking them. i hear my liz in my head telling me how much good they can do and in my untainted soil they’d be perfectly medicinal. maybe some day i’ll grow a dandelion patch. wouldn’t that be something? beans and corn are making their way out of the soil now. we found so many of them. i think all but a few of the corn have come up now. march. woah.
sunday dinner. my mother has been making artichokes this way for as long as i can remember and i’m sure i was the only kid in second grade who not only knew what one was but had it at the top of her list of favorite foods. i remember going around the room on the first day and having to telling the class your name and something about yourself… what your favorite foods and colors were, etc. i said artichokes and my teacher gasped. she asked if anyone knew what an artichoke was and no hands raised. then she asked my to share with the class about that “unique vegetable” how horrifying. ha!
my alizah loves her artichokes, too. she was squealing with delight when she got home from her dad’s and the house was filled with the thick odor of garlic and greens.
and now for the SURPRISE!
saroyan is DONE. perfect. it’s cooling a bit outside and now is the time for it.
2ply, artichokes, cooking, dyeing, hand dyed wool, hand spun wool, kettle dye, knitting, merino, saroyan, spinning, yarn in how to, knitting, simply living, spinning 
