Happy ending

Peggy and I have been spinning and knitting a lot in the last few weeks. We have a deadline for finishing our Braids sweaters (early November). Here they are as of last Saturday. I've knit about another inch since this photo was taken.

Peggy's :










Rebecca's:

Only an inch, because I've been distracted by shiney things, AGAIN. You remember the merino we Kool-Aid dyed and then Judith MacKenzie over-dyed for me?

~Here's a brief history~

February, 2006, Kool-Aid Dye Day at Peggy's house with the Wednesday Knitters ~ Peggy, The Other Peggy, MaryEllin and Me.

We were ready with the dye:

Because we started early, by lunch-time we were really hungry and totally prepared. We served ourselves a feast:

Matzo Ball Soup
Caesar Salad
Grilled Salmon with Lemon

My part of the dyeing project didn't turn out as expected although before I spun it up I liked it. Once spun and plied, it was pastel and not very attractive to me. It was not what I planned, which was bright red and pink, forest green and off-white.

This:
turned into this:

At the July seminar with Judith MacKenzie, I had a chance to over-dye the merino, and the two batches turned out like this:

I loved it! I couldn't stop myself from spinning it up, in spite of really needing to crank on the Braids Sweater. It's for The Other Peggy, who made me a quilt, and I'm honor-bound to finish it before we all go away for a long knitting weekend in November. I have 7.5 weeks. This is do-able. But I digress; back to spinning.

Here's the project spun up, each color separately:

On the spool:

On the skeiner:
(see the 'Skeiners' photo album on our Betty Roberts Yahoo Group)

Lump of pre-soaked two-ply:
Hot soak with a little Wool-Mix:

2 hanks in their natural habitat:

Close-up of a yarn I definately have affection for:

I'll let it settle for awhile, let it decide what it wants to be. I have about 950 yards at 17 wpi. It's soft, soft, soft and I can't wait to show it to the Wednesday Knitters.

I do not believe it started out like this:

"Easily distracted by shiney things." That's me.