Day 19 - Blue Mohair

Day 19 - blue mohair, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

When you're on the move, spindles are the best!

Plus, I finished the camel/silk and didn't start anything else on the wheel today. We were too dang busy.

Last night I put the camel/silk yarn in a water bath in the oven with a little Jacquard Emerald dye and a slosh of vinegar and baked it for an hour at 250. I let that sit overnight and checked on it this morning. I think the results are a vastly improved color of yarn (although I feel a wee bit guilty for using commercial acid dyes on naturally-dyed-fiber--but not all that guilty since I really didn't like the color in the first place).
 

As for the kids, I have massive pic-spam for you all today. We spent two hours driving to Newport to go to the Aquarium there, about two hours there, another bit of time at McDonald's recovering from the Aquarium, a little shopping at a kite shop and then the Myrtlewood place in Philomath on the way home (another two hours or so there). It has been a very busy day.
 

 

 

 

And because I can't resist cute little frogs:

Day 18 - Finished Yarn!

Day 18 - Finished Yarn!, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

Yep. It's done!

It's also still "not me" in color. So it's getting tweaked with green dye. We'll see if I improve, or ruin it!

Here is a slightly Photoshopped image of my darling kiddos "reading" together (I couldn't get them both facing me at the same time, so I snagged half of two pictures to make one good one).


And a little showing-off of our favorite things (Star Wars toys, and painted toenails).
 

Day 17 - Two Bobbins!!

Day 17 - Two Bobbins!!, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

Hurrah! The camel/silk is done!

Well, it's not done done. I still have to ply it. But there is no more camel/silk fiber sitting in my bag. It's all on the bobbins and ready to go. Hurrah!

And because of my slip-up yesterday, we have a double-dose of cuteness today!
 

 

Day 16 - Augh! Failure!

Day 16 - Still working!, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

I spun today, as you can see. However, it rained all day. We did lots of indoor activities, sleeping, and went to an indoor swimming pool ... and none of the venues were conducive to picture-taking. So sadly, I have no kiddie pics today.

We shall hopefully resume tomorrow, when there will be sun.

Or, at least, there had better be! (Unfortunately, the forecast doesn't look good.)

Day 15 - Bobbin Two!

Day 15 - Bobbin Two!, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

Yes, I know it looks exactly the same as earlier pictures. But honestly, this is a whole new bobbin of fiber! Really!

(I'm ready for them to be done, too.)

As for the rest.. today's fun activity was an outdoor picnic for dinner. After a day full of grey clouds and drizzle, we caught just enough sun to enjoy an outdoor meal together.


 

Day 14 - More Camel/silk

Day 14 - More Camel/silk, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

Yes. There is progress. There is not much progress (on the spinning). But there is some!

On the other hand today we (we being me and the kids in various permutations): got up, had breakfast, went off to camp, cleaned the house, wove on my shawl, had lunch, played outside, got the carpets cleaned, played more, went to "Parents' Time Out", went shopping for a new lens cap and lots of clothes, ate dinner, went back and picked up little people from "Parents' Time Out", came home and got ready for bed, read books and then came and blogged!

And probably some other things, too, but I forget.

The backyard was a "repair shop" for most of the afternoon:
 

Day 13 - Mohair

Day 13 - Mohair, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

Our "lovely" pictures today are brought to you through my iPod Touch. Sadly, I still haven't figured out how to make the silly thing take any picture really worth sharing. But as I am pledged to pictures every day, here's what we get!

(Incidentally, the DSLR with which I usually get my decent photos was left at home for the day as we were too busy and I have lost its lens cap. The two things together forced me to find other means of photography. The upside is that the iPod fits nicely into a back pocket and was very easy to carry around the park while we enjoyed burnt hot-dogs and cookies!)

 

Day 12 - Camel/silk

Day 12 - Camel/silk, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

Yep. Still working on it! And a little on the mohair, too, but not enough you could see it in a picture.

We pledged to read a book each day. She reads one to me. I read one to her. Mine are a bit harder to read, but that's fair. I enjoy sharing the time with her!


And my little monster was... a little monster today!

Day 11 - Camel/silk

Day 11 - Camel/silk, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

I broke into my third "Pro-Verbial" shipment (50/50 Camel/silk) to continue spinning.

This stuff is really yummy! And it's much more of a mossy green than the picture seems to be able to pick up. But then again from time to time it looks very like brass to me. I'm quite tempted to ply this with a different color of something just to see what would happen.

We had fun at camp, McDonalds, and the Library!
 

Then both kids wanted to prove they were growing..
 

Day 10.5 - Finished Bobbin

Day 10 - Finished Bobbin, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

I spoke too soon!

As I went to get today's pictures, I found a few extra snapped off yesterday :)

First off, I finished my bobbin of BMFA late on Day 9. Pictures had to wait for better light, tho.

The kids had "gametime", nice and quiet! It was a wonderful break. So, of course I had to sneak in and interfere by taking pictures!
 

Day 10 - Quick! Take a rest!

Whew!

That has been a lot of spinning this week! But when the riders of the Tour de France take a break, then "officially" we Tour de Fleece participants get to take a short rest as well. Or as much of a rest as we can manage. (I have to admit I did a little work on my spindle project, but not with any sense of urgency.)

On the other hand, there will be no pictures today. Not even of the kids. We were too busy doing Other Things.

The house is happier for our little break. So are the laundry piles. And the garden.

Honestly, I'm sure you're just as happy to not have pictures of all that!

Day 9 - Merino/silk

Day 9 - Merino/silk, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

Yes, there is progress. Amusingly enough, the top was dyed in a progression that went from green to red-purple to green to blue-purple to green again, so it really feels like I haven't gotten anywhere. But I have!



On the other hand, the kids had a HUGE day at the University of Oregon ballpark watching our minor-league team (the Emeralds) play. We ate lots of fun things (popcorn and frozen lemonade and ice cream to top it off) and played in the bouncy-house and bouncy-obstacle-course-house (that was pretty cool) and watched the game and then ran the bases when everything was all done. So double pictures from that fun!
 
 

Day 8 - Merino/silk

Day 8 - Wool/silk, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

I love watching bobbins grow!



The neighbors had a Really Big Box. How could the kids resist? I sure couldn't (if I could fit, too!).
 

Day 7 - More Merino/silk

Day 7 - More Merino/silk, a photo by Project Pictures on Flickr.

The bobbin is a bit more full, the bag is a bit more empty. Still working my way through BMFA's lovely Merino/silk.

And of course the kids are having a great time, too!