2008-04-29 - 5:03 p.m.

Today was one of those long productive days. After attacking the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, I created a workspace for my dyebaths. Before I left for the Viking festival, I had thrown in the rhubarb dyed mohair into the copper cold bath to get a green color. It was done nice and dark. I have to remeber that the iron I originally mordanted it with oxidizes later on. Even the dyebath remnants got dark over the weekend. I picked more rhubarb today. The leaves and bottoms went into the old bath to soak overnight for another round later this week.

I cleaned the copper cold bath. I poured it down the pipe that often is attacked by my maple tree. I scrubbed the dead brown scum that was on the walls of the pail. Baking soda worked the best to remove it. I started another cold bath to sit on the back porch. The recipe is in Carol Kasselman's book, using scrap copper and ammonia. This time I put the scraps into an old stocking to provect my yarn from getting cut. Definitely an outside project.

I strained the dandelion bath from Friday to get rid of the inevitable mud. I threw in alum and cream of tartar and a pound of sock yarn and cooked it for an hour. Then I let it completely cool outside. It turned out nice. I washed the rhubarb skein and the dandelion skeins in Orvus and hung them out to dry. It was a little cool today but sunny. I will have to pick more dandelions tomorrow.

I sat down to rest and watched Current TV and knitted on a Teal Elizabethan cap. They take too much time. I got some weaving in on the 45" loom. I finished the silk noille and started on the green cotton. Tonight is knitnight at the local yarn shop. I think I'll bring my spinning. I have a bright raspberry fleece that needs to be turned into yarn. Then the Penguins play hockey tonight.

All in all a long day. The batteries are shot in the digital camera so no pictures are forthcoming.

Pictures are now up on Flickr. Check them out by clicking the Flickr logo at Ursula's Alcove

Ursula

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