Olympic Progress

Our weekend started relatively slow, and with a quick change in the weather, turned into a frenzied DIY project spotted with a small batch of dyeing and some knitting on the side.

I added all my recent dye projects to my stash on Ravelry. 

Link is to the right >>> 

Details are here! 

I miss my DP (dyeing partner) like crazy, so out of the 15 blank skeins I have in inventory, I only dyed four. As I am the Bean Counter and not the Chemist of this pair, I surfed the learning curve all on my own.

First: Our yarn creations are starting to sell! Yay Me & D!

 I dyed this second skein of Jester's Hat for D's friend in LA.  

 In a stroke of genius (or perhaps and actual stroke because of my poor decision making) I dyed this green/brown/orange skein for a pair of TreeBeard socks D wants to make. She absolutely loves it, but I dyed it on the wrong base yarn. Hard to knit a pair of detailed, leafy socks with only 245 yards of sport weight yarn. Duh. So, this one will either be sold ASIS or will be overdyed at a later date.

 This skein of Bearded Iris is also a sport weight wool. 

And finally, my attempt at a gradient. I took another 100g skein of sport weight wool and wound it off into 5, 20g. sections. I filled the crock pot with 12 C water, 1 C vinegar, and Wilton's Blue and Green Frosting tints. After a sequence (or 5) of dunking, removing, adding more dye solution, (lather, rinse, repeat) I found myself with a gorgeous skein of yarn that looked nothing like I had intended it. 

After lots of rinsing.

 

It is something I don't think I will ever be able to duplicate, but I love it, love it, love it!

So the DIY project of the weekend is a major repair to our lawn sprinkler system. Last summer a sewer and water project along one side of our corner lot left us with an entire zone of sprinkler lines buried, never to be found again. There was a miscommunication with the subcontractor and we came home from work one night late in the project to find all the sprinkler lines in our side yard buried, the dirt rolled & compacted, and the curb poured. This weekend was about digging a 75-80 foot trench, laying new water line, and installing new heads. V & LittleC were able to accomplish this and save us well over $1000. For the mere cost of $16 in parts and a couple of pizzas for labor, we will have our cushy lawn back for BigC's graduation party next June. 

Here is a picture mid-project from this morning. I have been summoned outside to help fill the trench and call in the pizza order!

 
Later!
M