A Very Productive Day

For a change,LOL.  Lately, between the daily T-storms, dealing with work on the house, and mostly Bouree...I have spent very little time working.  Today, I decided that as annoying as dealing with the  house repairs, and as compelling as playing with the kitties is...I have to get back to some creative work again.

Today was that day...mostly.  While I did play with kitties, I still did get quite a lot done.

First, I dyed a few skeins of wool yarn.  I really like doing this...the results are always great..especially since I now only use the really good stuff...both wool and dyes.  It really does make a huge difference.  I did experiment in the beginning with using food coloring and kool aid for dyes, but I threw those out...the results I get from the professional acid dyes are just better in my view.  It actually didn't take me long to figure that out...one skein with each actually... and only one keeper...the one done with the professional dyes.

I started out using pro chemical acid dyes, but a little while back Dharma introduced their own brand of acid dyes.  They are vibrant and very economical, and I got a bunch of them to try, and I love them. Since I get tons of other supplies from Dharma, it is nice to be able to get the wool dyes from them too.

Today, though I worked on using up my pro chemical supply. I did several skeins, but I'm just showing one tonight.

Bare...



soaking...



Drying...



Done...



I always add synthropol to my acid soak, and when done I always use creme rinse to soften the fibers after the dyeing process.  It makes the wool slide nicely on the needles and feels really good to your hands...not to mention it makes it smell so good.  I just use whatever conditioner I happen to have, they all work.  After all, it is just sheep's hair!



I also got quite a bit of quilting done...so much so that if the T-storms wait until late afternoon tomorrow I may get this quilt done in the next 2 days!...It is big, but it is for my guest bed, so there won't be any micro stippling...want it to be nice and soft!

All the applique is just fused...except the bias stems...they are just pinned, so all the applique is being stitched down as a part of the quilting process.





And of course, there have to be some Bouree pictures...  he played in the trash can under the longarm table for a while







He kept Chloe up half the night, so she slept all day...

Then Bouree fell asleep too, on the chaise lounge watching me work.



 



And that's it for my day, how was yours?