Coffee yarn and used books

OK folks, here you go. This is a picture of coffee-dyed yarn, along with a bit of what the color looked like before it was dyed. As a bonus you get to see a bit of my weaving. Not pressed weaving, since it is a scarf and has been (obviously) wrinkled up all summer. Hey, I never promised ironing!

Here is a pile of dyed thrums(the leftover warp that gets cut off when you are done weaving) and the original yarn. This yarn is dyed to be fairly dark, because I thought the color was prettier than the lighter color I experimented with. To answer the question that I am sure some of you are wondering, "No, the darkness of the roast has no bearing on the darkness of the dyed yarn." It is all about the weight ratio of the dye stuff to yarn. Not as much dye stuff (coffee, onion skins, bugs, snails, etc.)to the amount of yarn, you get a lighter colored yarn. The more stuff you use, the darker your yarn. I used only your basic mordant of alum and cream of tarter. You can skew the colors of natural dyed yarns by tossing in other chemicals, safe ones being things such as vinegar. Not safe ones include heavy metals like copper. Yeah, I go for not messing with my septic tank and ground water too much. When I clean the basement this winter I should come across the experiment samples of different colors. When I find them, I'll pass them on.


Have I ever mentioned that I think buying/getting/giving used books is a perfectly acceptable thing to do in life? I mean, if it isn't used before I get it, it will be used right away. (Well, I don't give used books to others if i don't know how they feel about it.) I don't "collect" cookbooks, but I sure do like them. I will admit to owning quite a few of them (don't even ask), but I don't need random ones just for the sake of owning another cookbook. I have been looking at this particular one for a while now, but haven't thought it was worth $30, or even the price it would be at B&N with my mom's member discount. I even looked at it at the store this summer on our day trip in Portland. It was cheaper there, but I still wasn't sure it would be worth the money. I figured I would check it out from the library first and then decide if I wanted to own it. Can I just say how much I love AbeBooks? I figured as long as I was looking for a few other books there, I might as well check prices for it too. I found it for only $4 and it showed up in my mail box yesterday.
I was looking for this book, which I had to get. It had already fallen into my "Should I buy this cookbook?" criteria of, "If I have checked it out of the library three times already, it makes sense to buy it." I love this book (obviously since I have checked it out/renewed it at least four times and had over due fines on it), and we will see how the Bob's one is. It can't be too bad for the price (and no, shipping wasn't very much either!).
That same rule has been known to apply to other types of books as well. Mason-Dixon Knitting is on my Powell's wish list. Why? 'Cause I have renewed/checked it out several times already (I have lost count, so it has to be more than three) and probably will again soon. I want to make their baby sweater for a friend, so need to read it again for that pattern. Besides, you would think that I might own it for all the Ballbands I have made already. (Powell's didn't have what I was looking for at the time, and AbeBooks doesn't have a wish list. I'm not really picky about where used books come from, but it is really cool that Abe is all independent booksellers.)
Now I am off to test the "The house will blow up if you turn on the furnace before October 1st" theory. It isn't even dinner time and is only 63 degrees in the house, plus there is a frost warning for tonight. I figure I can test the theory and maybe blow up, or I can definitely freeze! Plus, I need to make bread and it will take a lot longer at this temp. (Of course it is supposed to be seventy plus by Monday, but hey, I know how to turn it back off.)

Ponds, plants, and missing Kitty

This is a picture of our porch pond in the spring. We haul it out of the shed every spring, put it on the front porch, check for leaks, fill it with water, bring the goldfish out for the summer, and buy just a couple of plants to keep the water oxygenated, and to make the whole thing worth it. We used to put a pump/fountain in it each year, but I have replaced it twice in seven years and just never got around to the third needed replacement this year. Which is a bit sad as I really miss the sound of the moving water. You will note that there are three plants in this thing. The taller plant, a water hyacinth, is the one that gave us these awesome flowers.


This is what it looks like today. See all those plants? Yeah, they propagate like crazy all summer long. There are now seven of the water lettuce where there had been two. I also have four of the water hyacinth. Yeah, there is a reason these are classified as invasive non-native plants in a lot of places. I don't worry about them invading much since I keep them contained. They also won't winter over. The first year I brought the whole thing in to keep it gurgling away inside. Well, that didn't work very well for several reasons. DTE's cat, Kitty tried to drink out of it, but she fell in. I was not too crazy about a wet, long-haired cat running around the house! The next thing we learned was that Kitty did not like the plants. She would grab the plants and drag them all over the house, beating them up in the process. No matter how many times we put them back, or reduced the number of plants see if that helped, we would find a bedraggled water plant somewhere in the house within an hour after returning it to the water. All of those things, and the dogs banging the heavy ceramic pot into the wall and splashing water all over as they ran past it while playing tag, led to putting the pond pot in the shed, getting a bowl for the goldfish, and donating all the plants to the girl's high school biology lab.



The next fall when I brought the fish back in they had outgrown their bowl from the spring. Since I wouldn't want to live in a fish bowl myself, I kind of figured they might not either. (Like a goldfish really cares?)
Well I didn't want to have just a boring bowl to look at all winter, so I gussied up the new one a bit.

We have a frost warning for our area tonight so I might just need to move the fish into its winter home. I guess I could leave a plant in it this year since it won't drive Kitty crazy. I would really rather have her and no plants in the fishbowl. I would even be happy with water plants being drug all over the house. Besides, who is going to pet the goldfish this winter with out her here?

Thanks for all the feedback

I just want to thank you all for the feedback you have given for the "New Blog Look" that my FIADS Super Secret Spoiler gave me. It was really her work, just my cutting and pasting.
Several folks have asked about the lack of coffee dyed yarn pictures; I promise that I will have some up soon. I would have them now, but since we have a thunderstorm going on, I am going to wait a couple of hours and the sun should be back out. I will also write sometime about the process, since I have had questions about that too.

Since the week is coming to an end and I need to address the FIADS "Topic of the Week" here goes.

Topic Question
Now that in some geographic locations the weather is starting to turn cooler, do you change the type of yarn(s) you knit/crochet with? No.

If not, why do you not switch and what do you knit/crochet with? For me knitting is about the process of watching something that seems like magic happen. I take one big long stick and "string" and end up with a dishcloth, scarf, sock, or whatever I am making. Who knew I was a wizard? I sure didn't. I love the creative process, thus I do a lot of "What if I did this instead?" I enjoy a project that takes a while to finish (one of the reasons I am making Dr. Who), but I am into instant gratification, thus dishcloths. The Ballband is a lot of fun to watch the interaction of the colors happen as it grows on the needles. Each one is different, depending on the colors and the placement thereof.
Thus, I don't knit with a particular type of yarn based on what season it is currently, I knit with a particular yarn based on what I feel drawn to create or learn at the moment. This would also be why I can work on more than one creation, knitting or otherwise, in the course of a short amount of time. I am also easily distracted!

So here it is!

This new look is the present that my Fall into Autumn Dish Cloth Super Secret Spoiler has already given me. There is a user-error issue with the links to visit area, but I am working on figuring out how to fix that. Should be done with it in the next day or so. One friend of mine looked at it while I was in the process of changing it, so I already have her feedback. Any one else care to add their opinion?

Addendum:
I figured out how to fix the "Links to Visit" but have realized I need to work on the archive part as it doesn't seem to be linking through. So, please be patient while I learn how to read code to fix it. (The daughters would be proud of me if they knew I was learning more code-reading, but I don't think they read my blog.)

Falling off the (Ballband)wagon and presents

Well the other night I just had to make another Ballband Dishcloth. It had been over two weeks since the last one after all! Well, and I had seen the new Sugar'n Cream Twists yarn, so of course I had to try it. Lucky for you all, since I haven't posted any pictures for awhile. I am going to be giving you several more to make up for it.


Today I got mail from my Knit One Tea Too Pal! She sent me all sorts of goodies from The Republic of Tea. There is a cup with its own infuser, Rose Petal Tea, some sample bags of two other kinds of tea, a notebook, some fiber Soak (which I have never used), Tea stitch markers, and a few other goodies, as well as Gingerbread Biscotte. The best part of the packages was the yarn! It is Whatnot Sport, dyed by Joni of Union Center Knits and appears to come via Wool Girl. It is very beautiful! I shall give you a close-up of how pretty it is.


I am really looking forward to making myself pink and brown socks. I am hoping she will send me the recipe for the biscotte because they are really, really yummy! I would love to be able to make them and send them to the Daughters. They love gingerbread as much as I do, and the regular stuff just doesn't ship well at all!

"Fall Into Autumn Dishcloth Exchange matches went out today and I have already gotten a present from my Super Spoiler! I am excited about it, but am afraid you all will have to wait a day or two until I show it to you. There is going to be an outage on Blogspot tonight (as I am guessing some of you already know) and I want to get this post up before that happens.

Needles to drool over

Oh man, I never thought I would desire a knitting needle so much. Now, many of you may remember when the Harlot mentioned these last July, but despite following all the links, I haven't figured out where to get them in the US. Today's inbox included a regular Knit Picks email event, but the picture sent me into drool mode. I don't get all twitterpated about very many things, but these needles have definitely got my heart going a bit faster than normal. I just have to say they are really beautiful!! OK, they are colorful, and I love color. They promise to be nice smooth wood, and I really like smooth wood in my hands (while I enjoy bamboo needles, they aren't as smooth as hardwoods). Oh man, I might need new DPs for socks, or two circulars for socks, or something. Or just pretty pieces of colorful wood to look at and try not to drool on. Well, I am sure I would find something to fill them up with if some of them came to live at my house.

Yesterday and the night before I played with my Wolf for not nearly long enough, but it got late enough I decided to stop. I had my towel pattern all figured out, sampled perfectly, but I needed to order yarn for them. Yeah, I have lots of yarn already, but not the right (weft) yarn. So it is on its way. Then I will be making towels like crazy for my Towel Exchange. I am very excited about the pattern I designed for them. Don't know if anybody else will be, but I am and that is good enough for me!
Oh, I found this really cool pattern recently and think it is pretty awesome too. Maybe I could knit a colorful bag on colorful needles? Sigh. Maybe I should put these on a wish list for Hubband.

"Fall into Autumn" Dishcloth Swap

Yep, I am signing up for another swap. They are fun and I get to knit a specific thing, instead of my often "random, what do I do with it now" stuff. Plus I like hand knit dish/facecloths. (I actually am planning on signing up for one more swap in the next week. More to come on that soon!)
So here goes for my "Fall Into Autumn" Dishcloth swap question and answer entry.


1. Do you knit or crochet? Knitting
How long have you been doing it? since 1997

2. Have you made dischloths before? Yes
Do you use them yourself, give them as gifts, or both? Both

3. What's your favorite cotton to make cloths from? I usually use Peaches and Cream, Sugar 'n Cream, or 100% cotton chenille.
What cotton would you like to try that you haven't before ?
I am kind of wondering about Panda Cotton, but I am not sure if the stores here carry it. I am also thinking about trying Knit Pick's CotLin.

4. If you knit, do you prefer circular or straight needles? Circulars
For all, do you prefer wooden, metal, or plastic needles? Wood or metal, depending on the yarn

5. What are your favorite colors? Bright colors, at least for this. My kitchen is white and black for the most part, so I try to toss in lots of color.
Any colors you don't like much? Nope, I like them all (even black and white).

6. What do you like best about Autumn? The crisp air at night and warm days. Planting bulbs, the crunchy leaves, the deer changing color along with the maple leaves. ( I promise deer really do change color!)

7. Pies: Pumpkin? Apple? Pecan? All of em? or No Thanks!
All of them. Also apple-cranberry and Cranberry-pecan.

8. When you were a kid, were you the one who couldn't wait to get started with school , or the one who overslept on the 1st day?
Well, I don't think I ever overslept the first day, but I am not sure I was chomping at the bit to have it start either.

9. Do you celebrate Halloween? (The real key here guys is especially knowing if you have an aversion to the holiday or little goodies/decorations associated with it, given the time frame of the swap)
Yes, but not as much since we moved to a street with six houses on it and only four little kids. But I always loved making super-cool Halloween costumes for my kids. We still get use out of the one I made nineteen years ago this year. And I still have never seen another Pile of Leaves costume in all that time!

10. If you had to choose just 3 edible 'goodies' to eat for a full year, what 3 would you choose? (Well, coffee because I hate caffeine with drawl, but I suppose that is a drinking item, not eating.) Greek Rice Pilaf, Greek Souvlakia, and Ginger Scones.

11. Do you have any pets? Kids? Husbands who seem like kids? ;)
2 Basset Hounds, one Hubband, and those kids that are away at college (or where ever they really are, claiming to be at school!)

12. If you were to describe a particular yarn that shares traits of your personality, what would it be and why? Umm, I don't know. Oh, maybe variegated yarn because I can be very creative (those Halloween costumes would come to mind) and variegated yarn seems to add lots of possibilities for creating stuff. (???)

13. Do you use your cloths mostly for dishcloths, or as facecloths? Both. I have a couple of chenille one that are nice for facecloths, and I have several in the kitchen that get a lot of use (and another one for me on the needles. Very portable knitting.)

14. Favorite Fall Holiday: Halloween or Thanksgiving and why? (Feel free to share another fall memory if you do not celebrate either of these holidays)
I think it would really be my dad's birthday in the middle of November. Mostly because I remember the first time I ever cooked something all by myself was Gingerbread for his cake the year I was almost seven. He and I almost always had Gingerbread for our birthday cake 'cause it is way better than chocolate any day! Oh, can I add that as one of the things I would want to be able to eat as a treat for a year? What would I give up though? Maybe the rice.

15. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should know about?
Cigarette smoke and strong perfume smells.

In the interest of previous dish cloth swap questions, one could go here for the Dog Days Swap answers, if it is any help.

Mail and shopping yarn

DTE and I stopped at Yarn Harbor briefly yesterday after unloading the truck at her college dorm/apartment. She picked out this yarn so I can make her this hat. The colored yarn is "Brook Trout". I don't think she noticed the name when she picked it, but I find it rather entertaining. I think I will have some left over, but might wind up using it for mittens for her. There may be several fisher folk I am related too that wind up liking the name/color besides her. One of the things I enjoyed seeing from the train window as I went across Montana was real water that brook, rainbow, and cutthroat trout would live in.



There was a package waiting in my mailbox for me today. This yarn was in it and it turns out it was a prize I won for Catie's Tornado Scarf project for WhoDuKnit. I was rather taken back when I had been notified I had won the project prize. Each skein is enough to knit one pair of socks, so I will have choices about what to do with it. Socks for me and someone else, socks for two others than my self, socks and a scarf, etc.

I have made a small amount of progress on Dr. Who since I got home, it helped that I took it to Wednesday night knitting group this week. I feel like I still have catching up from being gone to do before I can settle into a planned knitting time routine. I am getting ready to put a new project on the loom and have hospital visits (which I love doing even more than knitting or weaving) next week, so it might be a bit longer until I start that routine thing. Not like I am ever really that organized.

Beautiful yarn and knitting progress

This is the yarn I got from Marti for the first round of the Hand Dyed Yarn Swap. She got the blank yarn from Recycled Silk, and I am thinking I am going to have to place an order from them sometime. She did an awesome job making beautiful colors. I did a good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) job of tuning it into a tangled mess, but Hubband said he would help me untangle it and turn it into a nice ball. What a sweet guy! (I am not sure he knows what he is in for, but he might. He is a fisherman after all.) If anyone wants to see what the yarn I sent looks like, hit the button on the side bar and scroll through what lots of folks got, or just go here or here. Marti also sent me a tin of those yummy Dark Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Altoids. No, they weren't in the picture













This is the progress I have made on DTY's Dr. Who scarf. It is currently about 65 inches long (unblocked) and has 536 rows out of 1140, so not quite half done. Now, if I just stay on track and keep knitting on it every day. Somehow, I don't think I am going to keep up on it at the same pace I had on the train. (I promise I will have better pictures when it is done.)
We had 3/4 of an inch of rain last night, just in case any of you are wondering.

Apparently tomatoes don't like all this rain

This is what my garden of tomato plants was like when I got home. What a big difference from just a few weeks ago. See all those sad tomatoes on the ground, rotting away? Some of them will grow into little tomato plants next year, but I won't know which kinds they are.
I hadn't really been aware of the extent of the rain until just before I came home. HBT, the friend DTY and I stayed with, got her jury summons just a few days after she and I had made arrangements for our stay with her and her family. She wound up be placed on a jury trial just before we arrived that was expected to last two plus weeks. So, no news for us most of the time we were in Oregon. We heard a little on Monday night, but it continued to rain after that. We only had verbal reports until I got home and was able to see newspaper pictures that Hubband had saved for me.
So I won't be eating Tomato and Sweet Onion casserole with my tomatoes this year. I will be going to the farmer's market this weekend to buy tomatoes and some other stuff. I had planned on pulling up all the dead vines and digging the garden under tomorrow, but that plan is now off. Why? Because it is raining again tonight.