Fall Dyeing

There are so many ways to dye and all have a fascination of their own. Recently I have been working with the goldenrod that grows in the fields and the giant marigolds from the garden. The process is simple.....After chopping up the flowers and simmering them for 45 minutes I strain out the flower material and am left with the dye bath.

 
The yarn from our Shetland sheep has been prepared for the dye bath with an alum mordant (45 minute simmer in water and alum) to make it color fast. The final step is another 45 minutes with the wetted wool in the dye bath.

 The finished product is shown below, the goldenrod on the bottom and marigold on the top.

Right now I'm working with madder root, that lovely red that comes from the roots. Check in next post to see!

Portuguese Knitting

I am new to knitting, having arrived here because of my love of animals. It all started with a beautiful old barn 20 years ago. The barn had most recently been used for storage, prior to that for horses and cows. We carted out all the stored junk and moved in a few llamas and sheep. That began my journey with fiber animals and all of that lovely fiber. Fast forward to my topic, Portuguese knitting.

So I have been trying to knit since I processed our first fleece into yarn. Many unfinished projects later I have found my way to knit! I began my knitting adventure the way my grandmother knitted, English knitting. Moved on to Continental knitting, better but not quite right for me. Now I have found my love, Portuguese knitting. I must say I was doubtful I would like it, yarn rubbing against the back of my neck doesn't sound comfortable or wearing a pin, I never wear jewelry! I tried it anyway and adore this technique. It puts the working area in front of my needles so I can see everything better. Using a magnetic pin on my left side combined with the working end of the yarn looped over my right fingers solved my yarn tension issues. Furthermore there is minimal hand movement, seems like my left thumb does most of the work! Even better, I knit faster and with fewer mistakes.

There are a couple of other things I must mention, I get bored easily, I get bored knitting. I also feel guilty if I am unproductive, like watching TV. This has been the only knitting technique where I can watch a favorite show and knit at the same time, how is that for yin/yang?

There are numerous YouTube videos on Portuguese knitting and Crafty has a class. You can find a variety of pins are available on Etsy, pin or magnetic style. Give it a try and let me know what you think.