Dyeing to get back to my projects

Boy has it been a crazy half year.  I knew it had been a long time since I last posted here, but had no idea it had been since Christmas.  I've been spending that time in absolute crisis busyness.  Since then, my whole life has changed.  Our family moved from here:

To here:

While packing, painting, and repairing before the move, I actually got so busy I couldn't knit for 2 months.  This made me crazy. I'm so glad to be have my therapy back.  My current project is to finish up some knits for my friend William to take to his next pirate festival.  He is the reenactor who has helped me find the great people who want to buy my historic knits.  My Etsy shop has also been very neglected during this move, so as soon as I finish knitting for William, I'm going to get my shop more like I want it.

Anyway, William asked for another Gunnister Purse.  This is the first one I made for him:

I made several others, but they sold so quickly I forgot to get pictures.  William wants a purse in yellow this time.  I didn't have the right yellow on hand, so I decided to use a turmeric dye bath.  Turmeric does a great job dying (or staining) wool with no mordent.  Perhaps more importantly, it fits William's pirate character, William Brand of the Mercury Crew, who spent some time in Jerusalem.  I believe the spice would have been sufficiently common there to use for its color.

I did a little research before beginning. The simplest tutorial on turmeric dying is from Lyon Brand Yarns.  Some other people suggest using vinegar in the dye bath, as you would with acid dyes, and I wondered if I should try.  The owner of Sweetfern Studio luckily did the experimenting for me.  She tried turmeric alone, with acid, and with a base.  You should check out the results, which are very interesting!  It was clear from her experiment that I didn't want to use anything but the turmeric for my desired yellow on wool yarn.

I didn't measure my water or the turmeric.  I put about a couple of teaspoons of turmeric in a pot of water (maybe a quart and a half) and set it boiling.

Next, I walked away and forgot about it until the entire pot of water had boiled off, and I started smelling the truly lovely smell of toasting turmeric.  I'd skip this step if I were you!

Then I scrubbed out the pot, was grateful turmeric isn't too expensive, and got another pot boiling.  This time I let it boil for about half an hour, stirring occasionally.  Near the end of the boiling, I started skimming the foam off the top of the pot, in hopes of keeping the yarn cleaner.  I think this was worth it!

Next, I put my mini-skein of yarn (only 10 grams) in the pot for 30 minutes, turning the heat down to a simmer.  I gently turned and stirred the yarn several times.

I should have soaked the skein first, but I was very distracted that day and forgot.  No worries, though, because the yarn came out a beautifully even marigold yellow:

Now the question was, to go darker or not?  With William's input, I decided to give the yarn another bath.  This time, I soaked the yarn first, then let it simmer for 20 minutes.  After rinsing and drying, it was obvious that the yarn hadn't dyed evenly.  I think this was because I forgot to turn the yarn.  See how great I am at this?

You can barely tell in the picture, but the unevenness was obvious in person.  The yellow also got more muted and mustardy with the second bath, but not darker.  

After a bit more debate, I decided to dye a bit more to even out the color.  Note that every time I do this,  I have to reheat the dye bath to boiling, adding a bit more water so that it doesn't boil off!  This time, I soaked the yarn again, and put it back in the bath for 10 minutes, turning it often.  I was starting to get worried about felting it from so much handling, but I was gentle and it turned out well.

The finished skein is waiting to be knit up as soon as I'm finished with the gunnister purse currently on the needles!

 The kids started school again yesterday.  My mother's heart ached to see them go, but I will hopefully have my hands more free to catch up a little...and unpack a few more boxes!

Judith's Studio and Hurricane Sandy

I assume many people who read this blog are active enough in the fiber arts world to have heard of the loss of Judith MacKenzie's studio to fire.  It seems like such an irony while worrying about crisis on the east coast to have this little tragedy on the west coast.  I say little not to diminish the loss to her and many who stored their wheels and looms in her studio, but because compared to loss of homes and life, we have to maintain perspective, even though  I might not always feel that way.

It's a bit ironic, because as I've been listening to those trying to while away they hours and days without electricity in the east, I try not to be jealous.  Idealistically, I picture myself knitting and spinning to my heart's content in a chilly, boring apartment.  I think of so many hours to play with my fiber.  Assuming I still had fiber, of course.  The truth is, Hurricane (or Super Storm) Sandy was not that nice.  It didn't gift people with extra hours.  Instead, it was devastating in destroying all that many people owned.  It's hard to imagine what that would really feel like.  Surrounded by too much stuff, and unable to part with it, I know that I would be devastated and blessed by such an event.  I hope that most are able to rebuild.  I was moved by this video of the Mormon Helping Hands doing a bit of good on one day in one community in New York.

And meanwhile, the warm hearts of knitters have come together to rebuild Judith's studio as much as is possible.  They are 73% of the way to the needed donation.  I hope that many more good people join in helping all those in need wherever they can help.

And there's one more good turn in the knitting world I'd like to mention today.  Craftsy is sponsoring a Keep Out the Cold drive to provide warmer winter clothing to homeless children in the U.S.  You can donate handmade items or money.  Their goal is 10,000 donations! I'm going to make a kid's sized Monmouth cap out of a fun color.  They're the warmest hats I make, so I hope one can bless someone else.

What are you donating time or money to this season?

Plugging away in chaos

If I could only ever finish a coherent thought, let alone a task...

I'm supposed to be putting up my pears (I decided to dry them, right?), making plum jam, and doing something with all those impossible almonds from my almond tree.  Instead, I dream of more knitting while driving the kids everywhere, trying to decide how often to cross the cable on those leg warmers...

Speaking of leg warmers, I can't even get knitting out of my mind while exercising.  I've got plans for a series of ballet knitting patterns.  Mostly the classics, not something crazy and new.  But today in ballet I stared at the teacher's sweater trying to decide if I'd rather do a provisional cast-on with a folded hem, or a tiny bit of ribbing on the bottom edge when I designed the sweater.  I completely missed the combination she was teaching...

Last night I made some progress on the Radiating Star Blanket while watching the Presidential debates.  There is no better description of how I feel about it than this Non Sequitur comic by Wiley Miller.  If only...

But all in all it was still a good day.  The fall leaves have been amazing, and it snowed last night!  I got to dance, have lunch with my 3rd grader, have dinner with my sister and her kids, and now listen to my children chattering while they're supposed to be asleep.  And my hubby will be home from his trip tomorrow!

Monmouth Caps for Pirates

When I used to think of pirate hats, the first hat I pictured wasn't a simple wool cap.  Little did I know that the hat (or cap) most commonly worn from the mid 15th century through the 18th century by sailors and the upper class, was just that.  The hats became known as Monmouth Caps because Monmouth, England was home to thriving industry manufacturing caps.

The caps were knit, but were then "fulled" to make them very dense, warm,  and almost water proof.  Fulling is like deciding to felt you wool item, then changing your mind when you get halfway there.  Many worn by soldiers were described as having a button top.  They at least sometimes had a loop for hanging, and the brim could be worn up or down.

I had to learn to make one.  I designed my pattern to copy as best I could the bad picture I could find of the hat in the Monmouth museum in England, which dates from the 16th century.   I've interpreted the button on top like others as a yarn "button" not a hard horn one.   I've usually used natural fiber colors, or madder red or navy.  And I've found there is a lot of interest in monmouth caps.

I sent my first batch with a friend to the Pirates in Paradise Pirate Festival in Florida.  They didn't sell well the first warm day in Florida, but I was lucky that a cold front moved in and they were all gone by the time the festival was over.

Since then I've been knitting for several re-enactors.  I have to admit it's a rush to sell your own work and have someone appreciate it.  

Mad Pete in my Monmouth Cap

But for some, even 3 oz of wool is not enough.  If you need a really, REALLY, warm and waterproof hat for your tall sailing ship, then you have to have a thrum cap.  These were traditionally made with "thrums" from the end and pieces of yarn that would have otherwise gone to waste.  And if a hat that shaggy isn't funny enough, all the pictures from the time show them rather conical too: A shag conehead, in other words.  It took a bit of experimenting to settle on my favorite method of making the thrums, but the hats are really fun to make.

Here is "Cross" in a thrummed cap I madly finished for him on a deadline.  Mine's the one on the right.

I'm loving making these hats as authentically as possible in wool, color, and construction. Now I'm selling them on Etsy.  What fun!