The last couple of weeks have been filled with color as I prepare for the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, as evidenced by my green finger, a blue big toe and briefly a blue dog.  But that is a whole other story.  Tomorrow I load up the truck and ply my wares at the festival surrounded by like minded, fiber crazed folks.

One of my favorite things to dye are silk hankies(top 2 pics), each one can be a mini painting. I painted some O’Keeffe inspired poppies, ok maybe that is a bit of a stretch.
The hankies are multiple layers of silk cocoons stretched out into a square hankie shape and stacked layer upon layer. They spin into beautiful yarn or knit directly from the pulled roving.
I tried a different dyeing technique this year where I started with a lighter color in a dye pot added yarn, took it out, added different dye to the pot, tied knots in the skein and dipped it in the new color, doing this multiple times.  The skeins in the first  pic in the third row are all started in the same pot.  It was fun but unpredictable.  I may play with it more when I am not under a time crunch.
In the last picture it looks like Ninja is not going to let me take his sheep away.
 
Name that yarn color…

The color namers…gone wild. Can’t remember which color set them off on their little dance. I think it was poppet.

Favorite name this year? hum…maybe “killer rabbit”
The last couple of years, by the time I am brain dead from color over saturation, I have recruited the kids( and sometimes their friends) to a little competition to come up with the best color names. With a giant chocolate bar as the prize, they come up with some great names.  Many inspired by mythology or just pulled out of their geeky; fantasy reading; Dr Who loving minds.  Therefor I have a blue named Tardis, greys called Gandolf and Dorian and a green Loki and Kryptonite.  Makes me look forward to the next dyeing marathon.  But not for awhile!