Dye Day Dinosaurs

Not sure how we came up with this name but it seems to be sticking. Now shouldn't it be Dyenosaurs? Since most of us are in our 50's, 60's and 70's with a few sneakers in the 40's category.....don't think we're fossilized yet! I'm still leaning toward Geezer Babe Dyers but got outvoted. Tons of pictures of yesterdays dye day with minimal verbiage (don't faint) from me!

The "start your engines" fuel:

The massive amounts of stuff it takes!

Some of us look just way too cool and unflustered!

Cluster dyeing - will that color come out?

Yep, okay, what's next?

What? Another picture? Go 'way already!

Pat wields the baton - look out! Mary B. is looking less and less happy at my paparazzi skills. You did tell me to blog this Mary....

Calm and soothing supervision by the venerable one:

My job is to lower everyone's blood pressure and get pats.

Oh good, it's working!

Looks like the same old watched pots never boil!

The supportive Dudes corner....

We compared Oregon Cardigan/Vest progress; Linda K on top in the Autumn colorway, Mary B in the Spring colorway below.

Evanne is doing her own unique colorway.

As is Pat - she has a stunning combination of colors. Pat often has an idea, puts it together on Stitch Painter, then prints it out and off she swatches! Go here for a picture of her developing Oregon.

I was pretty darn pleased with my silk bells colors, which started out namby pamby and got better as I added colors. Janis in Eugene lit a fire under me about pulling them apart afterward and drafting them out to knit with un-spun. Project No. 766 on the list.

Gorgeous colors and overdyes are starting to stack up!


The rain didn't seem to slow us down at all!

Sometimes the mirth was just too too.

Sometimes the exhaustion was too too too...

Evanne washing fiber at the basement sink. We must have been at that sink a hundred times that day. There is nothing to compare with having an inside sink that runs both very hot and cold water to flush dyes out of finished skeins, fill up dye pots, fill up soaking pots, wash hands, scrub tables, repeat repeat repeat. If we left Mary and David a kilowatt of energy left at the end of the day I'd be surprised.

See how Karen Jo looks kinda serious? This is where we get into the gustatory rewards for all this work.

We take our potluck duties seriously. No ten trays of cheese and crackers all the same here. A dizzying and unique number of healthy salads and Pat's famous lemon bars which we called salad on a crouton to make them blend in.

A very satisfying day - knowing you can create magic - the same kind of magic you see on the shelves at yarn stores. None of us are likely to quit buying yarn, but knowing you can create some of the beauty yourself is very affirming.