Happiness is air conditioning!

Ah, Air Conditioning!

I love it when people say that they don't believe in air conditioning. We would get customers like that all the time in my library days. They'd come into the library and stay for a long time. Then, on the way out, they would dramatically sigh and complain about the heat. So, me, being a kindly soul, would ask them if they had AC at home. "Oh, NO! We don't believe in air conditioning!" What I didn't say, being somewhat nice, was: "So, if you don't believe in AC, why are you in the library?" I didn't even roll my eyes. It seems to me that if you don't believe in AC, then you should avoid it like the plague. But I didn't say that, 'cause I am a kindly, gentle, lady-like person.

We're heading towards 96 today, which is a far sight better than yesterday's 102. And in the spirit of total optimism, I dyed woolly yarn yesterday. The yarn is my new Bambi, 80/20 SW merino/bamboo, so it's not all wool, but still. The basement, AKA my dyeing studio, was relatively cool yesterday morning, so I did my thing, and after it cooked, I let it dry out in the heat. I guess that temp is good for something.

So here we are, and the colors are really very very nice.

Berry Buckle




Corn




Eliza




Dilly




Felicia




Redwood




Peacock




You like? You want? email me at fritzL234 AT yahoo DOT com

I'm going to make myself some iced tea and have a bit of lunch. What else can you do in this heat? Just relax, enjoy the AC (and no, I don't keep the house cold, but yes, I use it), and think of January. In 6 months, we'll all be complaining about the cold. So it goes.

Jen - Thanks. I had a good time dyeing them.

Scrabblequeen - I think you're correct. I often wonder if the same people who don't believe in AC, don't believe in heat in the winter.

itsJUSTme - I knew someone who bought a car without AC, but had the open sun roof. She bought it in winter, and then regretted it in summer!

Guess what?

After a lace yarn hiatus, the Yarnarian is back to dyeing sock yarn. She loves to dye sock yarn, and the skeins seem so skinny after the humongous Kona skeins. Yep, she's still dyeing Kona for Mystery Shawl 9 (so don't panic, my shawl knitters), but the initial craziness is calming down, and she's back to sock yarn.

AND, a delicious new yarn called Bambi: 70% superwash merino, 20% bamboo, and 10% nylon. 115 grams and approx 460 yards. I know, it's a dopey name, but all the other good bamboo names were taken. So Bambi it is. It's soft and silky, a teeny bit slippery so you might want bamboo or wooden needles. I did fine on my normal needles but went down a size to 2.25mm just to tighten it up a bit.

Bamboo doesn't take acid dyes, so that component of the yarn isn't dyed and that results in a soft glowing yarn. Nope, it doesn't look as if you have white spots. It feels a bit like silk, but is much, much cheaper. And you can throw it into the washer.

Here's what it looks like. Photographs can't do it justice. Click on the first picture to get a really good idea of it.




Speaking of washing machines, please hand wash indie-dyed sock yarn for the first time you wash your socks, especially if the yarn is red or has lots of green. For some reason, excess red and green want to come off in the wash. Yes, we rinse and rinse and rinse, but the excess dye is still there. No, it's not bright red or green, but a faint tinge in the water. So just to be sure, the first time you wash your socks, do it by hand.

Sharon - that ethereal look is due to the bamboo not taking the color. Neat, huh?

Ruthie - It is indeed the palest tones of violet and lilac. The pic doewn't do it justice. But then, it never does.