A good day to die ( dye )

Once I received an e-mail, person asking me if I knew how to die ....... well, I can read between the lines, so I knew what she meant. But, the joke sticks with me, and every dye day set aside on my schedule you'll hear me humming a little jingle I make up on the spot about it " being a good day to die " , something to the tune of " take the Chevy to the levy ..."

ANYWAY, with temps being in the upper 90's with low humidity but a lot of smoke in the air ( from the GA wild fires) it wasn't a good day for any outside activities yesterday ...... I happened upon the 20-30 bags of white angora fiber in my closet in the morning and started to soak the first few bags worth of fiber to be able to dye in the afternoon. In general I dye spun yarns, but, I have a spinning clientele for dyed angora fibers, and the sell well to folks that want to blend colored angora with other fibers and make colorful bats to spin.

Raw angora dyes well in the pot if it's wetted well, all air bubbles removed and lots of dye powder used, angora does soak up 2 times more dye pigment then sheep's wool to get the same color tone.

While the wool was wetting, my daughter and I ran to town quickly for some errands and to do our bi weekly treasurer hunt at our local thrift store. Well, a hunt it is every time, they get so much new stuff dropped off every week, and the real good stuff leaves as quick as it comes in. While looking at baby toys in the baby stuff section, I find a round mesh thing, well, bells go off in my head. I pull it out of the jumble of strollers and car seats, and sure enough, a brand new, working order drying rack for : Baby clothes ?? underwear ??

Wire frame - plastic mesh, big hock on top to hang about anyplace. I took it to the register to get a price - $1.00 I am quoted - SALE !!!!!!!!!!

2 hours later it's hanging in my big pine tree in front of my house, ready to hold my first two batches of dyed angora...........

Isn't this the cutest thing ?? each tier is about 2 1/2 feet wide, and holds about 6 ounces of angora if really spread out. Here we have mint green on top and aqualon blue on the bottom . I use square sweater drying racks purchased at our Walmart for drying angora fiber, but, because they are low on the ground, I can only use them inside the house, my feral cats like to lay on top of any fiber I try to dry outside. Sweater racks = kitty hammocks.

By the evening I had 3 more dye pots finished, navy blue, sky blue and peacock. The last color looks very interesting and I can't wait to examine it when dry and card it into bats . I hope to be able to dye a few more colors today, a few more greens, and then into the reds.

The finished fibers will be carded on my drum carder, wound into small bumps and sold in my Etsy store. Next plan is to dye some Merino/ silk roving that I have into coordinating or matching colors and blending angora with the merino / silk for a mixed fiber blend.

Dyeing is so much fun !!!!!

Today will be a very busy day - Ivomec 3/4 of all rabbits ( all but the pregnant Ladies and the little babies ) , sex Cinnamon's litter for the first time - give nest boxes to AA's Q-tip and AA's Calypso to prepare for their due date next week. Pick up rental car at noon at local Enterprise branch ( my 10 year old Van is finally busting at all seams and can only be taken out for short trips around town, walking distance to home just in case ) and drive to Macon GA to pick up a batch of feed and hay cubes. Did I mention that there isn't a bale of hay available anywhere in GA ?? Severe drought conditions and no hay was cut or will be cut, it isn't growing but all died. Tomorrow I am making a trip up to Atlanta to meet with friends and family and attend an annual garden party . Sunday is reserved for Van shopping and running from lot to lot in Macon to look for a cheap but slightly used Van that I can afford payment wise. It has to be a Van so that I can haul stuff.

I hope everyone will enjoy this weekend, hug a bunny and be good to each other, here are two pictures to meditate over, taken from my flower bed yesterday, the only vegetation that I can keep alive by watering besides my herb garden and my veggies. Enjoy:)

Butterfly Bush Homestead Verbena