Do you know about FiberShare?  I just finished up my second time doing FiberShare- it is an international yarn and fiber swap- in a nutshell.  The folks that organize it do a great job matching you up with 2 partners- one that you will send to, and one that sends you a box o' goodies.  They do a wonderful job of matching you up in your medium and interests.  The only requirement is that you send at a minimum 200 grams of fiber or yarn.  There is no spending limits high or low.  You can pull from your stash, shop, make- it is up to you.  Of course a few fun goodies is up to the sender!

And did I mention the trolling?  You get to troll (in a good way) your partner's social media spots; Instagram, Revelry, etc. . . to get a feel of what they like in fiber and colors.

So this was my second round and so far both of my partners that mailed to me spoiled me rotten!  In fact the yarn that I just dyed with came from my first partner swap.



I thought I would share a glimpse of what I received in this round.  Some tantalizing Rowan warm, cozy, natural British wool- be still my "I want to go to the UK" heart!  She also included some lovely Valley Yarn and a Madelintosh I adore.  Sprinkled with some sweet little mini Yarn-Rehab skeins that I think will back some awesome weavings or accent pieces to the Valley Yarn.  To top it all off there were some sweet buttons, tea, and dark chocolate in just the right dark chocolate percentage for me to enjoy all neatly tucked in a canvas bag that just so happens to match my bike.  How sweet!



Thank you to my partner and to the fantastic gals making all the match making magic happen behind the scenes!

I will share my Fiber Share Anatomy Part 2 next time after I am sure my partner has received her box- no spoilers here!

Well maybe not "dyeing" to try but natural dyeing has definitely been in my interest box.  In a previous Fiber Share swap my partner got me some un-dyed natural fiber yarns.  I had this in my stash and I combined that with that plethora of walnuts from our tree that pounds our house and deck and I decided to give some natural dyeing a shot this weekend.


I referred to this book and also I found this website helpful.  The first thing I decided to do was spread it out among both days of the weekend.  I have a tendency to rush projects like this so I tried to take my time.  I stopped by the local thrift store for an enamel ware pot I could dedicate to dye.  I found the perfect pot and some vintage cloth napkins while I was at it (score)!



Yesterday I gathered about a dozen of fallen walnuts and broke them up with a rock and placed the husks and nuts in some cheesecloth.  I covered this in water and cooked this down for about an hour.  I then turned off the flame and let it cool down and sit for another hour.



I then pulled the bundle out strained the dye bath through a coffee filter to remove any other particles.  I saved this till today.  I brought it up to just below simmering and soaked the two skeins of yarn that I had in some warm water.  I added this to the dye bath and kept it just below simmer for an hour then turned it off the heat and let it sit for an additional hour.





After lots of soaking in a similar water temp till it ran clear I set it out to dry in the sun and breeze.  I did not mordant the yarn prior to the dye bath since most of what I read is that when using fresh walnuts,  mordant is not necessary.  I think it is gorgeous!  Such a lovely brown.  I just may have caught a little bit of a dye bug as I definitely lean heavily towards these colors and naturally dyed natural fiber yarns are not always readily available in the local yarn shops.





Bonus is that I get to utilize this nut that drops all over my deck each fall!  Wouldn't this be fun to do to some muslin cotton also?  My mind is spinning with ideas!
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"I can't, I am going to Winfield"  was a common saying the third weekend of September for a nice little chunk of time when the boys were younger.  This meant we were packing up and heading to Winfield, Kansas for the Walnut Valley Music Fest with local friends.  It is a a really unique music fest worth the 5 hour drive mostly because of the music that is in the campgrounds more so than the main stage music.  It has been harder as the boys got older to take them out of school so until the time when my DH, myself and Scamp Coleen make our way back sans boys we have been hosting a little gathering at our house we call "Little Walnut Valley".





DH sets up a stage on the lower deck, we make a pot of soup, gather the friends and create a knit pickers paradise.  Choose your passion- a little knitting, maybe some picking, or just hanging out with a beer and some friends.




The weather cooperated nicely, the tunes were flowing, and I was able to get in a few rows on the linen shirt.  Our own walnut trees seemed to know that they were being honored as they kept dropping walnuts on the upper deck as part of the ambiance!

I really should try and figure out how to do some natural dyeing with all those dang walnuts!  I enjoyed being surrounded by my community, especially as my eldest ventured out on his own in my car for the first time!  You can bet I needed a beer after watching him drive down the road!

Cheers to knitting, picking, and journeying forth with my fellas!

Calendars, ghosts, and squirrels oh my!  And some other fun fall goodies coming the shop update this week!