Cleaning Pay Off...

Sometimes it pays to deep clean.  I thought that I was out of #20 crochet cotton. That's the largest size I use for mini wicker..

Oh... And while you are at it, you can play "Where's Tessie?" with this photo.  She always finds the coziest pile of yarn to make a nest.  I don't know why she would want to this time of year though.  The temp will be above 100.

I found three big balls of the #20.  Then I went and looked in the kitchen and found that I had dye in three shades...Coincidence?  I think not...

Multi tasking is the word of the day.  I put one of the balls into a skein and tied it off to dye.  Made the dye bath.

Then I went out and turned on the sprinkler for the yard.






I came back and started the first skein.  This is what it looks like after just a few minutes in a tan bath..

I dunked it back in for more bath time and unloaded the dishwasher.  Loaded more dishes and then went back to dying.

This is what the skein looks like now.... It will have to dry. Then it will be just a bit lighter than it looks in the photo.

I really need to tidy the yarn boxes and toss some to one of the thrift shops.

While I am doing that, I can get more of the thread dyed... and more yard watered.

New wicker, here we come! I am happy because nobody here in town is carrying #20 thread anymore.  At least I can't find it.

Now I don't have to order it on line...For a while.

See you tomorrow.

Before I Dye....

I need new colors of thread for the wicker.  Thus the title...

I dug through my stash of crochet cotton and found a few balls that I could use... But, I also found a perfectly good spool of antique stuff that doesn't even have a number size on it.

I do like the color and I wonder why I didn't use it earlier...

So, Sidetracked Sadie is on the premises once again.

I had a chair all wired and somewhat ready to go.  I had to try the thread to make sure that it was good.  Didn't I?

First photo is the first row of the front.  I am looping all the way across and then all the way back.  This part will get bent forward, thus the backward look to the loops.

Second photo... Starting to do even weave across.  I will also start bending the wires forward now.

I always start with the bottom and then do the top.  That way, there is less chance of messing up what I have already woven.

When I get enough woven to wrap around the front of the chair and down to the bottom edge of the seat base, I start with another two rows of overhand loops and go all the way around the chair.

After that, I usually do about ten rows of plain weave just to bring it down far enough so that you can see the design that I put in next...

I am never sure, at this point, where the design is going to go from here.  That is, unless I am trying to follow the pattern of a photo of a real chair.

It's more fun to let the chair talk to me.

This will keep me busy while the pot is boiling.

The part I hate about dying my own thread is the unwinding the ball.  You have to do this in order to get an even dye job.

This is the part that Tessie loves.  She says, "It's like having my own amusement park! Spin it again!!!"

That's one.  Only three more to go, unless I unearth others.

I will tie it loosely in four places so that it doesn't tangle in the pot while it is wet.

I am going back to work now and I am going to try to get all of the dying done today. 

Tomorrow, I will have to unwind the skeins and put them back in ball form after they are dry.  This is not a fast process.  I guess that I should get back to it, before Tessie starts unwinding it just to have another ride.  That is even more fun to watch though.  She hangs on one of the lower arm connections and gets a running start and jumps on.  Over and over.

Thank goodness for my ball winder, or I might just have to pay her to do that for the second portion.  I doubt that she would stay on the job for a whole ball.  Dizziness usually ensues after a few rounds.

See you tomorrow.

Don't Clean Your Cupboards.....

...If you don't want to dye....

I found a couple of bottles of tan Rit Dye in the cupboard last week when I was cleaning...They have been there for maybe 5 to 10 years. 

I just ran out of my dyed thread, so I decided, since I had it, I should use it..

If you have never dyed thread or yarn, it is a long drawn out process.  First I had to unwind the ball of thread.  Thankfully, I had a couple of these yarn winders.  Or in this case, unwinders.  If you decide that you need one, I recommend this type that clamps to a table.  My other one is on a weighted base...It still moves around.

In case you didn't notice, Tessie is in her usual place on one of the arms.  Every time I get one of the yarn winders out, she thinks "amusement park".

Also, every time I tell her not to do it and she does it anyway....Then comes the dizziness and headaches.

Here you see the thread prepped for dying.  I tied it in four places, while it was still on the winder.  That way when I put it in the dye, it doesn't get all tangled up and unusable. 

Here it is after 15 minutes in the spaghetti pot...I had to leave it in for at least half an hour and stir it quite often. 

About half way through, I remembered what I did last time to avoid the yellow-y, color. 

Left over morning coffee does the trick.

Here it is after about 45 minutes.  The color at the top of the photo is more the real color than the front part. 

It still needs to dry.  It will be a bit lighter after that. 

That gave me the bug.  Next time I go to Walmart I will have to check for dark brown and dark green. 

Once the thread is dry, I will put it back on the winder and roll it back into a ball to work from.

I am all excited.  New wicker.   New(old) color.

See you tomorrow.