High Fiber Diet

There are many doctors who recommend a "high fiber diet" for us all~ especially as we age; but somehow I don't quite think that this is what they had in mind:


Recently it feels as though I have been eating, sleeping and dreaming about fiber- in all its forms! We even spent time cleaning out the garage a couple weeks ago and came across a bunch of shetland fleeces that need processing. Yee gaads!

The result of all this fiber, is that I have decided to hold another contest!! I think it might be fun to have you all take a guess at how much fiber (pencil roving and superwash) that I have dyed in the first 8 months of this year...

The winner will be the one closest to the correct number (and in case of a tie I'll pull the name from a hat).
Here's a few facts to consider when you guess:
1) I work a full time day job that has nothing to do with fiber - the dyeing is done in my "spare" time.
2) each skein (of either type of fiber) is individually dyed in it's own pot (and nope.. I'm not tellin' how many pots I have:-)
3) the pencil roving has to "cook" for about 2 hours, then sits for around 10 hours in the dyepot
4) the superwash roving cooks for about 1 hour, then sits for about 4 hours in the pot.
5) we receive the fiber in humongo batches, then we take it to a friend's mill to be processed down the way we want, then Klaus rolls it all off into the 8 ounces batches for me.. all this is prior to my dyeing... and takes quite alot of time.
6) I also skein off and label each hank myself.
7) a batch of fiber takes anywhere from 2-4 days to completely dry.
8) this summer has been filled with a lot of garden watering since we had absolutely no rain for almost three months - this took about 2 hours from every day.
8) I also do other things like spin and knit.....

So there you have it. I've been told that I have "hard" contests... ho ho ho... wouldn't be too much fun if it was a cakewalk, now would it? So take a guess.. take a wild guess... and the final hint is that I was really surprised when I finally counted how much I had done.
So make a comment and guess...... How many skeins of fiber (including pencil roving and superwash roving) have I dyed in the first 8 months of this year???

The winner will receive a skein of Chasing Rainbows Superwash Sock yarn - your choice of colorway. contest runs from Sept 17th to Sept 24th. so get your entries in :-)

Speaking of spinning ~ I have some fun news to share: Amanda (yes that one!) has joined our team of spinners for the Sock HopYarn. Woot ~Woot! I am so totally pleased. Her spinning skills are fabulous, and she's been a huge help in our business. Hop over and give her a big rah rah! We are working at adding a couple more spinners in order to increase our production - yet it takes a bit of time. Amanda's an incredible person, and was exactly what I was hoping for! (now maybe I can clone her.. tee hee)

I've been spinning up a storm recently... Here's My Boyfriend's Back.

and here's the sock I knit for K this past week. (I keep telling him that maybe he'll get the second sock for Christmas - but then again his birthday is coming up next week... we shall see!)
I am completely pleased with the way this new colorway came out - it's very "tweeedy" looking.
A couple of you have asked me how this is different from Heat Wave...... well, My Boyfriend's Back is a deep rust and burgandy (sometimes looking almost black) and the Heat Wave is a combo of Scarlet red and Black with hints of yellow and plum. I think this is a very masculine looking colorway - and so socks for K were born :-)
By the way - just in case you were wondering, he has a 10 3/4 inch long foot... and I had this much left over from one skein of yarn. Yay!
My daughter's boyfriend (who is 6' 4" and has a size 13 men's shoe) has asked for socks. whoa.




We are busy this week, preparing for the last fair of this season. (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival) If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon on Sept 23-24. please stop by and see us. It's actually being held in Canby Oregon, but that's only a hop, skip, and a jump from Portland. It is, by far, my favorite of our fairs. It's held on a country fairgrounds that is full of huge trees and grassy lawns. (no blacktop) There are buildings upon buildings filled with vendors,activities for the wee ones, and fun classes. Come on down!

I'll most likely not have time to post again until we get back. The contest winner will be announced at that time.

I leave you with a couple photos of our evening last thursday. I got home from work around 7 pm, and we had been having some blessed rain here (finally) The rainbow spanned across the hills - a complete arch. It was so enormous that I could only capture a portion.
The clouds turned an incredible color as the sun began to set. My garden (and I) are very grateful for this repreieve from the heat.
Have a lovely week all!