This week’s yarns are inspired by walks on the beach, picnics in the park and summer nights at the carnival.

Pool Party

Fresh-Mowed

Picnic

Strawberries

Farmer’s Market

Cantaloupe

Carnival

We left Friday morning, drove to Frederick, MD (note to self:  you must stop at Zazzy’z because there  is not another coffee shop until Staunton).

Frederick’s an adorable town with a nice little downtown with lots of boutiques (like The Muse), restaurants and ice cream.

We met up with Mia and meandered around town.

I don’t eat seafood but my mom loves crabs, so we had dinner at May’s – endless crabs for Mom, a fantastically broiled chicken for me.

Saturday dawned rainy and dreary but I leapt out . . . → Read More: Maryland Sheep & Wool 2009]]> Each year, for the last 3 years my mom and I have loaded my car with knitting projects, magazines, and coffee and driven to Maryland Sheep & Wool. The first year, we drove from Ohio – a 12 hour drive! This year, it was  a much shorter trip, just 5-6 hours (depending on how many times we stop for coffee!)

We left Friday morning, drove to Frederick, MD (note to self:  you must stop at Zazzy’z because there  is not another coffee shop until Staunton).

Frederick’s an adorable town with a nice little downtown with lots of boutiques (like The Muse), restaurants and ice cream.

We met up with Mia and meandered around town.

I don’t eat seafood but my mom loves crabs, so we had dinner at May’s – endless crabs for Mom, a fantastically broiled chicken for me.

Saturday dawned rainy and dreary but I leapt out of bed, excited or the festival! Maryland Sheep & Wool is one of the largest festivals of its kind and frankly, it’s overwhelming. I decided a head of time NOT to try to see it all! The same vendors come every year, so I’ve seen them before. I wanted to spend more time in the barns, talking with the farms, watching the sheep dogs and learning about breeds. Somehow, in years past, I’ve managed to completely miss the Breed Barn, where they have a sheep or two of nearly every breed, along with information about the breed! I am, more than ever, smitten with Jacobs

and Corriedales:

After the breed barn, I scoured the fleece sale and ran into the darling Liz of Hobbledehoy. It was fun to pore over the fleeces with her!

I ended up buying two fleeces and leaving them with Ohio Valley Fiber Mill for processing. I’m excited about my first milling experience!

I’m sad I missed Abby, Lauren, Cosette and Guido and his party! Part of the blame is the weather’s while some of it is my innate shyness; when Amy (of Knitty) walked by, I just completely froze!

But sheep and yarn cheer up anything!

After the festival, we rested and then hit downtown Baltimore. We strolled around the adorable Little Italy neighborhood, ate a pizza at Isabella’s and walked to the Harbor.

I wish I had more pictures of everything, but the rainy-ness continued throughout. So you’ll just have to take my word: a fabulous time and well-worth the drive!

When I posted my first video, on dyeing with Easter Egg dyes in the microwave, quite a few people asked: Can you dye on the stovetop?

Short answer: Yes!

Long answer: Here’s how:

Warning #1: You might want to wear gloves. I never do with these non-toxic dyes, but I don’t mind blue fingernails.

Warning #2: You probably don’t even want to use your hands! Get yourself a long poking stick (like a chopstick) and some tongs (so you can flip the fiber)

Warning #3: Don’t agitate the fiber! Add the dye, submerge the fiber and walk away! Let it cool completely . . . → Read More: Stovetop Dyeing]]> Ask Tara is a weekly-ish feature in which I attempt to answer your questions about spinning, dyeing or making videos in a tiny apartment. If you have a question, ask it in the comments and I’ll answer it here with either a post or a video!

When I posted my first video, on dyeing with Easter Egg dyes in the microwave, quite a few people asked: Can you dye on the stovetop?

Short answer: Yes!

Long answer: Here’s how:

Warning #1: You might want to wear gloves. I never do with these non-toxic dyes, but I don’t mind blue fingernails.

Warning #2: You probably don’t even want to use your hands! Get yourself a long poking stick (like a chopstick) and some tongs (so you can flip the fiber)

Warning #3: Don’t agitate the fiber! Add the dye, submerge the fiber and walk away! Let it cool completely before you move it and for goodness sake, don’t wring it while it’s wet! Messing the the hot, wet fiber will cause felting if you’re too rough!

Dyeing on the stove like this is usually called Kettle-dyeing and you can use a variety of dyes with this same basic method. You can also dye ANY animal fiber, in any form (locks, roving, yarn, finished piece) in this way.

When you feel more comfortable, try varying your dye to wool ratio or adding more than one color in each pot. My favorite way to get multi-color roving is to put one tablet in cold water, add the roving, drop another tablet on top, turn on the heat. Once the water and fiber is hot, I turn the roving over a little and drop in one more tablet.

Should you choose to use each of the dye tablets in one packet of Easter Egg dyes, you’ll get a pretty pile of fiber like this:

Don’t want to try dyeing yet? You can find that Rainbow Bright colorbox in the Boutique.

Let me know if you try it! If you dye another way,tell me about it in the comments!