Stitches West

Well it's almost here! Stitches West starts today for workshops and circles but the show floor will be visited by thousands this weekend. One of those thousands will be me! I'm super excited to just walk the floor and see all the goodies.

I'm hoping to try my hand at carding and making some art batts so I'll be on the lookout for fibers, carding paddles, spindles and actually some cotton yarns. I have a special project for those and want a much nicer variety than I can find in the local craft shop.

Then I'm going to PLAY. I am also awaiting the arrival of a natural dyes kit I ordered which will have madder and weld and other things I cannot find in my yard or at the grocery.

I have a lot of undyed merino fiber and undyed merino yarn to dye so I'm really excited to get moving on this as soon as the colors arrive.

I'm also going to be experimenting with some odd stuff from the yard.
Oxalis, also known as wood sorrel and for most people, WEED, is a nice light yellow dye. I will be testing this since we have an abundance of it in the yard right now.

(photo courtesy of the UC IPM website)

I've also heard stone pine pinecones impart a lovely pinkish color. I'm going to test that as well. Worst case scenario nothing happens.

If you are going to Stitches West, drop me an email at merryspinster@gmail.com or visit me on facebook. Maybe we can get some coffee and tour the floor together!