I hope you all had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. My weekend was crammed full so this will be a long post.
On Saturday Shelly and her family took me out for some site seeing. The first place we hit was Baker’s Mansion, which was originally the home of ironmaster Elias Baker and his family. The house is beautiful and so are all the wonderful things inside. I went a little crazy with my camera. You can see all the pictures I took here.
After the tour, we drove past the Bedford Springs Resort, which is a historical landmark here in Pennsylvania. It’s incredibly beautiful and from what I hear, incredibly expensive.
After we oohed and ahhed over the beautiful architecture of the resort, we drove to Gravity Hill where we defied the laws of physics and coasted our vehicle uphill. It was quite a thrill!
Finally we adjourned for a meal at the Jean Bonnet Tavern where we dined alfresco. I had the house specialty crab cakes and they were delicious! I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture.
I got a real kick out of the Rules Of The Tavern that they had posted.
I had a really good time and I can honestly say that I was thoroughly exhausted by day’s end.
Instead of resting on Sunday like I would normally have done, Shelly and I decided to have a Dye Day. The fun never stops here in Altoona. :)
We started by weighing out roving into 4oz increments. There’s a scale under that yellow bin.
After that we soaked the wool in water for about an hour.
While that was soaking, we played with painter sample cards to see what colors we wanted to dye up.
Finally, the dyeing began. First we laid out plastic wrap across the table. Then we laid the roving over the wrap in strips.
We used squeeze bottles to paint the roving. Here’s some Corriedale I did myself in blues and greens. My camera really didn’t like these colors.
Then we wrapped the roving into little squares with the plastic wrap and nuked them in the microwave.
And voila! Hand painted roving!
Most of the roving you see here will be posted on Shelly’s Etsy shop, Rose Garden Fibers, in the coming days. That’s if I don’t snatch them all up first. The roving I dyed, which is on the far left, will be coming home with me. I think I’ll probably spin it up into laceweight.
Yesterday, I did have a chance to rest and recuperate from all the activity. We ended up staying in and watching Gone With The Wind. Can you believe that this was the first time I’ve ever seen that movie? And for some odd reason I thought that Elizabeth Taylor played Scarlett O’hara. Shows how much of a movie buff I am. I really enjoyed it, but I was flabbergasted at the ending. I mean really, that’s it?
Anyway, I did get a lot of knitting done. It’s amazing how much you can get done during a movie and in the car. More on that later.
Thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a happy Tuesday! The day after a long weekend is always tough. Here’s a picture of some mighty cute dogs to help with that.
May 27th, 2008 at 6:01 am
What?!
No pink roving?
I am so disappointed in you. :p
XO
May 27th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Hey, the girl is still alive and kicking! Hope all is well. Two of my knitting buds and I went to Pagosa Springs in SW Colorado on Sunday to a Fiber Fair. I got goodies. (We ALL got goodies.) Hope your trip home is safe and comfortable!
hugsssssssssssssss
May 27th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Ooooh, you’re making me homesick with all those ruralish East Coast pix! Nice roving! Are you tempted to take up dyeing at home, now?
I will give you a more thorough update later; we are still a tiny group: Barb, Meghann and me last week, too, and once again, Mr. Mocha J proprieter asked me where everyone was. I could only account for your whereabouts, as you blog regularly.
May 27th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Very pretty. I think I see a shawl in your future. :-)
May 27th, 2008 at 6:55 am
wow! that’s a lot of pictures – especially at baker’s mansion – is the bathtub wood? looks like you’re having yourself a ball! ahem…are you anywhere near hershey’s….thanks for sharing!
May 27th, 2008 at 6:59 am
That is thrilling! I love seeing all the rovings. Seems like you are having quite a good time.
May 27th, 2008 at 7:36 am
You are having too much fun!
A very successful dye day. Great colours.
I am glad that you are sharing your adventures on the mainland.
May 27th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Haha I know what you mean about the ending. Where did that come from???
May 27th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Wow! You WERE busy! Can’t wait to see the roving spun up…and crab cakes are wonderful! *wink*
(((hugs)))
May 27th, 2008 at 9:38 am
You do have the best fun! Beautiful roving! I assume that eventually I will see some yarn out of that :)
May 27th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Wow. Gorgeous scenery, gorgeous roving.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Love the dyeing! It’s so much fun — I can’t wait to see it spun up! The change from roving to yarn is so remarkable!
May 27th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I am so glad you had a good time on the East coast/mainland, whatever. Dyeing roving, I am so nervous that I would accidentally felt it so I just leave it to the professionals! Welcome home.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Sounds like a lot of fun! The roving is gorgeous – can’t wait to see it spun up!
May 27th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I am so jealous of your dyeing fun! I can’t wait to dye again. I just need to order some supplies. You are going to have to nap for a week when you get home. All these activities must be wiping you out!
May 27th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Ah, someday I will learn this magical dying thing. Looks like so much fun!
May 27th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I loved seeing all the photos! I liked the siteseeing ones, and really loved the dyeing process. The colors look absolutely wonderful!!
May 27th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Very fun! I just love paint chips. That is a great way to figure out what dyes you want to use!
May 27th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Love the pictures. It looks so beautiful. When you say YOU got a lot of knitting done, I’m imagining a lot! See you soon.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:21 am
A dyeing day? I’m jealous.
May 28th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Ahhh – your sea colored roving is so cool and lovely I just want to dive in and swim in it. So pretty!
Gone with the Wind – I remember reading the book and feeling exactly as you described at the end of it. WTF? I wanted to take Scarlett and shake her till her head rattled. I sneaked out to see the movie when I was a teenager (because my folks didn’t think it was fittin’ for a girl to go see a movie by herself) and wound up getting my car towed. Heh…
May 28th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
What a fantastic weekend!
I love Gone With the Wind. A musical(!) stage version just opened here in London — what were they thinking??? Mercifully, the reviews have been bad, and it doesn’t look like it will be around long.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
How your beautiful creations tempt me and make me wonder if they will be for sale! Dyeing all day like that is hard work, you made some gorgeous rovings, I am truly amazed. I guess I will be cruising by a certain Etsy store in the near future.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:19 am
What a great idea using sample painter cards to come up with the color combos!
Thanks for sharing the photos of your trip :)