It Came in the Mail

Important disclaimer: it did not all come in today's mail, if that helps.

I've been a bad blogger. I promised photos of the merino roving and am just now getting to it. The roving has been here for nearly two weeks. It's incredibly soft! So, it lived up to that expectation. However, when I buried my head in it (literally!) there was the faintest smell of cigarette smoke. Like fiber that's been in stored in a plastic bag in a house where there's a smoker, but the smoker doesn't have access to the fiber room. Or maybe the sheep downed a few butts prior to the shearing. Who knows? I'm mildly irritated. Not enough to send it back or complain, but enough to not buy from that store again. I knew I should have stuck with Etsy. I took it to my knitting group (we meet at a local coffee shop/cafe) the other night for show and tell. I asked them to smell it and they can't detect anything. "But you have to stick your head in the plastic bag," I tell them. The majhong players at the next table are now very curious about the habits of knitters. Anyway, I have 8 ounces of it and I'm going to dye it before I spin it up. It hasn't told me what color it wants to be yet, so that will have to wait. Maybe the dyeing process will kill the smoke smell. Ha! (Nearly as fun as dam jokes...)

Next came an impulse purchase on eBay. This is 6 smallish skeins of merino wool boucle that I got for about $10, shipping included. It's probably about DK weight and I'd guess circa 1980 . Each skein is 1 1/4 ounce. That's all the info on the label. I'm not sure what this will be. I'm thinking lacy shawl or wrap. I'm going to dye it first, maybe blues, taupe, brown...not sure yet.

This is what I've been waiting for! The box from Knitpicks. I got 4 more skeins of merino wool sock yarn and a bunch of Jacquard dye. Such pretty colors! As much as I want to jump in and start dyeing tonight, I'm not going to do it. First of all, I need a good spot in which to dye. Second, I don't have time this week. Drat! It will have to wait until we come back from vacation.

Ahh...vacation! Four days and counting...

P.S. My son pointed out to me that bag worms have nothing to do with knitting. Au contraire mon fils. "The cone-shaped bags, which they form, easily identify bagworms. These are carefully interwoven using silk and bits of leaves and twigs from the host plant resulting in a well-disguised covering." Source: Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences

They use silk to make their disgusting bag dwellings. I use silk to knit.

Even though they are silk-producing worms, they will surely die. I dye yarn and fiber.

Shall I continue? You see, my dear child, it all comes back to knitting.