Green Dilly Beans

Card Carrying Member

I recently had an epiphany.  I am a student.  I have a student id card.  Therefore, I qualify for the myriad of student discount rates available to this impoverished class.  Yippee! 

And where did I first cash in on my new student status?  Well, you'd be right if you guessed it was yarn related......I joined the Minnesota Weaver's Guild! 

Yeah, yeah, so technically I don't really weave, but the guild offers so many fiber related classes of interest that it seemed like the best fit for me.  I am most excited to attend the Whorling Spinsters study group, which meets every month to spin together.  I'm also hoping to take a beginning spinning class in January when I have a break from school.  The guild has more than a dozen really nice spinning wheels for members to use on site, which means I don't have to lug my wheel on the city bus.  While it would be a bit of a hassle, I do like thinking about the reactions I would get if I boarded public transportation with a spinning wheel in tow! 

The Weaver's Guild is housed in the MN Textile Center,  which is also a place of wonder to behold.  Seriously, and I mean seriously, if you are ever in town, you need to check out their textile library. According to the website, there are 13,000+ circulating and reference items on quilting, knitting, weaving, needle arts, beading, spinning, fiber, dyeing, embellishments, surface design, etc.  Forget visiting me, go straight to the textile center library.  Even better, contact me and we'll go there together!

But, enough background information.  I started this post to show you the fruits of my labor.  I recently took my first class, Naturally Dyed in Minnesota.  As the name suggests this class gave me the opportunity to dye fiber with dye plants harvested from Minnesota's woodlands and roadsides.  Very cool.  Here are the yarn samples I took home.   

       

Ash                                                     Cedar  - Northern White

              

Horsetail                                             Tansy

Willow

And for comparison's sake, here's a lineup of all of them together:

L to R: Cedar, Ash, Horsetail, Tansy, and Willow

While the colors are a little more subdued than my usual suspects, I'm learning to appreciate their subtleties.  Conveniently enough, my sister has been doing biology research in boggy areas of northern MN where many of these plants grow.  I'm already planning a gathering expedition next summer! 

Cropped, Round 2

I've been sifting through my blog archives and have come to the conclusion that I am very good at making you promises that I never follow up on, mostly along the lines of pictures that never materialize.  In the interest of turning over a new leaf, consider this one picture promise fulfilled. 

With significantly less hair, I'm finding that my ears are getting cold.  I didn't really think of this seasonal side effect when I took it all off in May.  I love the short hair, plus it gives me an excuse to knit more hats!

PS Anyone have favorite hat patterns to add to my Ravelry queue?

Lucky Stripe

This really is too much fun.  I only wish I had discovered it before embarking upon two baby surprise jackets in a quest to use up yarn scraps. 

The Heat is On

Hooray!  After a stretch of cold, rainy fall days, my heat finally kicked in!

While waiting for the heat to come on, I was finally inspired to block my latest version of the Hourglass Sweater (appropriately enough made from yarn purchased last year at Rhinebeck).

I was foolish enough to think that I had no toys to entertain my 4 year old nephew and 2 year old niece when they came over last night for grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Who needs toys when you have a sweater to block and yarn to wind?!  A spray bottle and swift were all I needed to entertain.  Sorry the photo is so crummy, the camera has some night vision thing going on.  Thankfully B is coming in tonight for the weekend and can rescue me (and you) from a world of exceptionally awful photographs. 

I'll take a better picture of the sweater, with me in it, this weekend.  I'll be thinking of many of you as you head upstate this weekend!

In other heated matters, please explain to me: Why did the fire alarm go off when making this.....

but not a peep was heard as this was left on the stove during a mad bout of studying? Yep, those are were carrots. 

Scholarly Lessons Learned:

• Setting off the fire alarm at 11:30 PM is not a good way endear yourself to the neighbors.  Let's hope that a pervasive sense of Minnesota Nice and the smell of freshly baked bread is enough to keep you in their good graces. 
  
• Don't try to cook when trying to meet a paper deadline.  The good news is, the paper turned out infinitely better than the carrots, I got an A!

Raveled

Sorry to have left that gloomy post linger for so long.  Really, things here are good - school, life, all of it.  There are some ups and downs, but mostly ups.  Thanks for your reassurances, they really did help put things in perspective. 

There must be some sort of scientific law that would explain why my Ravelry invite arrived just as I was balancing my first paper and quiz for school along with a visit to NYC.  I am still impressed with myself that I didn't drop everything and lose myself in the Ravelry abyss. 

I've taken some baby steps into the labrynth and thought I would throw myself out there to you.  I'm under the name "greendillybean" It's still rough, no pictures yet, but I'll be adding to it bit by bit.  Hope to see you there!