Dyed in the wool

What happens when you mix several women obsessed with yarn and knitting, some packages of Kool-Aid, some acid dyes, turkey basters, many hanks of wool and a few pots of hot water?

A whole lot of fun at a yarn dyeing party, that's what!!!

A few weeks ago my best friend had some of the women from our knitting group over and taught us how to dye our own yarn.  I was fascinated by the entire process. 

Here's a sampling of pictures from the evening.

Preparing the bare wool for dyeing



Vinegar soak for kool-aid dyeing




My first attempt at "hand-painting" with kool-aid dyes



My best friend Kelly demonstrating the acid dye method
(isn't she cute!  I. Love. Her.!)



Rinsing and cooling the acid-dyed yarn

 

My very own creation!
Worsted weight superwash merino
Acid dyed





Another of my creations!
Merino Wool fingering weight
(sock yarn)
Kool-aid dyed


*The yarn is actually a bit darker than the pictures show, I have horrible lighting!
**Many thanks to my bestie for making those adorable ball-bands for my hand-dyed yarn!!!  I love them!!!
***We all got to name our colorways we created that evening.  Mine obviously are Sweet Peach Tea (because when I mixed the dye it looked just like peach flavored iced tea) and Mardi Gras (I didn't have yellow, otherwise it would have been official Mardi Gras colors, but I think it works well anyway!). 

We all had such a wonderful time at the party.  Not only was it an evening of learning something new about a shared hobby, we learned a lot of new things about each other.  It was an evening of friendship and fellowship, of laughter and conversation, an evening of six women drawing closer together.  I like to imagine the yarn we dyed serving as a heartstring, connecting each one of us to the other, through another, in an invisible weaving of interconnectedness.  A tapestry woven not by hands, but by words, by affection, by the knowledge of each other.  In this knowledge I am blessed.

And I thank God daily for the blessings of friendship He has bestowed.  I am truly rich in what matters most.

Love,

I was on a mission...

and have emerged VICTORIOUS!!!

My mission was simple...or not so simple, depending on how much you understand about these things. (Which until about 10 minutes ago, I understood NOTHING!!!)

I needed to add a button advertising my prayer ministry forum, complete with "grabbable" code. Yeah, I didn't get it either.

After several hours, several choice expletives, a lot of fist banging on the desk, I FINALLY have a button!!!

Lookie!

Down there in the left sidebar!




What's that? You see TWO buttons???

Hee hee hee!

That's the victorious part!!!

One's for linking to my prayer ministry forum, the other is for linking to this blog.

Damn I love it when I think I can't do things then set off on a mission and prove to myself that yes, in fact, I CAN!!!

My moment of happy for the day...

Show & Tell: Answering A Call...

Welcome to Show and Tell.  I hope you'll play along and tell your friends all about it! It will be open on Thursday mornings and close at midnight Sunday night each week.  here's how you participate:

• between thursday and sunday night, write up your own show and tell blog post.


• grab the url of your show and tell post.


• visit suzy's blog! 


• use the linky tool below her show and tell post to enter your blog name and url of your show and tell.


• then visit the show and tell posts of others and let them know you were there


• just copy and paste, and you can even have some bling to put the chalkboard on your blog too!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A while back I wrote this post.  I wasn't ready at that time to discuss the amazing "God Moment" that I just had.  But, after a lot of work, a lot of prayer, and a lot of nail-biting "am I ready to put this out there what if someone makes fun of me" moments, I'm ready to unveil the labor of love I've been working on.

After some serious prayer and finally listening to what God was impressing upon my heart, I have launched a new website.  It is a message board forum for Christian women to support and encourage each other on our daily walks with God through prayer and sharing. 

The site is called "Let Me Sow Love: A Meeting Place for Christian Women" .   
 
I felt a strong calling to develop a prayer ministry for women, especially women facing infertility.  I feel this is something I'm supposed to do.  Several months ago I met some wonderful women through a web chat and formed an immediate bond and we started a prayer "email chain".  I have never felt a pull as strong to do something than when I began praying daily for these women.  I don't have many resources, I don't have a lot of time to donate as a volunteer, but what I do have is powerful.  I have a desire, and a capability to pray.  And that is what I'm offering.

The website isn't *only* for women facing infertility, but I want it to be a site where infertile women can feel comfortable.  There are a zillion "Christian Mommy" sites out there, and while that is awesome and totally serves a valid need and community, I feel there is a need for a space where the focus isn't so much on our titles or reproductive status.  This site will simply be a site for Christian WOMEN to meet, exchange ideas, encourage and support each other, receive encouragement and support, and learn more about God and faith journeys from other incredible Christian women.  While I understand the "mommy" factor is relevant, I didn't want that to become the focus of the site, nor do I want infertility to become the focus.  I want the focus to be prayer, women supporting and encouraging women, and most importantly GOD.  He is the reason the new forum exists.    
 
Feel free to take a look at my site...pass it along to anyone you feel might be interested. 

***And please be gentle...this is my heart out there!

Coincidence...or the hand of God?

Have you ever had an experience that was just too perfect for words?  Something you'd been thinking of, planning, praying about, wondering about...all of a sudden come to fruition in a way you totally didn't expect?

I had that experience last night. 

I'll share it with you, I promise, but right now I'm basking in the glow of the happiness that could only be attributed to God working His mysterious ways in my little life. 

My heart is so happy right now. 

(And just in case you're wondering, NO, unfortunately I'm NOT pregnant)

Monday's Moment of Happy-ness

I got a call from my Mom on Saturday telling me she was going to meet me at my work when I got there for my shift because she had something to give me.  I thought maybe it was my share of the "Sam's run" groceries (she stocks up on lots of meat and other items that are much cheaper at Sam's and we split the cost to buy in bulk...saves us both a lot in the long run).  But it wasn't. 

It was this:

[caption id="attachment_740" align="alignnone" width="146" caption="My new hutch - the flowers on top were the altar flowers from our wedding :)"][/caption]

My Mom obtained this hutch from a friend of hers some years ago.  Her friend had gotten it from her mother.  I don't know exactly how old it is, probably not "antique" age, but it's still pretty old.  Mom refinished it and used it for several years and I liked it so much that she promised I could have it when she wasn't going to use it anymore.  And, now that day has come!  I loooove it!  Here's a picture of some pictures of what it used to look like before Mom got a hold of it:

[caption id="attachment_739" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Hutch before"][/caption]

My Mom is a furniture refinishing fool!  One of these days I'll take a picture of the library table I use as a desk that seh refinished.  It's gorgeous too!  I've never been much of an "antique" person, but I do have to admit, I'm benefitting greatly from my Mom's obsession with yard sales!  And hey, it's "new to me", and I love it!  Sadly, in order to be able to use it, I had to pare down significantly the books that I keep out on the shelves.  I filled two rubbermaid totes with others that I had out, and I still managed to fill a couple of the shelves of the hutch!  Right now I just have my knitting books, a couple of my all time faves, my "religion" section, and the 24 other books I have waiting to be read.  Yes, I have a problem.  I know.  I'm a book-a-holic.  I can't help it, it's one of my only vices.

And that was one of my Monday Moments of Happy-ness. 

What's one of yours?