Friday, September 22nd. I was up and hit the ground running, at least after the caffeine kicked in. Mr. Debbie and I had bought tickets ages ago for a Sheryl Crow/John Mayer concert the previous Monday night, which I ended up missing because of an ecology exam Tuesday morning. The night before, eldest daughter had taken my ticket to a Barenaked Ladies concert because I'd been up till all hours studying for the organic and biochem exams instead of hearing how the group could play banjos again. Coming in from his morning run, Mr. Debbie looked solemn. "You're too frazzled," he tells me.
What can you say to a comment like that? I keep on packing lunches, pouring more coffee.
He hands me a shopping bag, empty. "What's this for?" I ask.
"You need a break. Go pack for Wyoming."
I start to make a mental list of why this is impossible: homework, housework, clinic on Sunday, I haven't baked Carl's cake, I already told Carol I couldn't make it, I have nothing to dye... and decide instead he's right. I toss a change of clothes and a toothpaste into the bag, put my wheel and a random bin of fiber into the back of the truck, and head off for my exams smiling.
After my exams, I go and (sacrilege!) buy a cake, then head north to Encampment, home of Carol and Carl Lee, two of my favorite people in the world. For years now, Carol has hosted a Gathering in September at the Academy of Spinsters for fiber folks from all over. This year, we covered at least three continents. We eat very well, as folks potluck and make it a point of honor to have way more food than we could possibly eat, and we dye almost everything in sight, mostly with natural dyes. I was unprepared, and thus not up to my usual manic standards (one year I dyed nearly 12 pounds of handspun Churro rug yarn in a day), but ended up with some lovely skeins anyway.
Left to right: 2 skeins indigo (no mordant), brazilwood on alum, black walnut (no mordant), and the original yarn (mordanted with alum but not dyed -- yet).
This was the first time I'd worked with the instant indigo, and it was definitely simpler than the method I've used before, but I'm not sure the color is quite the same. Part of the difference may be due to the water, though. Most years we're still using creek water at the end of September, but the town had anticipated an early frost so we were on town (treated) water instead.
I also tried some cochineal, which had problems, and will no doubt be overdyed at some point. Everything was washed out and muddy and pale, quite unlike the usual vivid cochineal colors.
The company was full of familiar friendly faces, and I was glad to get caught up with Shirley and Cindy and Peggy from Brown Sheep and all the rest. I returned home to the usual mess and too much homework, but was ready and eager to enter the fray, and really, what more can you ask from a 24 hour escape?
Sounds like the perfect break. I need Mr. Debbie to teach Mr. Erin a few lessons!
Posted by: erin in SoCal | December 30, 2006 at 01:36 PM