My latest free project for the rigid heddle loom is posted over at Schacht Spindle Company's website. It's a shoulder bag woven in a honeycomb pattern using my 20" Flip rigid heddle loom. The cells of the honeycomb showcase some yarn that I dyed at NEWS this past July. It was actually just a bit chilly this morning, and this bag screams fall to me. I love fall. I'm going to go make myself some cocoa and get my loom dressed for fall. 

Our last day of dyeing was intense. I was painting yarns and fiber like my life depended on it. There was no way I was going to waste a second of class time. We were focused on animal fibers today, and once painted they were rolled up in plastic wrap and set in a steam bath. It was such a thrill to unroll the finished product. Unlike the plant fibers we dyed earlier, the acid fast dyes we used for the animal fibers were completely absorbed by the material. I dyed 100% wool (both lovely soft stuff and rug wool), a wool/silk blend, and some BFL from Spunky Eclectic that I can't wait to spin up. 
 
None of this had time to dry, so into plastic bags it went for the ride home. Yesterday I had my creations drying outside the door to our apartment, and two different people asked if they were for sale. Not too shabby for a first effort.

Well, day three of NEWS is just about over. This morning we all unwrapped our plant fibers that had been marinating in dye overnight. After a good rinse and a dip in some hot water and Synthropol, we set them out to dry. I think I might have to get my hands on this, a non-toxic alternative to Synthropol. Give a hoot! Don't pollute!
 
After taking a look at yesterday's handiwork, I had a much better idea of how I wanted to proceed. I was happy to experiment on some basic 8/2 cotton, so that today I could do something cool with linen. I am really loving linen these days. I decided to take two primaries and gradually blend them. The blue-green-yellow item is the result. We'll see how it looks in the morning when it's dry (hopefully). 

I started my dye class today. The morning was a bit of a technical overview of the process, which involved a bit of math and safety gear, and we dyed two 12 step palettes - a cool set and a warm set. After lunch we really got to play. I am having so much fun I can barely stand it. Now we're definitely going to have to buy a house so I have a place to get messy.
 

Here I am at Smith College for NEWS (New England Weavers Seminar). Today I managed to get a bit of work and a jog around campus in before poking around the Lyman Plant House and Conservatory and the botanical gardens. I was in plant heaven. We're staying in dorm rooms which is fun in a campy sort of way. My big dilemma earlier was whether or not to wear my flip flops in the shower.
 
Totally off topic. There were two sheep in my animal crackers today. I think it's a baaaad sign that I was questioning whether or not to eat them.