Episode 7
Today’s segments include contest details, Ever-expanding Skill Set, and A Little Bit of Learning.
Teacher Tribute Challenge
To enter the contest, think of a meaningful teacher in your life. It may be someone who taught you in a classroom, or someone from whom you learned in a less formal environment. Write a letter to that teacher and mail it. Finally, post a tribute to that teacher by clicking the leave a reply button above to add a comment. You have until October 31st to enter. A specially-made purchase at Rhinebeck will be awarded in a random prize drawing at the beginning of November. This contest is a joint venture with Dr. Kelly of Ewe University. Check out her podcast for additional ways to enter. Ravelry members can also enter by joining the Yarns at Yin Hoo group and posting to the contest thread.
Ever-expanding Skill Set
Today was Day 2 of dyeing fiber. I selected about 100 grams of Shetland from Spinner’s End Farm and another 100 grams of Falkland from Feederbrook Farm. I’d like to see if there’s any difference in how two fibers take on the same natural dye. After enhancing the dye I made last week with the addition of more goldenrod flowers, I formulated a mordant for the fiber. The word mordant comes from the French mordre, meaning “to bite.” So, a mordant helps the fiber absorb the dye when you introduce it.
Following the directions on Echoes of a Dream blog, I used 40 grams of alum and 35 grams of cream of tartar for each 100 grams of fiber. I dissolved each powder into boiling water and created a mordant “bath.” After simmering pre-soaked fiber in the mordant solution for about an hour, I gently smushed most of the liquid out of the fiber and introduced it to the dye. The fiber simmered in its dye bath for about an hour. Here it is, cooling in the dye pot.
A Little Bit of Learning
After mentioning metaphor briefly last week, in a discussion of Clara Parkes’ The Yarn Whisperer: My Unexpected Life in Knitting, I decided to include a little more investigation of metaphor in this episode. My resource is I Is an Other by James Geary.
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” — G. K. Chesterton
Hi Sara,
I’ve been thinking about this for a L-o-n-g time. Decades in fact.
My favorite teacher of all time was Mr. Edward Tally. He was my fifth grade teacher. Fifth grade was a hard year for me; I was dealing with a “best friend” who was really just a mean girl and having all sorts of self security issues. I had a passion for animals and reading and kind Mr. Tally recognized the issues I was having. He had the perfect intervention; he gave me a paperback copy of “Watership Down”by Richard Adams and I was taken away into the joyful social and sometimes brutal story of life in a rabbit warren (that was not so different from life in a fifth grade classroom). It was wonderful to be transported away from my own troubles and to surreptitiously learn some skills to help me in my own situation. I still have that ragged and worn copy of Watership Down and wouldn’t part with it for a bucket of money. I have never told Mr. Tally how much that kind gesture meant to me then or how it help me evolve into the person I am now. I have found his address and 35 years after the fact will have finally said a well deserved thank you. 🙂
Sherry