Lessons in Dyeing

 So I'm hoping to be a craft vendor at my hometown's Johnny Appleseed Festival in a month.  I'm not sure if that makes me ambitious, entrepreneurial, or just plain delirious.  It will be my first vending event if I can pull it off, but that means that I need to more than double (maybe even triple) my inventory; most of which is already posted on my Etsy site.  So I got to thinking about what I might bring with me:

Baskets

Hand spun and dyed yarn

Hand processed and dyed roving

Decorated origami stars

Knitter's mittens

Hats

Woven scarves

And whatever else I could find ready to go in my craft room.  

I still have not sent in an application and payment.  I have till mid-September to decide, and that's sure going to come up quickly.  I spent the past couple of days trying to work out what needs to be made, prices, tracking down a tent.  There's a lot to think of.  So I started with the fiber!  I pulled out my trusty book on Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan and went too it.  I have thirteen colors to work with, although if I mixed them, the possibilities could be endless.  

Not shown - Fire Red

And here was the finished product drying in the bathroom.  It was too humid to dry it outside.

And once it was re-skeined.

Two hanks of Alpaca and one of Babydoll Southdown.  Not bad for a few hours.  Er, a few hours of dyeing that is...I already had the yarn spun up.  Still, I'm pretty happy!  And if you're not familiar with the Sheffield's Johnny Appleseed festival, take a peek HERE!  It really is a neat thing to see.  Makes you want to go out and get your own axe and start a swinging!  And let me tell you, the women are just as tough as the men!  It's quite impressive.