Dyeing cotton naturally workshop at Rhinebeck

I took a cotton dyeing class with Jane Woodhouse on the Thursday before Rhinebeck. I had done no natural dyeing except for indigo so I was very excited to get into this class. Jane's classes fill up fast.

When we arrived, we were divided into teams. Each team had two people and I lucked out in that I had a very efficient and complementary partner. The class involves making sample skeins from many different natural dyes - from the lovely purples of logwood to the browns of pomegranate. Each team was given a dye. Most of the dyes were powders but the osage orange was a liquid. We got madder root which interested me but my partner didn't like the color. She loves bright colors and was hoping for logwood or cochineal. Oh well.

We had to make 6 sample skeins with the dye. The first set of three was to dye skeins that had been mordanted with alum acetate. This is a bit different from the alum sulphate that is readily available for pickling and other uses. The skeins had been scoured and mordanted before class. The second set of three skeins was to dye skeins that also had been mordanted with a tannin. There are many tannins and they all leave the fiber a brown color. Tannins are a dye and a mordant. Pomegranate, for example, is both a dye and a mordant.

We briefly soaked the skeins in water because they were getting a little dry. They need to be damp to dye properly. We had to weigh out the dye stuff, mix it in a little very hot water, and then add a specific amount of warm water and the fiber to the dye solution. We mixed everything up in mason jars and then set our first set of dye pots simmering in a water bath. Another very important task was to label each jar with a number that identified it on a master list of the samples. Otherwise the end of the day would have been chaotic!

After the dye pots had been heated to 180F and held there for 30 mins. we carefully lifted them out and set them on the grass to cool. We were in a tent and it was warm so we expanded out into the area surrounding the tent. You can see the thermometer in the dye jar above. The jars were simmered in a water bath in canning kettles. These photos show the sets of three.

Once our first set of three was in the water bath, we did the same thing for the second set of three samples. The reason for the sets of three was that each dye stuff was going to yield a sample of its natural color, then one modified with iron (ferrous sulphate) and one that would be over-dyed with indigo.

We

Here we are adding the ferrous sulphate and stirring. Iron dulls the color but sometimes that is what you want. Once the jars had cooled somewhat, we removed the skeins, rinsed them and hung them up to dry. Fortunately, there is a nice fence next to the tent which Jane uses every year as a drying rack. I've admired the skeins in past years.

Our tannin mordanted skeins went in next into the water bath. Then we did a couple of things in parallel. Jane had built an indigo dye pot but it needed to be refreshed and checked so she went off to do that. The rest of us started on the third set of samples. 

The third set had to do with dyeing with stock solutions. Unlike synthetic dyes, natural dyestuffs do not have a fixed amount to yield a 1% stock solution. The dye manufacturer will provide a guide on each jar based on its strength. Jane had given us some combinations to make to create other colors that weren't possible with one single dye. We created the stock solutions, which didn't use all the dyes that we had used earlier. They used a subset. Then we carefully measured out the correct amounts of the stock solution for each color using syringes. These were added to mason jars (again labeled with the number of the formula) and then we put one each of the two mordanted skeins. One was the alum only and the other was the tannin+alum.

Once these were simmering in the water bath, we started dyeing our earlier samples in the indigo dye bath. It was interesting to see that the tannin samples barely picked up the indigo. Tannins are acid and indigo likes an alkaline environment to dye fiber.

One result of doing this in a single day class was that we didn't get the full depth of color. Almost all dyes take a while to absorb as the dye bath cools down and we should have really left the skeins in overnight to get the maximum color. Similarly, indigo does best with multiple dips with drying and oxidizing time between dips. We did a couple of dips for some of the samples but most got just one dip in the indigo. 

Once our skeins were mostly dry, we cut them into pieces and labeled them with the number. This is where my partner and I collaborated brilliantly. We got ours done and then helped other teams who were slower. By this time, the class was tired and the whole process of creating the individual samples and labeling them and finally picking up a set of them created some frustration and flouncing.

These were the tables with the samples laid out. We each had to pick up one piece from each skein. I decided to wait till everyone was done as there was a huge crush around the table. As a result, it was almost dark by the time we were done and I am missing 1 or 2 samples. 

When I got home, I just laid out the samples to finish drying as some of them were still damp. A couple of weeks later I got some cardstock and punched holes in it, and wrote down all the numbers of the dyes and combinations we created. I then attached each skein to its number on the card.

I have 3 sheets of card that look like this. But at least everything is organized and I can look up any sample and its constituent formula easily.

All in all a really educational day. I realized that natural dyes are not that different from synthetic dyes except that there is no guarantee on the exact color. The mineral content of your water makes a difference as well as the strength of the dye stuff. We used manufactured dye powders/liquids in this class and at least there, the manufacturer has tested the strength and given us an indicator as to that. When one dyes with natural substances from one's garden or kitchen, there is even more variability in the color. 

I collected marigold and black eyed susan blooms from the garden this summer and they are in the freezer along with some pomegranate skins. I also have some dye plants called pernilla that we weeded out of the dye garden at the fairgrounds. It grows everywhere and we pulled it out from where it didn't belong. I plan to simmer them and use them to dye wool this winter. It should be an interesting experiment. 

Rhinebeck 2017

Updated to add two more photos of the dyeing class.

It has been really busy around here and that is why there hasn't been any blogging. We were out in Europe for 2 weeks and I came back right before Rhinebeck. This year Rhinebeck expanded out into 4.5 days because I helped with workshop setup also. Usually I just help pack up on Sunday.

It ended up being quite tiring because I was there to help with class check-in at 7:30 (Thurs/Fri) and 8:30 (Sat/Sun). I thought I'd get home early on Thurs after class but class ran late. On Friday, I volunteered at the fleece judging as a scribe so it was late. I usually try to leave either early or late on Sat and Sun to avoid the traffic. So most days were long. It is a 45 min drive for me one-way. But it is so much fun that I don't care.

I took 3 classes this year. On Thursday I took 'Dyeing Cotton Naturally' with Jane Woodhouse. Jane is a great teacher. It was a long day as we made many, many samples. First we dyed natural colored cotton which had been mordanted with alum acetate. Then we dyed cotton that had been mordanted with alum and a tannin. Lastly we made stock solutions and did color blends.

Each of the first two sets twas done 3 ways: the dye as is, with an iron modifier and with an indigo over-dye.

The challenging part was labeling and dividing up the skeins so we each had a sample of each yarn. I finally got around to organizing my samples! I now need a big envelope to store them.

On Friday, I took a Navajo Rug Weaving class. We got small pre-warped looms and 8 oz of yarn to weave with. It took a while for her to explain the basics. She taught us how to weave vertical and horizontal stripes. Diagonals were not included in the curriculum for this one day class. It was fun and I need to get back to it. The teacher was Marilou Schultz who is a member of the Navajo Nation.

The last class I took was on Sunday. It was a 1 hour 'Made in the Moment' with Leslie Wind. That was a lot of fun! I made a pin and 2 cable needles. Plus, because we were the last class of the weekend, we each got some samples from her.

The top pin is the one I made. The other two are her samples.

The cable needles I made. The left one is called 'Hurrah!' and the right one is 'Angel'. 

Someone gave me 2 bags of unlabeled undyed fiber and another person gave me a bag of Into the Whirled fiber. The only fiber I bought was odds and ends that Briar Rose had dyed. She is getting out of the fiber business and just dyed these to use up the ends. I bought a featherweight Bosworth spindle. I haven't photographed any of my acquisitions yet so that will be in the next post.

Right after Rhinebeck, I had to focus on an educational forum I was helping organize and canvassing for the election. So the fiber content has been minimal BUT, I was able to warp and weave a scarf on my Baby Wolf loom. That was exciting. I am already planning the next project on it as well as what I'm going to do on my rigid heddle loom.

Scarf on the loom above and finally finished below. It is a variegated weft with an almost solid gray warp. Both yarns are cheap 'sock' yarns I bought in China. They are quite soft but not very durable for socks.

I also started a pair of Two-At-A-Time (TAAT) socks while I was traveling. I have finished them up to the heels. They are for a guild demo so I am going to stop there till the guild meeting. This way I can show back and forth knitting on the two socks as well as how to knit on them in-the-round.

I finished the wrap I worked on when I was on the first trip and also a little infinity scarf/cowl from a skein of the most luscious yarn I have ever touched. It is called Road to China. I don't seem to have a photo of the wrap. I'll take it and post next time.

Rhinebeck was very warm this year. But it was cold in the am so I wore a sweater or shawl every day and then ended up taking them off around 10 am. They went back on right before I left at 6 or 7 pm.  I did get a chance to finally wear my Grapevine sweater.

In order to catch up and write about both the travel and the fiber activity, I am hoping to do 2 posts a week for the rest of the year. 

At Judith MacKenzie's feet - Part 2

After the camel top, we moved on to silk. I was especially interested in this as I have some silk at home and I have been afraid to spin it. We covered silk caps/hankies, silk bricks and silk top. I wasn't quick enough to score some of the lovely Red Eri silk top Judith had for sale so I had to be content with admiring other people's spinning.

Judith believes that silk top must be spun worsted. Sara Lamb, in her Spinning Silk video from Interweave spins over the fold. Sara's point is that she spins a lot of silk and if she spun it short forward draw, her hands wouldn't survive the process. Judith gave us some statistics about fibers and how many times they can be bent/straightened or folded before they give way. I don't remember all the numbers but wool can tolerate this many tens of thousands of times. These are just to give you orders of magnitude, not exact numbers. Cotton and Tencel fall in the middle with tolerances in the few thousands. Silk has the lowest tolerance. The implication here is that the yarn will not be as durable because as you knit or crochet, and as you use the item, the folded silk fibers (from spinning over the fold) will flex and straighten and eventually give way. It was an interesting perspective and as most of us are not spinning for heirloom items, it may not be a big deal. 

Silk also will stick to almost any surface. Human skin and other silk are two exceptions. She recommended that we wrap the fiber in a silk scarf and hold it within the scarf and spin from the end peeking out. During the class, one of the members held a silk hankie in his fiber hand and spun silk. I didn't have any silk with me so I held it loosely in my hand and spun it quite successfully. The tip from the worsted spinning the day before helped me a lot.

The thread on the bobbin core is what I spun. The rest is the silk she gave us to spin. I spun a very fine Corriedale when I first got a support spindle and I thought it might be nice to ply a fine silk yarn to ply with it. That bleached tussah in the bottom is for that purpose. I don't have much yardage in the Corriedale but there should be enough for a cowl. The rest is honey tussah. I showed Judith my singles and she thought I could add some more twist to it. I was pleased that I didn't have a lot of lumps and bumps and also didn't have to pull off any messed up fiber. The messed up silk is good for carding and blending. 

We also discussed spinning embroidery thread. The key here is that it should be 2-ply, it should have a lot of twist and it needs to be fine. The 2-ply is so that there is a 'bite ' to the yarn so it stays put on the fabric. A 3-ply is a round yarn and is more likely to slip and slide on the fabric. Once the yarn is plied, it should have an even twist so that it doesn't snag. Judith paid for her first wheel by spinning embroidery floss and selling it in 10-yd lengths. I think I have some spindle-spun yarn that might qualify for embroidery thread in diameter if not in quality.

We also discussed silk caps. These are like silk hankies except that hankies are cocoons spread out on a square frame and a cap is stretched out over a cap-shaped form. Judith tried to demonstrate how she stretches out the cap on her swift. She puts it on the top, secures the ends around the spokes - you just have to stretch them to fit evenly on the spokes, they will stay put, and then she opens the swift to stretch the cap. However, the swift we had in class did not cooperate because it opened in a different way. So she ended up stretching it with her hands. She then broke off an end and started drafting. The important part to remember here is that you can't draft once you get some twist into the silk fibers because we are looking at a set of single long fibers. So draft the silk out to an approximation of the thickness you want. 

Judith just wound the drafted silk around her hand and also put it in a pile in the floor. One of the class students showed us what happens when you wrap the silk tightly on a card for future spinning. It melts into itself and you have to start over with the drafting. The moral of the story is spin it soon after drafting and maybe put the drafted fiber in a pile in a paper bag or bowl.

A silk brick is a very tightly compressed piece of silk fiber. You have to find the end and open it up. It is wound up and compressed while it is still wet. So the top layer of fiber won't draft properly and needs to be discarded. It is wrinkly and doesn't look much like silk. Judith's experience is that it won't straighten out even if you wet and stretch it. She recommended that it be used for blending or carding where you want some texture. After that removing that section, the rest of the brick is spun just like top.

We moved on to dyeing. Judith had asked us to bring items to dye in an indigo bath and many students had brought shirts, pants, yarn, etc. It was a revelation to me that I could dye these types of items in an indigo bath. Indigo will dye almost anything. One student knit a sweater in an orange-y yarn and it looked gorgeous after dyeing. She also dyed a neon poly-cotton T-shirt which turned a nice bright shade of green. 

The bath was created with the same pre-reduced indigo that I had used at Rhinebeck. But this time, one of the epiphanies from the class is that I don't have to keep an indigo pot going for a long time. Judith showed us how we can make a dye-pot, dye items till the dye is exhausted and then be done with it. The class included a silk scarf for dyeing but Judith had also brought things she had found in thrift shops. One of her finds was a large number of 100% linen T-shirts that were labeled 4XL but weren't anywhere close to that size. They were more like a women's large. She had dyed some of them with tea and some with tea and cochineal. We were welcome to as many as we wanted once everyone had a chance to get one at a cost of $5 which was Judith's cost. I took 2 - a tea dyed one and a white one. I also dyed 2 hand-stitched napkins. I am now going to be haunting my local Goodwill store. 

I was a bit taken aback by the additional items to dye so I didn't plan my dyeing very well. I should have tied the tea dyed T-shirt before putting in the dye-bath. As it turned out, both T-shirts ended up with a very similar color. I dipped each shirt twice, one day apart. The first T-shirt is pretty evenly dyed with a bit of a kettle-dyed look. I decided to tie the second T-shirt after its first bath as it was really splotchy and I didn't like the splotches. I rolled it diagonally and tied it. You can see the faint diagonal lines on the front and the more pronounced ones in the back.

 I decided to tie-dye the silk scarf but I didn't have anything except thread to tie it. No clamps or blocks like I had at Rhinebeck. I just folded it in half lengthwise, pleated it and tied it in 3 places around the pleats. I really like the result. It has a damask design on it so the white parts are not completely plain.

 These are the two napkins. All the items were dipped concurrently and sequentially in the same 3 pots so there were a number of items in each dye pot. That accounts for the lines and uneven dyeing. These were a pale pink damask before I started on them. I like the result. They look used.

 I also dipped my camel skein and the skein I spun to sample the custom Manx Loaghtan blend I got at the class. The camel is on the right and the other one is one the right. I like the effect of indigo on camel.

To make the dye pot, we filled the pot with water just warm to the hand. Indigo needs to be between 90 and 140F. It will not dye once it goes above 140 but you don't have to go that high. The temperature felt as if it was slightly warmer than I would use for adding a yogurt starter to milk. Then Judith mixed the dye crystals with warm water in a mason jar and stirred to dissolve. It should be a lovely green color below the surface. Judith uses small amounts of Rit dye remover instead of Thiox to remove the oxygen in the water. She just sprinkles a little bit into the jar. Once the crystals are dissolved, she slowly adds the dye to the warm water. She didn't measure anything. She said that a pot like this doesn't require as much care as a pot that one will keep for a long time - adding Thiox every week and making sure the ph is correct. The Rit dye remover is toxic but the quantities are so small that she felt it was OK for a pot that will be exhausted in the day.

Indigo will only deposit in an absence of oxygen. So stirring, adding and removing items from the pot needs to be done with care. Items need to be lowered gently into the pot and must be removed from the side so they don't drip into the pot. Bubbles of air introduce oxygen which causes the indigo to morph out of the form in which it will deposit. 

Once the dye is added to the pot, Judith adds another sprinkle of the dye remover and then we let the pot sit for about 10-15 mins. Then she puts in a drop of Dawn dish detergent into the pot. This causes the indigo particles that have formed a scum on the surface to move out of the way and the items can be submerged without worrying about getting these particles on the item. The scum is the indigo that has been exposed to the air on top of the dye-pot. In a long-running bath, this *flower* seals the surface and prevents oxygen from getting into the dye solution. It is removed and saved, and then replaced when one is done dyeing for the day. But in a temporary, one-time pot, it doesn't build up enough to become a flower.

Judith added as many items as would fit. A few big items that needed a lot of dye and then some of the smaller items to fill out the pot. Items are left in there for about 20-30 mins with some stirring periodically during that interval. Then the items are removed and are not squeezed as they come out. You want the dye to remain on the fabric. We took the wet items and waved them around, aerating all the surfaces to cause the indigo reaction. If you haven't seen indigo dyeing, the items come out of the dye pot a green color. This is the un-oxygenated version of indigo. When it is exposed to air, it turns blue and deposits on the surface. This is why you don't squeeze the dye out of the item. 

After aerating them for a while, we spread them out on tarps or on the grass and flipped them around every 10 mins or so to continue the aerating process. The indigo will continue to deposit and harden over a period of time. According to one of the experts Judith quoted, the longer you leave the indigo on the item before you rinse it, the longer the color will last. I haven't rinsed any of my items yet. They need to be rinsed till the water runs clear and then ironed.

I am much more confident of making a one-day temporary pot in which I can dye a number of items and then exhausting it. The bath can be refreshed with more dye dissolved in the mason jar as the day progresses. When the dye concentration comes down, you can re-dye things or use the dye to do a light wash of color on other items. Indigo should be the last dye on the fabric as it doesn't penetrate and bond but sits on the surface of the item. You can dye with acid or natural dyes before you dye with indigo.

I found this article at Earth Guild on one-time dyeing. It also clarified a few things for me as I saw the difference between a one-time pot and a multi-use pot.

We dyed on two days. Some items went in twice and some went in once. The dye pots were a pale blue when we dumped them. If one uses Thiox, one has to add vinegar to neutralize the ph before the pot is emptied. In this case, we used so little Rit dye remover (maybe a tsp per dye pot?) that it didn't affect the ph too much.

One item that was relevant to me was the process of estimating the yardage of yarn needed for a project like a sweater. 

1. Spin s sample yarn and knit a swatch. Repeat this process till you have a swatch you like. Remember that changing needle sizes will change the fabric so experiment with 2-3 needle sizes for each yarn. It should be a decent sized swatch. Once you have a swatch you like, proceed with step 2. 
2. Use a yarn balance to get the yards/lb (YPP) of your yarn
3. Weigh your swatch
4. Calculate the area of your swatch. 
5. Divide your project into a series of shapes and estimate the area of each shape. This is easier if you have a schematic. For example, a sleeve is a rectangle with two triangles on either side of it. 
6. Divide the area of your project by the area of your swatch to calculate how many swatches there are in your project (this is needed to get the approximate weight of the whole project). If you have 20 swatches in your project, the weight of the project will be 20x the weight of the swatch.
7. Use the YPP number to calculate the yardage needed for that weight which will give you the yardage you need. Obviously, this is an estimate, so add at least 20% contingency to this number.

Some of the students in the class spun and knit swatches using the dyed and undyed versions of the Merino/Shetland/Manx Loaghtan/silk from The Homestead Hobbyist. She showed us how these all go together because they are dyed on the same base. You can see the fiber and the swatches here.

We also learned to card and comb using Judith's Dutch combs and electric drum carder.  I didn't make any batts but others did. 

Judith also brought us items of clothing that she found in thrift shops and the first person it fit got the item. These were beautifully made dresses and shirts in natural fabrics. I got a dark blue linen short sleeved shirt that I used as a smock when we dyed! 

All in all, it was a very inspirational, educational, relaxing, and enjoyable workshop.

Serengeti National Park

As I mentioned in my last post, Serengeti is a Masai word that means unending plain. So while we were in Ndutu, we were still in the Serengeti. But there is also a Serengeti NP and that is where this post is going to focus. We'll pick up at the end of our Ndutu stay in the Ngorongoro conservation area and continue to Serengeti NP.

On our last morning, we went on a very early morning game drive before we left for Serengeti NP.

 Our first sight was that of a hyena, our first. Hyenas have a sort of hang-dog look and they look dejected most of the time. But I think that is because our domestic dogs have that same posture when they are guilty of something.

This is a Marabou stork. It also hangs around kills and its walk is very much like that of a funeral director. It is considered one of the ugliest animals on the planet but it is very cool. You can't see it here, but it has a large sac under its bill. Marabou storks inflate this sac before flying very high and are able to get oxygen from the air in it and so can stay up and fly higher than they could otherwise.

If you don't want to see a kill, don't click play on the video above. There is a story attached to it. When we came upon this kill, there were vultures and a jackal at the kill. Not the jackal in this video but another one. Then along came 2 other jackals to partake of the feast. The jackal at the feast chased off the other two and it was comical to see him/her chasing the other two around and around the bushes and trees. I didn't get a video of that. They all ran away - chasing and being chased. Then this jackal showed up. He/she circled the kill. The vultures had taken advantage of the jackals chasing each other and had completely taken over the kill. This jackal took his/her measure of the situation and then went in and aggressively chased the vultures away so he/she could get at the kill. In this video, you will see how aggressive the jackal is to the vultures and how the vultures take it.

We also saw a baby zebra that had received some horrendous injury to its back leg. The baby was down and couldn't get up. The mother was hovering near the baby and calling for help or calling to the baby to get up. It eventually did, but could barely walk. I don't think you want to see that. It was very moving and unbearably sad.

 The next morning as we left Ndutu for the NP, we ran into this family of giraffes slaking their thirst. It is a lot easier for a baby giraffe to get down to the water than its parent!

 You can see that never-ending plain here in Serengeti NP. In the conservation area, there are some trees but the Serengeti is flat and treeless.

 Ostriches kicking up dust. This was our first view of the big birds.

 This is a secretary bird. He looks as if he has a quill or pencil stuck behind his ear like an earnest old-timey secretary.

 A few elephants appeared as we started climbing the hills to our lodge. Trees also appear here and the area is forested.

And some Cape Buffalo. They are big!

 We came across a hippo that wandered out of a pool and started eating grass. Apparently hippos eat grass at night and hang out in pools in the daytime to keep cool and rest after their night-time eating. This guy needed a mid-sleep snack.

 Our lodge was up in the hills and had great views. You can see the balcony of the next door unit here in the early am light.

 We started to see flowering acacia trees and the baboons who like to feed on them. Baboons travel in large troops.

 If you look carefully, you can see a tiny baby next to its mother in the middle. The baby whipped back into the mother's shadow just as I clicked.

At one point, we had to stop for a wildebeest crossing. Here is a photo of them all massed by the side of the road. In the video below you can see them moving. They generally play 'follow the leader'.

We crossed a river that had more hippos in it. There is a baby in there but all you see is its back.

 I've talked about wildebeest and zebras but I've mostly shown you pictures of wildebeest. To even out the equation, here are some zebras with their wildebeest brethren.

 All these animals were spotted as we worked our way down from the lodge to the plain. That is why there are more trees here.

 A close-up of two Cape Buffalo hanging out.

 A baby elephant.

 A giraffe having breakfast.

 One baboon grooming another. Baboons groom members of the troop with higher status as a mark of deference.

 Back on the plain, we went hunting for leopard and this is the best I can do with my iPhone camera. Some of our van-mates got better pictures. I could see better with our binoculars but they can't take photos.

 This is called a sausage tree. Can you guess why?

 This is another pride of lions relaxing after a meal. Down the slope to the right, there is a zebra kill. One of the cubs was not sure if he/she was full or not so went back to get some more to eat.

This is the cub with the kill.

In this next video he is walking back to the group.

 In case you didn't have your fill of zebras, here are some more...

 Lots of them.

 We had a boxed lunch at the visitor's center in the park. People had apparently been feeding these mongooses because they came up to us and had no fear. It was almost as if they were expecting a handout.

 That is a hyrax or a klipschliefer as one very nice German man told us.  We actually were calling it klipschliefer till our guide told us the English name. They look like rodents but are related to elephants. Go figure.

 We were supposed to take a short walk to the top of the rock below to get a view across the plain. But guess what? We found the way barred with this hand-written note. In Africa, you believe such notes and stay away from rocks with lions.

 So we ate our lunch and left, without our little walk.

A

 A beautiful blue heron. So graceful.

 More Marabou storks hanging out.

We also had more zebra and wildebeest running across the road.

We came across another leopard snoozing in a tree. Fortunately, he was sleeping with the light on hims so I got a better photo. None of them were on trees close to the road. Unlike in Nbutu, we have to stick to the roads in Serengeti National Park.

 This is a topi. One of the many antelope we saw on the trip. What makes the topi unusual is the splash of indigo on its thigh. Our guide called it 'blue jeans' because it does look like the color of blue jeans.

 Do you know what those are up in the tree?

 Yup. Two lionesses. Who said lions can't climb trees?

 If you are chased by a lion, don't think climbing a tree will save you. They look quite comfortable there.

 More elephants as we head back into the hills for the evening.

 Sunrise the next morning..

 casting a glow over the view.

The pool in our hotel that we never even found till it was time to check out. We were so busy with game.

And now on to the usual things happening here.

 

 I was going to knit Cross Pockets in Rowan Calmer in the Garnet color. But I'm not getting row gauge with either a US size 7 or 8. So I decided to do a basic raglan but make it a zippered hoodie with pockets a la Cross Pockets. The pattern name is Giorgia and the color this time is Carnation. It reminds me that spring is around the corner.

 I started and finished spinning some Corriedale that I dyed at Rhinebeck in my dyeing class.  You can see the fiber in the back in this photo. And here are the two bobbins with the singles on them. I still need to ply it.

I think the green has too much blue in it for the other colors but I'm pretty happy with the way it spun up. If I had been more careful about applying the colors, I think I could have madd self-striping yarn.

I blocked Shleeves and tried it on. It looks quite nice. It will be a nice shawl to wear on top of a sari in the cooler weather. 

And lastly, I started weaving the scarf that I warped over New Year's. The selvedges aren't very nice as I am learning how to manage carrying the second color up the side. They should get better as I progress and I've learned that the finishing fixes many problems. 

The next post will get us to Ngorongoro again but a different part of the huge area.