Cotton yarns arrived

My cotton yarn arrived!  I had ordered several pounds of 10/2, 4/2, and 6.25/2 cotton yarns, and they have finally arrived”¦they look unmercerized, which is to say not at all shiny, but they look like they will be perfect for weaving dishtowels and placemats, and for use as warp with more exotic yarns.  At $5/lb, the price is certainly right.  I look forward to playing with them, once I finish this project.  I think I will try some dishtowels in waffle weave.

I have also gotten about 2 lbs of Henry’s Attic Petite Cascade, a 3000 ypp silk yarn.  I like that weight ““ it’s a nice, all-purpose weight, and can be used as warp for silk/cashmere shawls.  (The cashmere is too weak to be used as warp, so no 100% cashmere shawls, alas!)

Now that I have the cotton yarn the question turns to how to do my dye triangles.  I am leaning towards using fabric rather than yarn for dye samples, basically because fabric is much easier to handle ““ no tedious skeining required.  Since I have a bunch of white silk/rayon velvet that I don’t know what to do with, I’m tempted to use it for samples.  (It has the advantage of being a dense fabric, so a 10g sample would be a relatively small scrap of fabric.)  But first I need to dye a few test samples to make sure that the colors don’t shift on the silk/rayon velvet, vs. cotton yarn.

All that can wait until after the holiday ““ for now, I have to get those scarves done!

Meanwhile, my mother has gotten obsessed with marbling fabric.  (You may recall that she and I did some marbling of silk while she was visiting me.)  So in my pack to go to Maryland, I’m bringing fabric paints, methocellulose (for the size), broomstraw brushes, and several yards of silk fabric.  Beats me where I’m going to put my clothes”¦but at least my vacation will be replete with fiber arts.

I have also gotten seven skeins of white Kidsilk Haze (a super laceweight brushed kid mohair-silk yarn) and a pair of knitting needles, and will be knitting a modified version of a shawl from Interweave Knits ““ I’ve forgotten the issue number, but it’s a very pretty entrelac lace shawl.  I won’t be doing it on the plane ride out, since I’ll no doubt be frantically hemstitching and twisting fringe, but I’ll do it while I’m visiting my dad and on the plane ride back, which should be more uneventful.  I doubt I’ll finish it during my trip, but it will keep my fingers busy.