One of the benefits of having to spend hours on my rear….I get to write more! Along with some really, really, REALLY light-on-the-cardio-system activities.
Like planting flower and pepper seeds and dyeing yarns! Both of these activities are considered playing with colour, one starts out as a teeny seed and bursts into colour, while the other starts out as a bare skein of yarn and it too…bursts into colour!
The main reason to play with colour this time of year is to break up the visual assault of the stark white landscape outside the window. Yes, I moved to a harsher climate, but that doesn’t mean I have to like the stark white landscape for every single day of its winter existence. Sometimes you just need to be able to look at something bright and colourful to get through another day of….total whiteness…like this sunset photo taken the other evening
So this past Sunday I spend a few hours planting my pepper seeds (7 varieties!) and some wildflower seeds for the Hummingbirds and Butterflies. Yes, that is a mint plant on the left, it started out as a cutting from last summer’s outdoor pot. I have had lousy luck trying to grow mint from seeds, so a root cutting is the easiest by far. I just need to keep him in check with constant trimming, lest the house be over-run by minty tendrils.
Playing with colour on yarns gives instant gratification, no waiting a couple weeks to see little green sprouts! These yarns are all destined for the loom in the coming months on yet to be designed projects. Most likely scarves/shawls due to the fineness of the yarns.
Royal Purple!
Tri-Colour Kettle Dye
Hubby strung 2 clotheslines in the livingroom for the winter, one on either side of the woodstove. Which makes for a great drying location for yarns, handknit socks, etc., otherwise it would take these about a week to dry. I call them colourful home accents!
I think this one below will catch the watchful eye of my daughter as the colours are right up her alley. I used dye colours called Honey Mustard, Lichen and Chocolate Brown on this one, with the brown slightly breaking giving reddish-brown tones. That is the thing about exploring with dyes, you never know what will happen in the dye pot!
All in all, a great couple days of non-strenuous, but extremely fun activities!
Now back to my now very prolific knitting!
Deborah