So, here it is...

...Vervaine is the name, the merino silk yarn I dyed with the inspiration coming from my favorite tea. It's a beauty and so wonderful to dye! It's shiny and luxurious!

A good day...

...at the lake and park! Aunt Rachel came to spend the day with us, we were hoping for better weather, but we prevailed anyway! We rode our bikes in the ridiculous wind! I thought it was windy when we left but once we got to the lake it was even more windy, as to be expected I guess. We cuddled under a blanket in the shelter to eat lunch, David fell asleep and then us girls had some more fun on the jungle gyms!

Katya sees the lake for the first time up close, she calls it the big water...

David loves to swing, he giggles in delight...

My cute little Katya once again...

Clear Lake, Waseca, Minnesota

Me and the kids...

David and Katya making sand castles...

David wasn't sure about the sand...

Aunt Rachel, my younger sister and her godchildren, she is so precious with them...

I absolutely loved...

...dyeing the merino/silk blend yarn today! It is so smooth and silky. Just wonderful and I can't wait to get it out of the pot, it's currently cooling down, silk takes a long time! I'm impatient and want to see what it looks like so badly! Hopefully it will look a little like this, my Swiss Vervaine Tea:

How could I forget...

...Kristen's Knits in Rochester, Minnesota will soon have my yarns in her store! I'm so excited about this, it's wonderful, I love to dye yarn and want other people to enjoy knitting with it as much as I do! Thank you Kristen and Becky!

The new yarns...

...are in and they are to die for! Next in the dye pot is Resplendence, 50% Merino and 50% Silk. It's sheen is luxurious, shiny and beautiful!  I will be finding some test knitters for this line and the others once I have some dyed. I can't wait to see and feel them knitted up. So, tomorrow I'm going to dye the merino silk blend in greens, and pinks, with a hint of orange and purple. I was inspired by my tea: Swiss Vervaine, my absolute favorite! It is from Teavana, a wonderful little store dedicated solely to tea and it's fun accessories! If you purchase this colorway I will send some tea, too! I will post pictures in a  few days! In the mean time I have new colorways worth taking a look at in the shop! Enjoy and Happy Knitting...Angela

Here's...

...another little experiment...firecracker.

My new...

...favorite, inspired by David's shirt. Just love it! I think I will have a test knitter knit it into a pair of socks for me. I dyed it a little differently than usual and would like to see how it turns out. I think it will be great! I call it Ocean Burst and it's available in my shop.

A Nagging...

...challenge, yes I was nagging myself to do a little experimenting with dye DOS (depth of shade). Some other ravelers/dyers indirectly put me up to the challenge.

Here it is Midnight Blue at 3.5% DOS and Black Cherry at 3% DOS. They exhausted too! Yippee!!

I love the new...

...yarn! It is so wonderful to dye, especially the Soleful Sock! It takes the dye so beautifully! Here's a few photos! In order of appearance: Nogi Cotton Candy, Soleful Sock Coral Reef, Nogi Rose Purple and Nogi Gothic Pink. Some is available in my shop now and some in the next couple of days!

Fiber...

...dyeing is so much fun and rewarding...I'm imagining it all spun up!

This way...

...or that? Not sure what I like better, I guess it all depends on the yarn. For more details about the yarn see each individual page. Nogi and Soleful Sock

Bliss...

...pure bliss! I had a blissful morning arising at 6:30 am without the kids! I made breakfast and ate it while I listed a few yarns in the shop. By 7 I was mixing up dyes for a batch on my new yarn, Soleful Sock. It is wonderful, it takes the dye so beautifully! It is 40% Baby Alpaca, 40% Superwash Merino and 20% Nylon. A super duty yarn! Great for socks, so wonderfully soft and warm! Best yet, you can machine wash it, but dry flat. As always I recommend hand washing, your knits will last all the longer, we spend so much time on them, we need them to last a long time, too!

How could I forget, I also dyed merino top today! What fun, so it's the second time I've dyed any type of roving, top, etc. It was fun, and I have more to do. It will be available in the shop soon as well. I did the same colorway as the Soleful sock yarn, but it looks so different. I love it, I wish I could spin it myself.

In case you're wondering David got up at 8:30 and Katya at 9! It was wonderful. On Thursdays my dear husband takes the kids out for a while so I also had some time to knit my shrug I'm wearing for my brother's wedding in June.

The kids and I went to the park later on and now they are in the tub. A great day, I'm tired and hopefully they go to bed soon. A cup of tea and I'm off to bed soon, too.