Fleece on Earth

Library is too organised a term for it, but I live in hope that we will, someday, get unpacked. At any rate...

My mom volunteered me for a yarn dyeing workshop she is trying to organise in a few weeks, so I ventured to the basement to see if I could find any of the books or magazines I know I have on the subject. Unfortunately, Yarns to Dye For is one of the ten fibre books I don't own. (To put this in perspective, I have the original issue of Piecework. And two hardcover copies of Alice Starmore's Celtic Collection. I was knitting a sweater, moved, lost the book, bought another one, found the book... you get the idea.) Being an incurable book collector, I have lots of non-fibre-related books too. Any remainder table is fair game. In the days before the internet, I even subscribed to a remaindered books catalog. In fact, the next time you and a friend are walking by a remaindered book table and you see a hardcover 600 page tome on the Celts and you giggle and laugh and one of you says to the other, "Who on earth would buy that?" the other one can say, with perfect truth and without feeling the least bit catty, "Audra!"

We are currently Too Broke to really indulge this habit any more, although I picked up a fun historical whodunit book yesterday on the remainder table, but the lifelong collection is standing my thirteen year old son in good stead. Recently he's been fascinated by the Vikings and mediaeval Europe. Today in my basement, while I didn't find any of the dyeing books I was looking for, I did find two books on the Celts, a textbook on life in mediaeval Europe, and a tome on the Vikings. He is thrilled.

I also found a book on Egypt. We searched and searched for a book covering Ramses I when he was doing a report for school and had to be happy with piecemealing a couple of sources. I checked this book out of curiosity today and, sure enough, it had a page and a half on Ramses I, more than the other three books we found at the library put together!

Yeah. I guess this is a summer project, getting the basement library organised. Meanwhile, I will continue to try to figure out how to dye sock yarn. Last night I went to Lowe's and for under $4 I got the materials to make at least two PVC niddy-noddys. I am hoping to get the laceweight yarn wound off now and also hoping to figure out how to paint the sock yarn on the niddy. Whee!

I also found two looseleaf binders with lots and lots of 1-2 page patterns: Christmas stockings, the Dubbelmossa hat, the World sweater, the Anna Zilboorg Turkish sock article and pattern from Piecework, various Wool Gatherings, some Cottage Creations pamphlets... I'm so happy. I thought I'd lost these forever.