Back when we were dyeing yarn for the shop, I left all the dyeing of the self-stripers to Mom. It required more science than art , and I wanted to just get to the good stuff and play with colour.

For the stripers, Mom used to buy the yarn in large cones. She’d then wind off enough yarn for a skein, then wrap that yarn around a warping mill, making a really long skein so she could dye the really long colour-runs that make it stripe. Once dyed, the skeins would go back on the mill, be wound into a ball, then wound up into a normal sized skein for sale. It was a lot of work.

Not long before we stopped dyeing for profit, our supplier started selling extra long skeins for dyers who wanted to make stripes. It would definitely save Mom some time, so she bought a couple bags. Not long after, all the dye stuff came to my house and the skeins were forgotten about… until Rowan and I pulled them out of the buckets.

They worked great and it definitely saved some time. Except… once they were dry… how the heck was I going to get them wound up?They were way too big for my swift, and Mom had sold the warping mill because I had no intention of doing stripers.

Time to kick it old school…

Grandma’s old dining set had notches in just the right spot, holding the yarn secure while I walked back and forth and back and forth… and back and forth getting those skeins wound up. I should have put my pedometre on… I bet I got in 10,000 steps!

Despite frequent inspections by the Snooperviser, I managed to get them all done in a few hours.

I give you (L-R) Sea and Sand, Fresh Corn, Wacky Watermelon, Pretty Posey, and Miss Mermaid. Mom and I have special plans for these, though I won’t be able to share until after Christmas.