I spent part of my holiday weekend dyeing yarn.
Here are the results!
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| "Storms are on the Ocean" |
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| "Grandma's Flowers" |
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| "A. J.'s Delight" |
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| Not a bad looking bunch of yarn! |
Monday, May 28, 2012
This Weekend's Dyeing Adventure
Foxy Loxy
Some neighbors came by to visit with us,
so of course,
I had to take some photos!
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| "Wait . . . what are you sitting on? Let me see!" |
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| "Hmmmmm . . . isn't it just about supper time?" |
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| "Hey! LOOK! There is a human with a funny little box thing in her hand!" |
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Folk Speech
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| A visitor in my backyard |
Naught (aught)-- zero. "If you subtract 3 from 3 you are left with naught."
Munts--months. "I have not seen him for two munts."
Farting-Spell--A short space of time. "She can make a whole quilt in just a farting-spell.
Needle-wires--knitting needles
Eow (Yoe or Yowe)--A female sheep
Noggin--A vessel of wood, with iron or brass hoops. Also refers to hair that is cut straight round as if a noggin had been turned over the head to cut by. (I would guess that is why we sometimes refer to someone's head as as their "noggin.")
Ewst--Past tense. Used; was accustomed. "She ewst to go to that church."
Noration--A rumor; a long, rambling account. "She put out the noration that there would be a dance there next week."
Ellum--An elm tree
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Sunday Afternoons
When I was growing up, Sunday afternoons were a time to be spent with the family. My mom, dad, and I would usually walk across the road and spend the afternoon sitting on the porch with Grandma and Grandpa Burnette. Their house was situated on a hill overlooking Route 58, just across the road from our house. (For those of you who do not know, Route 58 is one of the main east-west roads through Virginia. A bit of trivia too: Route 58 is the longest road in Virginia.)
One of the games that we used to play while sitting on the porch was one person would take the eastbound cars and another would take the westbound cars. We would set a goal of maybe 30. Whoever's traffic count reached that number first was the winner. This was one of my favorite games. We also played checkers quite a bit. Grandpa always kept the black and dull red wooden checkers in a little pasteboard box. Chinese Checkers was another game that we played quite a bit. By far though, the most common activity was conversation.
Company would often stop by on those Sunday afternoons and join us on the porch. One of my favorite visitors was my Cousin Wilford Burnette. He always referred to Grandma & Grandpa as Uncle John & Aunt Tressie. Wilford and Grandpa would get to telling some of the biggest tales that you ever heard! Grandpa would get so tickled sometimes that he could barely finish the story. Both of them had the knack for telling a tale in such a way that they would have you believing it, no matter how outlandish it seemed.
A favorite snack that I used to share with Grandpa while on the porch was Mountain Dew out of a returnable bottle (Yahoo! Mountain Dew!) with peanut butter and crackers. My mom had a rule that I could only have one soft drink per day, but Grandpa would always sneak me some Mountain Dew!
After going inside for supper, we would head back out to the porch. We would sit on the porch until 10 or 11pm. Even though we were right beside a well-traveled road, we could hear all kinds of night creatures. The eerie call of the screech owl would send shivers right down my spine! All conversation would stop as we listened to them calling back and forth. Grandpa couldn't help but get in on the action. He could do a fine screech owl impression and many times, he could call the owl right into the trees in the front yard. (He would do the same thing when he heard a hoot owl.) Everyone always got all excited when we heard the call of the whippoorwill. We didn't hear them that often, so that made it even more special.
One of our neighbors had a big bunch of coon hounds and Beagles and sometimes they would set into barking and just would not shut up. We would get so aggravated by those hounds because, once started, they would not hush for a good 30-40 minutes. Plus, we could not hear other night sounds with all of that howling and barking going on!
Grandpa smoked a pipe and his tobacco of choice was Prince Albert Smoking Tobacco. (Yes, in a can! and no, we did not let him out.) He would usually smoke while we sat on the porch. He claimed that the smoke would help keep away the mosquitoes. Grandma said that it just sounded like an excuse to smoke to her! Grandpa always kept a couple of cigars so that if the mosquitoes got really pesky, he would fire one of them up. Ugh. I didn't care too much for the way those things smelled. Neither did anyone else!
I still miss and long for those days, surrounded by loved ones, enjoying each other's company and the sounds of nature.
I feel sorry for all of the folks who have never had the experience of sitting on the front porch, safe and secure, with loved ones, watching the world go by
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
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| Grandpa & Grandma Burnette's House (as seen from my parent's home) |
One of the games that we used to play while sitting on the porch was one person would take the eastbound cars and another would take the westbound cars. We would set a goal of maybe 30. Whoever's traffic count reached that number first was the winner. This was one of my favorite games. We also played checkers quite a bit. Grandpa always kept the black and dull red wooden checkers in a little pasteboard box. Chinese Checkers was another game that we played quite a bit. By far though, the most common activity was conversation.
Company would often stop by on those Sunday afternoons and join us on the porch. One of my favorite visitors was my Cousin Wilford Burnette. He always referred to Grandma & Grandpa as Uncle John & Aunt Tressie. Wilford and Grandpa would get to telling some of the biggest tales that you ever heard! Grandpa would get so tickled sometimes that he could barely finish the story. Both of them had the knack for telling a tale in such a way that they would have you believing it, no matter how outlandish it seemed.
A favorite snack that I used to share with Grandpa while on the porch was Mountain Dew out of a returnable bottle (Yahoo! Mountain Dew!) with peanut butter and crackers. My mom had a rule that I could only have one soft drink per day, but Grandpa would always sneak me some Mountain Dew!
After going inside for supper, we would head back out to the porch. We would sit on the porch until 10 or 11pm. Even though we were right beside a well-traveled road, we could hear all kinds of night creatures. The eerie call of the screech owl would send shivers right down my spine! All conversation would stop as we listened to them calling back and forth. Grandpa couldn't help but get in on the action. He could do a fine screech owl impression and many times, he could call the owl right into the trees in the front yard. (He would do the same thing when he heard a hoot owl.) Everyone always got all excited when we heard the call of the whippoorwill. We didn't hear them that often, so that made it even more special.
One of our neighbors had a big bunch of coon hounds and Beagles and sometimes they would set into barking and just would not shut up. We would get so aggravated by those hounds because, once started, they would not hush for a good 30-40 minutes. Plus, we could not hear other night sounds with all of that howling and barking going on!
Grandpa smoked a pipe and his tobacco of choice was Prince Albert Smoking Tobacco. (Yes, in a can! and no, we did not let him out.) He would usually smoke while we sat on the porch. He claimed that the smoke would help keep away the mosquitoes. Grandma said that it just sounded like an excuse to smoke to her! Grandpa always kept a couple of cigars so that if the mosquitoes got really pesky, he would fire one of them up. Ugh. I didn't care too much for the way those things smelled. Neither did anyone else!
I still miss and long for those days, surrounded by loved ones, enjoying each other's company and the sounds of nature.
I feel sorry for all of the folks who have never had the experience of sitting on the front porch, safe and secure, with loved ones, watching the world go by
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Where Am I? The Answer!
.JPG)
The answer to this "Where Am I?"
is
...........................drum roll...........................
They have the absolute BEST strawberries! I ended up buying 2 gallons. They were pricey this year at $10 per gallon, but they were WELL worth it. The sweetest, tastiest berries around!
They also have some killer good country ham!
To see more about the world's largest strawberry click HERE
Thanks to everyone who made guesses!
Although everyone who guessed knew where it was,
one person, Kate, actually said "Ellerbe"!
Way to go, Kate!
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Where Am I?
Do you know where I was at when I took this photo?
Post your guess in the comment section below.
The answer will be posted on Friday morning.
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Hand Painted Yarn for Sale
I decided to spend my last day of vacation doing a bit of dyeing . . .
. . . and here are the results.
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| 6 skeins of dyed yarn drying |
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| "Day at the Beach" |
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| "Somewhere" |
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| "Kiss" |
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| "Mardi Gras" |
All of the above yarn is 100% Superwash Merino
3-ply light fingering weight
approximately 490 yds per skein
$20/skein
If you are interested in purchasing, just send me an email.
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Last Week in Fiber
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| Faux Cashmere Roving (nylon microfiber) from Wild Hare Colorway: "Rose Petal" |
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| Spun into single ply yarn |
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| Finished two-ply Faux Cashmere |
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| Falkland Wool Roving |
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| Two-ply yarn spun from Falkland Roving |
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| Shetland wool batt from Greenberry House |
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| Single ply yarn spun from Shetland batt |
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Yarn Kaleidoscopes
All photos were created using yarn and Corel PaintShop Pro
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| Brown Splendor |
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| Doo-Be-Doo |
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| Grandma's Flowers |
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| Happy Day |
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| Hope |
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| Imperial Fall |
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| Star of Pisces |
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| Mermaid's Hair |
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| Spinnnnnnnnnnn Lady |
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| Woven Madness |
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
May Day
When I was growing up, May Day was just another day. No celebration,
no May poles, nothing. I cannot even remember it being mentioned in school. I do remember seeing pictures of May poles in books, but I had no idea what they were for and I certainly never saw one in person.
A simple Google search will reveal that celebrations associated with May Day date back hundreds of years. What originally began as a pagan festival (like so many of our popular holidays), May Day has evolved into a more secular holiday which is still celebrated in parts of Europe and the United States.
When my Grandma Burnette was growing up in Floyd County, Virginia, a popular May Day activity for the young folks was climbing the Buffalo and having a picnic. She used to always tell me that quite a bit of courting happened on those outings! Buffalo Mountain looms over the surrounding countryside at an elevation of 3,971 feet. With a breathtaking view that includes being able to see Pilot Mountain in North Carolina, it is easy to see why it was such a popular hike then and now. There are many legends associated with the Buffalo. I think that my favorite is that a black snake the size of a telephone pole lives in the caves that pockmark the steep side of the mountain. (For more information about visiting the Buffalo click HERE.)
How do you celebrate May Day?
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
A simple Google search will reveal that celebrations associated with May Day date back hundreds of years. What originally began as a pagan festival (like so many of our popular holidays), May Day has evolved into a more secular holiday which is still celebrated in parts of Europe and the United States.
When my Grandma Burnette was growing up in Floyd County, Virginia, a popular May Day activity for the young folks was climbing the Buffalo and having a picnic. She used to always tell me that quite a bit of courting happened on those outings! Buffalo Mountain looms over the surrounding countryside at an elevation of 3,971 feet. With a breathtaking view that includes being able to see Pilot Mountain in North Carolina, it is easy to see why it was such a popular hike then and now. There are many legends associated with the Buffalo. I think that my favorite is that a black snake the size of a telephone pole lives in the caves that pockmark the steep side of the mountain. (For more information about visiting the Buffalo click HERE.)
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| Buffalo Mountain in the distance Photo taken from Rocky Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway |
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| May Day on the Buffalo circa 1920 Back Row: Nellie Goad, Wirt Harris, Lena Cox, Lola Goad Front Row: unknown |
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| Left to Right: John Edward Burnette, Tressie Goad, unknown, unknown I suspect that this photo may have been taken on May Day. |
How do you celebrate May Day?
Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.
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