the dyer's hand

this weekend feels somehow unproductive - i haven't sewed and progress on crafty things has been bitsy

i have, however, dyed silk and some manipulated cotton (hence the dexteresque lady macbeth photo above) for another southern land quilt and had great success turning some lovely chunky yarn (given to me by the lovely susan ages and ages ago) from a not-really-me beige into a very-me purple, using wilton's food dyes. and i finished the second collar ruffle for my ruffle cardi - now comes the sewing up....

i went to the northside makers' market yesterday and bought young w a couple of wonderful birthday presents from flicketty splits and someone who makes sock monkeys whose name escapes me at the moment (photos will follow when they have been given to the birthday lad who turns 5 on tuesday.

we had a small family knees up for said birthday boy this afternoon - when questioned he asked for a party at macdonalds (blench) but only wanted to invite nan and pa (sigh of relief). so we had lunch at the golden arches (averaging 70g of fat per person -eek) and then most of my family came over for the traditional chips, 'furry bread' (in other households known as fairy bread but w firmly sticks to calling them furries) and birthday cake.you might notice the racism free blog badge at the top of the side bar - i don't want to give That Show any more free publicity but go to the ANTaR website and do what you can to speak out against racism. (as an aside there is some research that indicates that racism is bad for the health of the racist as well as those it is directed against... and intent has nothing to do with it, racism is an expression of the dominant culture and is always always wrong. in the most recent case i think the onus should be on those who defend it to say how the piece was not racist)