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Continue reading →: Pretty colors
So I want to do some dyeing… I have some Procion MX dyes for cellulosic fibers, and a small stash of natural dyes, and I’ve even done some koolaid dyeing, but I want to do something different. The best dyes for wool are the acid dyes (not as scary as…
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Continue reading →: Flowers of June
Everything continues to grow, both good and bad. The weeds in the back flowerbed have completely gotten away from me. Bluegrass flowers are attractive, right? Albrecht Durer certainly thought so. The azaleas are about done, and the first tree peony has finished blooming. There’s another to come, but they seem…
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Continue reading →: Instant gratification
As a break from the socks, I started a pair of mittens this weekend. Zoom! After working on socks on small needles, the heavy-weight mittens go extremely quickly. I’d seen thrummed mittens online and decided I must try it! A holiday weekend with temperatures in the high 80s F is…
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Continue reading →: Thinking about knitting Ia
Hm… After work today I was revisiting Annie Modesitt’s information on combined knitting. When I looked at it last year, I’d come to the conclusion that her method matched what I did, but I obviously didn’t pay enough attention! Taking only the knit stitch, since that’s what I wrote about…
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Continue reading →: Grendel
Dogs and cats, living together… Some photos of the cat Morgan have snuck in, but only one incidental picture of Grendel as a decorator landscape accent. So here, by popular request (meaning that one person asked), are some pictures of my dog. (For those who know our critters, there is…
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Continue reading →: Merry month of May
I love this time of year. The garden changes daily, and while this means that I can’t possibly keep up with the mowing, it also means that there is something new blooming every time I go outside. The azaleas are in full swing and the rhododendron is getting started. The…
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Continue reading →: Books, books books
This weekend was the annual AAUW State College (Penn State) used book sale. We go every year, on the morning of the first day, and scour the room for neat stuff. My only real find this year was a facsimile book of hours, though that was by no means the…
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Continue reading →: Naalbinding for knitters
Let me preface this by saying that I adore the Yarn Harlot and read her blog and her books. I aspire to some day knit like that (and to have time to do it!) But nobody’s perfect, and when she ventured into the history of naalbinding and knitting in Stephanie…
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Continue reading →: Long weekend
I took a four-day weekend. My mother came to town on Thursday, and this required half a day of frantic efficient housecleaning, so I just took the day off. We shopped for plants, and food (and ate very well over the weekend – Nick is an excellent cook). More on…
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Continue reading →: Harrrumph
My socks are taunting me. You see the problem – they are trying to get between me and my work, sticking their little toes out and trying to jump into my hand when I reach for an article. An impressive feat, when you consider that said socks consist entirely of…
Welcome!
I’ve been doing stuff with string for quite some time, and describing it to others online since 1996 or so at Phiala’s String Page.
I also do some science and write some fiction.
I’m Phiala most places on the internet.
