Yesterday, as planned, six of my granddaughters came over along with their parents

Bo and Leanne (my son and daughter-in-law) went off to do some holiday shopping without young people’s free advice and helpful suggestions (parents of the world, you know exactly what I mean!), so I got to have  all six girls for an afternoon of dyeing:

Each of the girls dyed a pair of Twins — two skeins at a time in a single pouch.   Each of them will get one of their Twins, to be knitted up by me into either socks or a scarf (they each chose one or the other), and the other will be sold as a “Surprise Me!” skein (which, for today only, are still 25% OFF).  The first SIX orders for “Surprise Me” on Phydlbitz Sock will get the ones the girls dyed, the rest will be dyed by me using leftovers from the dyes the girls each selected.  And, as they hang, they are in no particular order — not alphabetical or by age or any other manner.  The “Surprise Me” colorways, of course, mean you don’t get to pick the colors, but you can already see the range of colors in the palette available to me this time.

It was fun showing them how to dye the yarn, and fascinating to me how each of them applied their own unique tastes and artistic talents.   Some of them dyed in segments, and others used other techniques, but they all came up quite well, in my opinion.

And while the yarn was finally steaming, we cleaned the work space and everything to make some Monkey Bread:

(don’t tell the good folks at allrecipes.com, but I think ours turned out much more enticing than the picture their recipe offers!).

And trust me, it was pretty much “all hands on deck” for building the Monkey Bread!  A couple of the girls were busy with other things and didn’t even notice we were making it, but that’s okay: Lauren was crocheting and a couple others were playing quietly.  I started out neatly cutting the biscuits, but after the first couple cans we were all just pulling them into pieces, rolling them in the bag of  cinnamon-sugar and laying them into the pan.

Bo and Leanne returned just after the Monkey Bread went into the oven.  Since it would have to cool even after baking, we decided to order out for pizza.  Amazingly the pizzas arrived quickly, just as the Monkey Bread came out of the oven.  By the time pizzas were gone (I swear, those girls must have inhaled both pizzas — I got one slice, went to reach for another and stared at two empty boxes!  LOL), it was time to plate the treats.

This morning I somehow managed to sleep in until nearly 7:00 a.m., then went to wash, rinse and hang the dyed yarn output.

All in all, it was a marvelous day.  I had a great time and I hope the girls all did, too.  I don’t get to see any of the grands often enough, but when they do come to visit I like it best when there are activities and things to do, either dyeing or playing or cooking or something, so I can be fully engaged with them and for them, and not just “babysitting” while they do their own thing.

And yes, they really were all here with me in the midst of it:

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