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Erie Canal Grocery Store

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  How much for a domain name? Wix - Free for a year, then about $15/yr Go Daddy - $10/yr Host Gator - Free for a year, then $30/yr Squarespace - $9/yr Fineour Lock Grocery The Friends of Fort Plain is a local community group, incorporated in 2008 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation. Our vision is to restore and re-create historic Diefendorf Hall as a public meeting space along with a permanent installation of the façade of an authentic Erie Canal supply store, a portrait gallery of notable historic figures who spoke at the Hall, and other resources depicting that era.  Plaque in front of Diefendorf Hall   Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and at the center of Fort Plain’s Historic District, Diefendorf Hall has been an icon in the village over the course of its long history. It was built by John I. Diefendorf in the early 1860s, only a few feet away from the Erie Canal. Over the years, the building is reported to have been used as a gristmill, a dis...

Sappanwood

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  August 13, 2025, Wednesday Today I dyed with Sappanwood for the first time ever. It’s supposed to produce shades from red to coral to pink, depending on mordants, modifiers, pH, etc. I dyed 100 G fingering weight yarn, and it’s lovely.   It’s hanging up to dry, and the color may darken a bit, but it’s kind of a coral shade.  However, note that the cotton swatch is definitely pinker. Animal fiber and plant fiber behave differently, another factor to take into consideration. The next step is to take 25 G or 50 G and experiment with modifiers. I think I started experimenting with natural dyes about 2019. I need to find all my notes, which are scattered around my house on various pieces of paper and in various notebooks, and get them all together. I need to find the yarn I dyed   back in 2019 and 2020 and see what’s faded and what hasn’t faded. I need to find all my little swatches. In short, I need to get organized. Mwa ha ha ha ha!    ...
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  March 10, 2024 Strandwanderer #2 - Finishing – Rinsing, Blocking, and the darn Ends I don’t remember how long ago I dyed this sockweight yarn or knitted the shawl, but after I finished the knitting part, it sat in a bag, unblocked, for (I’m guessing) 5 years. Time to remedy that! Apparently, I did not rinse this skein well enough after dyeing it. It bled yellow-green when I started rinsing it for blocking. Fortunately, the colors don’t seem to be running into each other in the finished shawl. I’m calling it Strandwander #2, because it’s the second one I finished. The first one I did, in DK weight yarn which I also dyed, is still languishing in a bag somewhere. It's on the blocking mat now - will update when it's finished!