Dye Tins for April

As I mentioned previously, April is a time of firsts for me.  New techniques, yarns, dyeing experiments, classes etc.  My plan is to use this yarn for my initiate knit challenge.  I was /am envisioning a shawl with a deep purple as the main colour with an orange overdyed with green variegated contrast colour.  As everyone knows, the results can be different than your inner vision.  And that was the case here.  I definitely have some super happy accidents, and not what I envisioned with either case.

I headed to my LYS Pretty Skeins to pick Heidi's brain (who is the owner) for fibre types to use etc.  Also for a little show and tell and help me type talk regarding my shawl.  LOL  She is awesome and I just love her to pieces.  Always willing to help and encourage - isn't that great!  Well I told her what I wanted to do and what I needed.

I would prefer a yarn with a nylon content as I wouldn't have to worry as much about felting my yarn.  While I could dye fabric with my eyes closed, I'm no where near that proficient with yarn dyeing.  I was looking for 4 skeins in a DK weight that had 10 - 20% nylon content.

She could help with 2 skeins of a DK, but that was all she had.  Another lady just bought up all her white DK.   DRAT!!!  So - I guess I'm doing fingering then LOL  After a lot of discussion and oooh and ahhhing and loving the squishyness, I walked out with 4 skeins of white yarn; 2 each of Sandnes Garn Sisu and Sandnes Garn 100% Alpakka - yes you read that right  100% Alpaca.   As well as a Malabrigo Lace for a test knit I'm doing later this month / early next, and ArneCarlos designed Regia sock yarn.  I just LOVE LOVE LOVE those guys.  I want to be adopted or at the very least be a neighbour with drop in privileges LOL

I went with a kettledyed approach as I LOVE LOVE LOVE tonal yarns and I had 3 dyes / paints that would look perfect together.  First in was the purple, then the pink, followed up by violet paint and a pink metallic paint.  Since I don't have a separate stainless steel pot to dye in, I picked up 2 foil bake pans that I thought would work well.  I did a double boiler type of arrangement where I rested the bake tin on the pot with water that had reached a low boil in it.  It worked amazingly well. for both of them.

I'm still getting my feet wet with dyeing yarn, and I'm using the Dylon Dye packs that I picked up for fabric as the manufacturer says it works with wool. My first dyeing attempt proved that this dye can be used with yarn.  I get a bit concerned doing it this way, as everyone says you need acid to set the colours as well as heat - hence they are called acid dyes, but it still makes me think I forgot something.  Well Dylon uses salt to set the dyes.  And heat - with these particular dyes, after rinsing, you put your dyed item in your washing machine on hot water.  Ya, I'm NOT going to do that with wool . oh hellz no - my washer would look like a sheep exploded in it - no matter how many ties I put into my hank LOL.  So I use the salt it states and the amount of dye it states based on a lot of math and the weight of my dry yarn, All three times I've ended up with unused dye and no other yarn to put in to use it all up .. grrrr - adjustments and learning .. adjustments and learning.  I will use much less powder next time.  I can always add more dye if it's too light or absorbed it all up before I'm happy with the colour.

So with my makeshift double boiler, foil baking tins, wool, dyes and fabric paint I was set for my own version of mad scientist type experiments LOL

I hit major twit mode when I started the orange.  My original plan was to do orange and then overdye sections of it green.  My mind went what am I thinking, that will not give me green but various shades of browny colour with overtones of green and orange.  So while my mind was in the right place, apparently my hands didn't get the message and put all the orange dye in all over the yarn instead of half  .. I'm such a twit!  So I added the green and went heavy with it in areas that the orange hadn't hit and encouraged it to hit the yarn that much quicker.  And adding more dye a bit later to hopefully encourage it to take up more green dye.  I could tell by looking at it that this wasn't going to have as much green as I hoped or wanted, so that would make these skeins not really usable with the purple as was my intention.  That's okay.  It's a very happy accident and I did learn quite a bit!




I did learn a number of things here.  I will NEVER I repeat NEVER dye alpaca again.  As soon as I put in the water to soak it, it stunk to high heaven like a burnt animal hair.  I could NOT believe how nasty it smelled.  I couldn't believe how something so squishy and wonderful to knit and wear, could smell so awful when submerged in water.  Just plain water - nothing else in it.  While it was drying I was constantly separating out the separate yarn threads as it seemed to want to clump together.  This alpaca actually is actually superwash.  The manufacturer says it can go in the washer up to 30 Celsius. (86 Fahrenheit) that was the only reason I attempted to dye it.
From their website:

Garnet kan maskinvaskes på ullprogam, 30 grader.

The yarn can be machine-washed at ullprogam, 30 degrees. 

That was the closest I could get the translator to go and I got the basic gist of what it said.  I am going to guess that ullprogam is delicate or something along those lines

I did not get as dark of a purple as I wanted.  This picture is several shades lighter than it looks in real life.  There is a lot of pink in it, more than I thought I had put in.  It's still a very rich colour with subtle shadings of purple all the way through to pink.  This was a super nerve wracking yarn to dye and I doubt I'll do it again until I get more knowledge and experience under my belt.  I bet you 10:1 that I did something that terrifies more knowledgeable dyers LOL   Only because I don't know enough to know better.  I'm still going to use in my initiate knit challenge - just won't be using the other yarn as I had planned.  I've got 328 yards of this and that's more than enough for a small shawl /shawlette wrap type thing.

Now the orange was definitely a happy accident and I just love the autumnal colourway I got.  This started out as Sandes Garn Sisu which I have used before for heels toes in socks.  it's 80% wool 20% nylon.  I've no clue what type of wool it is - it's not alpaca though LOL  It did not smell like burnt pet hair when it got wet.  It definitely is superwash so I was much more aggressive when I was handling it when I was dyeing.  Not that I was treating it like I was doing a taffy pull, but I had no fear moving the yarn around in the bake tin and lifting bits of it up to get the dye to flow around areas more.  Not sure what this will grow up to be, but I'm not thinking socks as I want to show off what I've created - this is 383 yards - more yardage that what I've got in the Mini Alapakka version.  This could also be a shawl - a small one, but it could be one

I loved dyeing both of these even though the Mini Alapakka was giving me minor heart failures as I was terrified I was felting it LOL  I learned so much from my mistakes and from using more than one dye at a time.  I will do this again, not as soon as I would like to though.  I'm trying not to go to crazy on building a stash and am trying to knit from it - I'm doing okay on that front.  It's great that I'm doing this as when I'm ready to make a cardigan or sweater for myself, I know I will be able to dye sweaters worth of yarn 

A time of Firsts ...

Knitwise, I feel like it's been a bit off the hook, insane busy. Mind you, it's all self-inflicted, but I wouldn't have it any other way LOL. When I'm busy knitwise, I'm learning and challenging myself, and that's my preferred way.  There is so much going on that I've had to write it down to make sure I don't forget something, and I feel like I am forgetting something - as always LOL

I was working diligently on my shawl, I've had to rip it back several times as in my infinite wisdom, I decided to do bed knitting and dropped a few stitches ... several times and then the hunt was on!   LOL  I get the chart details now - at least until I start the edging.  I understood the basics of reading a chart - but as always there is so much more to learn, and learn I did.  It's for the intermediate knitter (which I am) and is heavily charted.  Heavily charted took on a whole new meaning LOL  It's written okay, but not all intermediate knitters are ones that are chart readers.  Yes I love a challenge LOL

I've had to vow not to do this shawl if my eyes are a bit fuzzy or my ability to focus is not what it should be.  This pattern requires my 100% attention and sharp eyes.  With all the gorgeous lace in this shawl, if you drop a stitch it's having itself a wonderful little journey.  I got almost to the end of chart B (main body shaping) when I realized that I had some holes that didn't belong.  All I gotta say is Thank God for lifelines!!!  They have saved me a few times.  I have also discovered that sharp lace needles would be better for this project.  I have some Addi Turbo Lace Needles ordered and they are enroute.  They should be here hopefully by the end of the week.  I just might frog back the entire shawl and start again with my new needles.  I'm not sure.  The yarn I'm using is #Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud Fingering yarn and this stuff is amazing!  It is handling the abuse of being frogged back several times and maintains it's integrity.  No untwisting, no breaking, no knotting up and getting super fuzzy and unworkable.  It's 100% alapaca - I can't say enough good things about this yarn!

I've also volunteered to do two test knits for Elizabeth Ravenwood Designs and I'm super excited about these.  One is a pair of socks and the other a handkerchief / doily.  

The socks have a deadline of June 30, and I should get the pattern in the next few weeks.  She wanted us to get our scraps together from previous sock / fingering weight projects and use them.  As I was looking at these bright bits from my knitting, I realized that nothing in my stash was telling me it wanted to be the main colour.  I remembered that I bought some yarn back in January I think that I wanted to try my hand at dyeing yarn.  I've dyed miles of fabric, so yarn should be a somewhat similar process.  I love to learn and I love a challenge so .. I decided to dye the fabric for the test knit :D  And I just love the result.  I wanted a tonal pink and with the content of the wool along with the fabric dye I was using reacted exactly the way I expected.  They yarn is 50% wool, ,25% rayon from Bamboo, and 25% nylon.  The nylon wouldn't take the full colour of the dye, while the wool would take 100% and I wasn't to sure about the rayon - the manufacturer said it would take the full dye, but since I hadn't used it before, I was hedging my bets LOL   

This picture here does not do the colour justice.  It's  much brighter and a deeper pink.  I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and canNOT wait to knit with it.  

I know there's a lot more to learn about dyeing yarn.  There's quite a bit of information out there on the web and youtube videos.

I love a tonal yarn, and a variegated yarn.  With this yarn I got lucky with the tonal effect as the nylon wouldn't take 100% of the dye and it would give me a tonal effect.  A wool / nylon blend is a cheat with this particular dye.  That isn't going to work very well for a yarn that is 100% wool LOL

The other test knit is for a handkerchief as I mentioned that could double as a doily.  This will be done in lace weight and I think the deadline for that is July 15.  I picked up the yarn for that already.  A gorgeous pink Malabrigo - it was the last one she had in the shop and it was on sale, Of course I got it LOL

This is going to be my first lace weight knit and my first Malabrigo.  I'm super excited about this one too!  I am also on her test knit for a cabled hat test knit for the Olympics next year :)

I've gotten back to my Stash Killer Blanket and it's now my bedtime knitting project.  That way I can knit in bed, and it will get some work done on it.  I don't make a lot of progress, but more than it just sitting in my bag in the dark, all alone - it now lives in the project tote, next to my bed  :)

I've used a bit of math to make sure that my yarn is going to be enough for the blocks.  I weighed out each block and took an average of what they needed, ,then I balled up and weighed my yarn and that way if I don't have a full skein, I know what blocks I can do with the yarn I have left.  While a good game of yarn chicken can get the blood flowing, your nerves singing and your toes curled,, it's not something I want to do for every bit of yarn and block I do.  I already saved myself time with the lighter coloured yarn I'm using now.  I would have had to rip 2 blocks and switch the order I had done them.  Glad I avoided that.  My OCD does come in handy somedays LOL

I've discovered ArneCarlos tutorials on Youtube and I'm just totally in love with these guys.  I want them to adopt me, or let me be a roommate or a neighbour.  These guys totally inspire me and motivate me - I could listen to them for hours.  I just love them.  My LYS has a bit of their Regia line and the Pairfect.  I didn't particularly care if I got the Pairfect because I'd rather have a pair of socks that doesn't exactly match, but you know they go together.  So I treated myself to a skein of their sock yarn.  My LYS isn't getting these right now so her supply was limited to 4 skeins, and I grabbed the one that the colours most appealed to me.

And with all this going on, my April socks are waiting for me to cast them on.  I'm going to use my Hawthorne kettledyed fingering yarn for these.  And these I am planning to do toe up, two at a time on 40" needles.

I was doing my socks on US 2 / 2.75mm with 64 stitches, but that's just a bit loose.  My options are to drop down a needle size or go to 60 stitches.  First I'm going to try on US 1 2.5mm needles.  I've a set of ChiaoGoo I'm itching to use

I tried to do them before with casting on my toe and then transfering them to my circulars, but that didn't end well - so I did them one at a time.  I'll try again using these videos.  I use her heel and its just awesome!  Her whole process is awesome.

So yes, I'm overloaded with a lot of first's and I couldn't be happier.  I'm also doing a design challenge and am having a blast with that.  My muse has been kicked awake.  I think I'll do my homework on my blog that way I can think out loud while talking to you.  It really does help!  With all that's been going on, I've not put many stitches on the needles expect for my blanket.  I am happy to be working on that again :)

Well I've homework to do for my design challenge.  Off I go!

Sock Math Success

It's such an awesome feeling when math actually works - no wonder how convoluted you may think it is.  In my last post I went through the math for two different sites that help you calculate how many stitches you need based on foot measurements and knitting gauge.  I went through the calculations for both and once I made an adjustment based on understanding what resting weight meant, they both agreed.  For US2 size needles, I need a sock pattern that requires 64 stitches. Yea!!!  *knitterhappydance*  You have no idea how relieved I am.  There are way to many choices for sock needles from US000 to US3 and unlike larger garments which can be fidged sizeways in may different locations - sock construction doesn't allow to much fidging.

All the while I was knitting these, I kept trying them on - At first I thought they were to snug, then to loose - the to loose feeling kept on until I turned the heel.  I kept telling myself - don't make any judgments or decisions until you turn the heel.  That will pull the sock into shape and let it cover my foot properly rather than just pulled on over the toes.  It was a pretty agonizing and tenseful knit until I finally got to the heel turn.

I was looking for alternative heel turn methods, for several reasons - I kept having gaps because my first stitches on the needle were generally pulled and stretched that created gaps, and I like to learn new methods.  I tripped over a heel that didn't involve wraps.  It's called Shadow wrap heel turn.  That really peaked my interest.  It's done all at once so to speak, no wraps (yes, no wraps), and looked really easy to do.  I don't mind wraps, but if I'm using a dark yarn, it's difficult to see them to pick them up.  I've been super excited to try this method.  In the picture to the left this is where I've got it set up and am ready to start the rest of the heel turn.  If you notice, my stitches aren't pulled at the beginning, so I had high hopes that I would have no unsightly holes - yes I was getting super excited!  And since there are no wraps, there are no stitches to pick up - just knitting the 'twins' together and making a triplet for the next row.

I could barely wait to try them on, and I use my left foot as that is my larger foot - If it fits on that foot, it will definitely fit on the right.  And O M G - it fits!  No unsightly gaps - there is a hole at the top where I joined back with my knitting, but I'm thinking it was based on having an extra row before I joined back in the round again - easy fix.  I'm SUPER pleased with this heel - I mean .. look at that - and it's the same on the other side too!  I totally recommend this heel and I used the tutorial from Eddie's Room where the Super Sock Calculator lives.

I've gotten up past the top of my ankle and will do one more pattern repeat then start my ribbing.  I'm super pleased with these socks and am beyond tickled that I have my sweet spot for needles and stitch count.  I'm telling you it really gives you a huge boost of confidence knowing that I can cast on my stitches and my socks will fit - I'll do another knit in a Patons sock yarn to use it up and then I'll get into my 'fun' yarn, if I can wait  if not - I'm thinking the Debbie Bliss yarn I won, or Knitpicks Freemont in the Hawthorne Kettle Dyed - I might just have to do the blind reach and grab.

Now I have to find the to that speaks toe me - the wedge type toe isn't my favourite, I'm thinking I might do that spiral cast on - we'll see where my sock journey continues to lead me.

Pattern Info:
US2 (2.75mm)
Dumbledore's Christmas Stockings with
Super Sock Calculator
Patons North America Kroy Socks FX - Celestial Colours
KALs these socks are in - #selfishmeKAL #BoxoSox2017 #23HPKAL2017 #ANADIOMENA 

Finished Object Please??

A finished object is so close to happening! I can't wait! I know i make it sound like forever, but it honestly feels that way.  You'd think with 4 different projects on my needles, that I would have something ready to show LOL.  I have been steadily working on the cowls in the past bit when I was in a knit mood.

Clue 3 has been presented and been finished for the Valanar Cowl MKAL - Clue 4 is supposed go live sometime today and I'm waiting with bated breath!  With the new cables being added, this cowl feels like it's taking forever to do a round now.  Not sure how many more rows this is going to take.  The yardage for the pattern says 350-400yds; my skein is for 251 yds and I'm still on the first skein - I knit to gauge so ... not sure how much Clue 4 is going to take considering I've not even reached 350 yds - esh I could be knitting til spring!  LOL

While waiting for clues, I worked on my cowl - it's slow going as I'm doing colour work.  I was thinking how long it had been since I've done colour work, and I'm pretty sure that the Kid wasn't born the last time I did it and he's 21 now LOL  oh vay!!!  So, ya - it's been a few years LOL 

I was a wee bit irked by the yarn I picked for my cowl - when I was doing the first 10 rows, it started light then went to dark colours, light and almost black - considering my contrasting colour is black, my eyes were going a wee bit crossed.  I did not it to be that dark - I really couldn't even see the difference in colour while knitting it and the colour difference wasn't apparent on the needles either as you can see in this pic.  It slowed me down even more (if that was possible LOL) just because I had to count each section and checked each colour section and count every stitch at least twice.

I managed to blunder on through it and am maybe - MAYBE a quarter of the way through.  My cowl is half the size of the one I'm making for my step dad and it'll likely take me longer LOL  I'm okay with that, I am enjoying the process and watching the pattern emerge with each row.

I hope that the rest of it will be heading towards  lighter colours that I see in the skein.  I wanted the pattern to pop instead of be subtle.  I think it's going to look great either way, so I won't be disappointed.

I do have another cowl for myself planned  - Cat Lover's Cowl that will use black yarn for the contrast with another Red Heart Unforgettable in the Dragonfly colourway.

In early January I won a contest on Instagram that was hosted by Brownberry Yarns (located in the UK). It was loaded with Hiyahiya accessories; kitty snips, stitch markers, a tape measure, bamboo dpns, a skein of Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock yarn colour 02 and a pattern.  Josie from Brownberry Yarns included a wonderful handwritten note and was a joy to work with and is very personable.  I've been wanting the Hiyahiya kittysnips for the longest time and I just love Hiyahiya accessories.  Thank you again Josie for hosting the competition and thank you for being such a wonderful person :)  I keep looking at the yarn and am wondering what it wants to be.  It looks gorgeous and I love the barberpoling.

No progress has been made on my Enya socks or my stash buster KAL blanket - Once I get the cowls down - I'm thinking I'll be casting on another pair of socks - or force myself to finish my enya socks - either way - I have a few other pairs of socks poking at me or else starting the shawl instead .. hmmm decisions decisions LOL  eeeeep

All the Things

There has been so much going on fibre-wise since my last post when I talked about dyeing yarn.  Never one to sit still when I can learn more fun things, I took my thoughts a step further and thought - I want to try and spin my own yarn!  Yes I said that . spin my own yarn LOL

I've done a lot of research and want to eventually do fingering weight yarn that has been plyed.  It's going to take me a LOT of practice to get there, but I definitely want to learn.  So I found a drop spindle starter kit that included top and bottom whorl spindles, with an ounce of practice roving, and then three ounces of a gorgeous purple green roving that is for when you are better.  From my first attempts, I'm going to say I need more than an ounce of roving to get to that point.

Now to be fair to myself, I only did a little bit of spinning and I didn't do all that bad.  There are spots it's over spun and other where it's under spun.  Spinning has really spoken to me.  Just think, I can make my own yarn and then dye it!  I went to do a bit more spinning last night and I learned that I did NOT leave enough of a 'tail' left to attach more roving, so the first bit I spun is not something I think I can add to - not sure - I'll have to do more research to see if I can, but I think not.

The practice roving fibres are much longer than I expected them to be and it put me off my stride a bit - I think that if I can just get a good rhythm going I should be okay.  The fibre length is called 'staple'.  I want to specialize with the top whorl spindle as that's the one that spins faster and makes the finer yarn, while the bottom whorl spindle goes slower and is great for heavier weight yarn and plying your 'singles' together.  What you see to the left is referred to as a single.  The first initial spin that is only one ply.  I am really happy with this kit as it included both spindles and the price was very reasonable.  I got it from an Etsy shop called The Wooley Whale located in Maine.  Their description was very informative and educational as well.

I've got a few things on my needles.  I know I generally prefer to do one project and finish it before moving on, but certain things conspired so that wasn't possible.  I still have my Stash Killer KAL that I'm working on - I've not touched it in quite a while and I should consider getting back to it soon  I'm almost halfway done with the blocks.  I'd still have to block, then join them - and as this yarn is acrylic I need to do a bit of tap dancing to get it done.  But I've done my research and am ready for it!

Stash Killer KAL

Blossom FIngerless Mitts KAL

Gina;s Owl Mitts

Enya TozUp

Then there's my Enya TozUp that were put aside for the Fingerless Mitts KAL, and then Gina's Owl Mitts - I've been working on them and am halfway thru the foot.  I had a bugger of a time casting the last sock on - I must have made ten attempts at least!  They are knitting up nicely and I'm at the point I just want them done - they've been to long in the making and are almost at the point of hibernating forever if I don't get them done - altho with winter coming, other projects are clamoring for my attention - Like my blog title is .. All the Things!!! LOL  I think I might try knitting two at a time for my next pair of socks.  That requires a magic loop technique and I'm not sure I've circulars that are that size.  I used to do socks with two circulars, but I'm not sure where those went.  I'll keep my eye out for them, but not a bit deal to purchase a US2 in a long enough circular.  I'm still trying to find my perfect stitch count and needle size for socks - I might wait until I find that BEFORE I pick up the circular.

While watching one of my podcasts, there was mentioned the Afterthought Everything Socks - basically what you do is knit a tube, then 'cut' for the heel and toe, pick up the stitches and do an afterthought heel and then the toe.  It's a purchased pattern on Ravelry that is a whole $2 - I figured that she deserved the $2 for thinking of it and putting it to paper!  That is on my list for one of my new colourways where a vanilla sock is better to show of the yarn and let the yarn do the work.  I got a whole bunch of yarn on Knitpicks last 40% off sale, and there's definitely a few skeins that would be perfect for this technique.

The last thing that's on my needs is called the Valanar Cowl MKAL.  It's a mystery KAL that is a non mystery LOL.  It's a cowl for men.  It's gorgeous!  I instantly thought of my step dad.  It's done with worsted weight on US7 needles and should knit up pretty quick.  I did the first clue of 4" of ribbing - clue 2 comes out tomorrow.  He seems to be feeling the cold more since he got out of hospital on January 12.  And the worst of bitter cold is yet to come.  I hope that this will help to keep him warmer - and the yarn I picked it simple put in the washer and dryer with no fuss.

It has beautiful cable work that I'm going to love doing.  It's not a surprise so to speak, but I've not told him about it and have asked the kid to hush about it as well LOL  Granted he has read my blog so if he gets bored he might be reading this.  If so he needs to stop now LOL   I wanted to use a tonal yarn for it and kept eyeballing a green, but it was the wrong hue for the winter coat that he wears and I didn't see a blue that spoke to me - the yarn available was more for feminine projects.  His coat is a dark charcoal with a burgundy ish liner and the green didn't quite fit - so grabbed Lion Brand Heartland in Great Smokey Mountain for ease of care for him.

While I was picking up his yarn, I grabbed a skein of Unforgettable for myself for a cowl - I've been eyeing it every time I see it  With the sale at Michaels - it was a good time to pick it up and it's destined for a cowl for me - I'll be doing colourwork for mine and I'm down to 3 or 4 patterns that I will have to sift down further - it all depends on what's in my stash to go with it - I'm either going to do 2 or 3 colours - been a long time since I've done stranded colourwork and it's starting to speak to me.  Yup  All the things .. I want to knit all the things!!


Ravelry ID - gquilts
IG - g.quilts

Yarn Haul - Dyeing

Oh the joys of Instagram - I used to think it was a waste of time, but I am having a blast on it with being able to follow my vape stuff and even better yet - get overdosed on knitting goodstuffs - including giveaways.  It was one such giveaway that I entered where one of the prizes is a sock blank.  I've never heard of that before - so off to Google I go.  I think these are the best thing since sliced bread!

Sock Blanks are pre-knit tubes of undyed sock yarn. You dye the pre-knit tube with the stripes that you want, then knit your socks directly off the tube. Somehow this seems like cheating, but in a good way.” - Yarn Scoop.

Neat eh?  But what is happening is that indie dyers are dying them or painting them with various designs and you can get them in 1 or 2 strand blanks.  1 strand is one 'sock' at a time and 2 strand is 2 socks at a time where they are likely to be identical. I started to dig a big further and saw where some people are making their own blanks at home on crank looms or knitting machines, and then dyeing them.  Oh the ideas that are skittering through my brain!

I've been very successful with dyeing my own fabric for my quilts - I've done discharge dyeing where you remove or lighten the colour with "bleach"; I've had the most fun with resist dyeing where you use wax to block off parts of your fabric, then dye or paint, then remove the wax.  

I don't think it'll be to much of a step for me to dye yarn.  Granted I won't be resist dyeing as wool definitely is NOT the same as cotton; altho on a sock blank it could work.  I have a lot of the supplies on hand already from my fabric dyeing.  I've been watching a lot of videos on how to do it.

I grabbed a two skeins of a yarn that is 50% superwash Merino wool, 25% rayon from bamboo and 25% nylon.  I did some research on whether the bamboo is considered natural or not.  If this company used chemicals to remove the bamboo it is considered to be not natural opposed to the process that spins it down.  But rayon is considered a cellulose fibre and that 'should' work well with my current dyes and paints.  As for the nylon part of it, that will likely be lighter in colour as the polys do not hold this dye well at all.  Which is actually okay because I do prefer tonal yarns - less stripy.  There are a several ways  can do this; paint on the dye or  paint, do a pot dye; or even use a mason jar.  I'm going to have to do some more research, but the dye bath or pot dye is likely to be the best choice.

At the end of December Knitpicks had a sale that had me drooling LOL  I got a haul and a half considering what I spent.  When I ordered they had a promo where if you spent $50 you were eligible for free shipping and a free tote.  I was hard pressed to reach that level, but I did

I grabbed 3 different yarns to use; Hawthorne Kettle Dyed yarn (2 hanks), Chroma (2 skeins) and at the bottom corner is what they refer to as Alpaca Cloud Fingering yarn.  Wow, but it seems so light and airy - almost like I'd be knitting with cobwebs!  If there's enough I might put that to a shawl instead of socks, it seems that delicate!  FINALLY got my needle gauge for US sized 000, 00, 0 and 1 needles.  *knitterhappydance*  To reach my free tote bag - I added Sock it to Me and locking stitch markers :)  I think what I've got is going to keep my busy for a while now.  I can't wait to get into the Hawthorne skeins - those have such a solid hefty feel to them!


I finally won my first contest on Instagram.  This company is based in the UK - It was shipped to my cousin who lives there and he's already gotten it.  It'll be on its way to me soon :)  Once I get my prize in, I"ll post a pic and share it with you.  The package included a set of Hiyahiya bamboo needles, a skein of yarn, Hiyahiya stitch markers, kitty snips, tape measure and a pattern that I've no idea what it is :)  oooohhhh I'm so excited!!

Ravelry - gquilts projects
Instagram - g.quilts

December ... poof gone

This is one of those posts that sounds like the beginning of confession LOL Rather like .. Forgive me Blogger for I have sinned - it's been almost a month since my last post LOL.

It's been a rather stressful month for me as my stepfather had a series of small heart attacks that landed him in hospital for various procedures since December 8th - he was in hospital until Dec 21.  He went to a rehab facility for post hospital therapy and monitoring.  On Christmas Day when I was driving him back he suffered another small heart attack.  He's back at the rehab facility and we hare hoping to have answers soon to the second heart issue and looking forward to his continued improvement.




With all that was going on, I only managed to knit a pair of fingerless mitts that were a gift for my friend. I'm hoping that I can get back into my knitting stride now as I took advantage of Christmas money and great sales!

My friend LOVES owls - and I saw these adorable owl mitts by Amanda Jones.  I totally fell in love with them!  And this sort of project fits my poor awkward stash.  I actually ended up using one of my mum's skeins.  It felt really good to be able to use her yarn!  I've no idea what brand it is or where she got it, but mum only used wool.

My only issue with this pattern is that it is worked flat and I didn't want to mess with a bunch of seams.  Luckily for me (and my research / nosing around skills)  I found another knitter had converted it to in the round!!  YEA!!!  Many thanks to Snuva for doing this :)  I could've done it, but didn't have to now.   I picked up some new bamboo Hiyahiya needles to work this and it did worked up super quick - when I was able to concentrate on it.  I did add a thumb to this pattern as it didn't come with one.

We were finally able to get together last night to visit and I was happy to walk in with pressies for her.  She suffered a loss just before Christmas and I hoped it would lift her spirits a bit.  That box contains various types of chocolate bark that I made for Christmas. There was white chocolate with cranberries, pistachios, walnuts, peppermint, and pretzels.  Dark chocolate with salted caramel.  I have a lot of fun making these for everyone.  I personally think I'm going to hell for the salted caramel.  Cripes but it is RICH!!

I decided to add eyes to these mitts and found the most perfect pair at joannes - they are just buttons that truly look like eyes .. if they were just a smidge or orangy yellow in the colouring then they would look like owl eyes spot on!  She was so happy with them.  During the visit, she kept putting them on and taking them off, looking at them, picking them up - yep I'm glad I made them for her to see the smile on her face!

Now to get back to my Enya socks .. I've been stalled at one sock done since before everything happened in December.  I'm glad I was able to get the KAL done that I signed up for - that was fun and I look forward to joining in many more KALs.

Creeping Towards Two

Despite any intentions I subconsciously had to the contrary - this sock turned out pretty good!  A good snug fit around the instep of my foot - and they fit from toe to heel nicely.  Not to tight and not to loose fit all round.  I do wish it was a bit snugger above the ankle and around the lower part of the leg.  I've noticed that on the socks I've made.  Granted I normally wear ankle socks so mid calf are rather new to me LOL

I was rather expecting some major incident that would mean I would have to frog the entire sock, or tink back sections as I've had to on previous attempts - but no, this went off rather without a hitch. I hope I just didn't curse the next sock by saying that.  Each sock is a learning process and the curve has been pretty steep initally - it's way more manageable now LOL

I did find a great bind off at Slip Slip Knit - worked quite well! Not tight at all - easily able to get over my foot and heel with no issues.  It was a bit wibbly though - that could be because I didn't drop down to a smaller needle when I was doing the ribbing or casting off - another great lesson learned.  I'll be sure to try it on the next toe up pair I do.

I've been eyeballing Bavarian Style of knitting for the next socks I make.  They are absolutely gorgeous and I'm definitely itching to start them.  BUT  not until I finish this last socks :)

Stash busting idea

If you're like me you have those pesky one and two skein yarns kicking around that you just can't figure out what to do with them.  Berroco  has an excellent idea how to use up those awkward bits of your stash ..

If you, like me, find yourself daunted by the amount of yarn in your stash and want to use it up quickly, one way to do so is to knit with your yarn held doubled. That simply means that you hold two strands of yarn together while working on your project. Holding two strands of fingering weight yarn held together gives you a gauge that’s close to a DK weight yarn. Two strands of sport weight yarn held together are approximately the same as one worsted weight yarn.
Say you want to knit a sweater pattern that calls for a DK weight yarn, but you have an extraordinary amount of fingering weight yarn at hand. You can swatch the fingering weight yarn held doubled and, if your gauge is right, use that instead of having to purchase DK weight yarn

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umm .. blech n yuck :(

Nope, do NOT like how this turned out at all!  Doesn't look like the pattern pic at all ... and of course i think to look at the project pictures that other members posted AFTER i finished. Seems that im not the only one that ended up with this funky shape :S   This isn't a pattern that naturally shapes into a beret like the one i wrote does, but has to be blocked over a plate .. if this was done in a wool blend, then that would be an awesome idea .. but its 100% pure acrylic ..
So off to ravelry i go again to find an actual beret, i've enough of this yarn kicking round that i should be able to make up another one as this one used maybe ½ the skein. And worse comes to worse, i can ditch one of the scarf patterns i had picked. Maybe I won't need to do two scarves, if i manage to find another beret pattern i like that uses worsted / aran weight yarn.
im just so disappointed that this turned out this way.  I know i followed the pattern exactly and i knit to gauge, so not an issue at my end .. // kicks desk and sulks a bit :'(

I'm going to block this and see how it turns out .. can't be any worse than it is now, right??  Off to find a bowl / plate i can use for this .. ahhh i know ...the shallow bowls we use for pasta should be perfect me thinks :D

Fingers Twitching

Forgive me blog, for i have sinned. It’s been 1 ¹/₂ years since my last post :| Hard to believe its been that long, but it has .. oi vay! Where has the time gone! It seems so much longer since my last post, but according to my blog - last post was june 8, 2010 - but before that it was Feb 1, 2010, so almost 2 years really .. now that feels right!
But i’m back .. bought some more yarn (I srsly need a scarf n hat) I saw my hat n scarf not that long ago, but of course when i go to use them ... they aren’t there :| So - I bought more yarn and have picked my patterns for a beret hat and a really nice lacy type scarf.
I've had both of these in my queue forever tho on ravelry. Beckett Beret Pattern and since i couldn’t decide on what scarf, im making both of these - Double Day Flower Scarf and Agave Scarf.  I wished that the designer of the hat or scarf had made a pattern for its mate .. but course not, so i got to pick ones that were close enough to the other.

The yarn i got is soooo soft and of course its purple ;) i bought 3 100g skeins and each should take up 1 skein each :D  i've a few other patterns in my queue that i would rather do, but they aren't the right weight (i swear i'm cursed LOL)  but im thinking these are close enough in pattern that they should compliment each other nicely!  I've pulled out my needles for the hat.  I prefer to use circulars and to make sure i'm not pulling it to tight, i use 2 circs :)  I could use DPNs, but meh ... i prefer the circs - just easier all around to use.  I was hoping to start this tonite - i prolly still could, but would be up all night knitting if i did that .. heh ..not that I've never done THAT before!  Im thinking with the YOs and the cabling it shouldn't take me more than a day or two to get the beret done once i get back into the groove of knitting again .. and the scarf shouldn't take much longer than that.  i was gonna do mittens, but not sure bout the casting off at the fingers as i like the combination glove / mitten kind ... i find that extra bit tends to keep your fingers that wee bit warmer :) and i can have finger mobility when needed .. i'm telling you i suffered a bit last winter with having to take my gloves off while txting ...bloody touch screens LOL  really dont want to have to live thru that again .. so gloves might take me a wee bit longer .. I think im gonna need another skein .. or i give up on one of the scarves .. hmmm .. naw .. another skein works for me 

updated 12.29.11 -  I've grabbed another skein and lucky me it was the same dye lot!  Last one mind you, but i've got it at least .. so i'm hoping to make the beret, scarf (at least one) and a pair of mittens ;)

Tinking Frogs ...

Now that got your attention didn't it? And you're prolly thinking, knowing grace, this is going to make some sort of twisted sense .. and believe me .. it does .. honestly!!!

You've prolly guessed the frog part since I've been working on my sweater using recycled yarn, but the tinking you might not have figured out yet!

I've been working on my winter seafoam flower (ravelry project link) and while the left side when up in no time flat, the right was problematic-ish .. I got both the right side and left side, joined in the middle and one piece when I realized what they meant by ... work as follows from RS: 3 garter sts, M.1 ... on both the left and right back pieces .. when you join the pieces together you get ... 6 garter sts, M.4 ... // sigh .. ah well .. froggy went to market and I started both pieces again .. while prolly no one but me would have notice .. the fact that I noticed was enough ..

I got the left side all done with no incident and started on the right side .. noticed something I missed maybe 5 rows in ... rippit rippit rippit rippit again ... started again, got halfway thru when I noticed that I had added an extra cable twist .. AAAAAARRRRRHHHHHHGGGGGGG .. so rippit rippit rippit rippit again ..

FINALLY - the right side is done with a few missed garter st .. at this point .. i'll live with it me thinks .. and if someone is looking that closely at that location, it's not my knitting they are checking out // znerk!! ahem .. anywho ..

I got the sides down and joined up ... I've not sewn in the back flower yet, I'll wait for that, just in case I change my mind about ripping that ..

My latest quandry comes from this particular direction .. "AT THE SAME TIME ... inc 1 st each side by K 2 sts in the last but one st, and repeat the inc on .... " I understand that I need to increase each side .. but am totally wondering What K2 stitches???? The pattern link is here and this is the section titled BACK PIECE after the CROCHET FLOWER and LEFT and RIGHT SIDE sections .. section starts out with "BACK PIECE: Slip the 2 back pieces on the same needle with pattern towards pattern = 66-72-80-88-98-108 sts. Continue as follows: 1 edge st " .. oh and if you need to know . i'm making the XL size ... Any ideas? Help? Interpretations????

Now for the 'tinking' part .. i was reading an article in either knitting daily or interweave online .. not sure what one .. but the author was discussing her frogging skills, but also talked about reversed knitting which she coined as tink .. as that's knit spelt backwards .. how clever is that!

AHA ... found it!

I decided to read a bit further on and found this sentence in the FRONT instructions just a wee bit further down the page ...
DECREASES AND INCREASES: At the same time when piece measures 3 cm / 1 1/8'' dec at the side as described for back piece and when piece measures 22 cm / 8 3/4'' inc at the side as described for back piece. When all dec and inc are complete there are 42-46-50-54-58-64 sts on needle.

So I do my increases at the edges :D .. w00t w00t ..

Winter Seafoam Flower

My previous post shared my adventures with recycled yarn - and this is the project that I'll be using it for .. this sweater is just soooo gorgeous and I've been drooling over it for the past few months waiting to be able to start this for Restitch 2010 (I've made a group on Ravelry for it that you are more than welcome to join - Ravelery members click here

Today I struggled with crochet, and I've not done any in 20 years since I made a blanket for my new born Godson ... then it was like 11 years before that that I crocheted .. oi vay! Talk about getting frustrated!! But I hit up the videos on Garn Studios and got the flower section on the back done in just a few hours .. I had a few back up and restarts (yes this means I frogged!!), I see a few spots where I'm like .. Hmmm??? .. but all in all, I'm very happy with it

The Drops Design patterns have always been a wee bit intimidating for me, but I'm biting the bullet and just forging ahead .. i'm a smart woman and I can figure this out ... taking my own advice of 'one line at a time' should be my mantra for this pattern.

I think once i get over the (**shudders) of charts and the not so simplistic language in the pattern, I'll be fine .. I made it thru the crochet flower back piece ..so the rest should be workable! It seems easier now than when I first started, so I can't see it getting any harder .. I know .. famous last words!! heh .... But if I have to frog - I frog .. only way to learn :)

Wish me luck!!

Recycling Yarn- continued :)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I would have pics and my adventure with recycling a thrift store sweater. Helpful tips n hints found here.

We left off with my yarn being BOTH DK and worsted weight and me trying this to see I could even the gauge out by using the above-mentioned tutorial. After unraveling the sweater I ended up with several balls of yarn ..

First thing I needed to do was get all this yarn into same size pieces .. using 2 chairs, that measure a yarn on one side, I wrapped it round the chairs 50 time to make up 100 yard hanks. Look like shrubs don't they? This was how they looked after I took them off the chairs. I ended up with 17 hanks of 100 yards each with a some left over that I hadn't frogged off the sweater.


So following the directions I did the soak for a bit with shampoo, then dried as best I could then do the fling about and hang .. one thing she neglected to mention that this flinging was an Olympic event .. ESH! .. I flung and flinged and flung and flinged for a good 15 - 20 mins and I didn't see any serious straightening out of my yarn .. so i gave up and just hung it up and weighted it down with soup cans..

Now I've a thought on why I didn't see any straightening .. in her tutorial she used a yarn that was 100% wool, I've not clue what the fibre content is in this yarn, but I'm betting it's acrylic 100%. So that could have a lot to do with why it didn't straighten out like hers did ..

BUT ever notice how there's always a BUT

It did go from super poodle curly, to just having a relaxed wave instead ... and I could live with that .. as my main goal for this experiment was to see if my yarn would go back to being worsted and it did!!!! So here I was with having worsted weight yarn, mildly wavey, but it was all worsted! It knitted up to gauge and I was able to start my sweater today .. got the crochet back done and have started the battle of the back and reading charts :D So far so good and only 3 frog sessions .. but that's okay .. it was only 4 rows over 28 stitches - heh

So here's 1 2oz ball of 100 yards of gorgeous worsted weight yarn. 11 more are still hanging in my shower waiting to totally dry so I can wind them up in my pull balls :D videos here for pull skein and more

Even tho they aren't straight, they are all worsted weight - I can certainly live with that! You can see in this picture here that all the strands are the same weight :D Mission Accomplished