To make a pair of thumb-less mittens for Finn, I separated a skein of Patons (cheap) Classic Merino Wool into skeins and dyed them different colors. It's very economical for a tiny project like this one, since it requires so little yarn to complete and the perspective of having to buy a lot of different colors didn't appeal to me.
Here are the completed mittens, so fast and easy:
These two skeins were dyed last Monday during one of Finn's longer afternoon nap. The goal was to try "space-dyeing" and it all went according to plan with the purple experiment. With the pink I had more trouble, mostly because I started with a less than agreeable color mix. After 10 frustrating minutes of stirring and grumbling I just threw every goblet of dye mix in the pot with an annoyed sight. And bingo! a saved skein again, pink like a berry yogurt.
These two will become cowls, one for my mom and one for moi.
These beauties popped out of my lawn this week, they know that they are safe with me! Nature is giving me a gentle kick in the rear end to finish a Noro cowl. The pattern is really beautiful and I will be making many more of those using smoother yarn, dyed by me ( more on that tomorrow when my camera is juiced up once more). Noro yarns really know how to interpret nature, or so it seems:
All together on another subject, my new pattern is coming out at The Sewing Republic in two days. That is very exciting news (for me that is) and to celebrate I will be sure to have a really good give-away. So stay tuned and you'll be glad if you win this one.
wink wink
My Rose Red is now accomplished and drying on a plate. This drying business seems to take ages, I am so impatient to put it upon my head and walk about. It's not cold enough to wear a hat anyhow, since I am drying it in the warm evening sun as I type...
I feel good about the hat, because over 80 blocks did get sewn for the shop quilt on Wednesday, which means that even though there's a good 70 to go, I feel so much less lazy and loser like. Good Job (pat! pat!)
I really need to get sewing, I have so much to do in that drawer... A large quilt for work, a Sewing Republic project, a bigger sleepsack... I am getting more and more stressed about it, it's always in the back of my mind. Every morning it's the same, "go on, set up the Bernina, the rest will sew itself!" but it's just not happening and I go to bed with the knowledge of my procrastination...Unless I get to it today? I need to.
Instead I have been picking up this beret every evening, and it's almost done. I have been loving every minute of it, not a single "lazy" row.
Did you know that October is Sock Month? I didn't but now I do and yesterday evening was spent looking for the "one". The perfect sock pattern to use with the dusty mauve fingering yarn I dyed in the morning. Another fact that had escaped me is that to make knee high sock you need lots and lots of yarn, if you want the socks to have cables you need 800 yards of yarn! Keeping this in mind, I opted to dye a little more than 1000 yards of superwash merino yarn. I want to show you something that I find important about the way yarn is presented in shop, being web shops or local stores. When the yarn is still a skein it looks like the picture on the left:
After more than an hour of winding the yarn using a ball winder and two chairs, it now looks like the picture on the right. I think that it's a much better representation of what the yarn will look like when it's knitted. My friend Karin asked readers to express an opinion about whether you would rather buy yarn as skeins or balls. I know that it's somewhat breaking with tradition but I would love to see what the yarn looks like in balls before I buy. Maybe listings could include both a picture of the skein and a picture of the resulting ball. I would love it if you would leave me a comment with you opinion or if you want you can go to Karin's post and comment.
Getting back to the perfect sock pattern, an ethereal concept at best, I think I have a good candidate to offer for your consideration. The pattern is by Cookie A and looks like this:
I am using her picture here, I hope she doesn't mind. The pattern comes with all the modifications you can dream of, all the feet, calf, height sizes possible. I can't wait to try it. Although I need to read quite of few pages of the pattern to determine my size first. If it goes well I might enter those in next year State Fair, that would be fun!
I want to thank all the people that took time to leave me a comment this past few days, I am really touched by your enthusiasm with my dyeing experiments. I have been lousy for months at answering most comments personally and I decided to answer questions in the comment section instead of directly to the sender. Just rest assured that I read and enjoy everything you write here.
xoxo
Back to business!
Last night I started knitting my hand dyed yarn into Isolda's Snapdragon Flip-top mittens. I was overwhelmed with the sweetest feeling of achievement. Looking at the variations of the yarn form little clouds of color in the knitted stitches, was ridiculously exciting. Pointing to the tiniest of spots, look, look! It reminded me of the drunken joy I feel when Finn learns new things. The uncontrolled clapping that follows... If knitting my own yarn makes me feel this high, I am going to do a lot more of it, while I wait for the little one to amaze me by pointing to his nose.
Taking accurate picture of complex colors is hard work and I have been working hard at it. With moderate success. Teal has to be my ultimate nemesis today, I am starting to hate teal's guts, I don't think it's healthy.
This is the best shot I could take of a slightly greener, slightly deeper skein I dyed on Saturday. I love the color gradations in the yarn, I think they will knit up well (fingers crossed). Thanks to/because of Teal, I now know how to set up a custom white balance and use a grey card. The grey card was in fact printed "a l'arrache" as the French would say from this web page. I am sure it printed all wrong and yet the pictures are much better. At this point I don't really care.
And this is the best I could do, for a slightly deeper, slightly purple-er skein also dyed on Saturday.
Both those skeins are Henry's attic Kona 100% superwash merino, in DK weight. They are meant for great things, when I recover!
My fist Hermione is completed, it was a breeze. This is a really pleasant pattern. I say my first because I have to now make another one, exactly the same color (I have two skeins of the Cash Vero left). This one is for my mother-in-law, the second will be for my sister-in-law. Moving down my list...
Now I have to warn you, there has been some dyeing going on this weekend. Pictures to come as soon as the weather improves!
It's hat season soon, it rained all day yesterday and the mountain peaks are already dusted with snow. I hate when it snows before Halloween, it's poor form. Since there is nothing I can do about it except wine I decided to knit a hat instead. The hat pictured above. JL Yarnworks has a free pattern, which is awfully nice of her. It's not difficult to follow in the least but still you should read it because if you don't, like me, you end up having to unpicks seven rows, which is a lot.
My version copies Karin's, the brim uses a twisted rib ( knit in the back loop, purl ). It looks a bit more like the original this way. The yarn is Cascade Cash Vero, very soft cashmere blend, and it will fit a large head. Beware of this if you make this hat for yourself, it can get quite big!
To knit this hat I am using the magic loop method with #6 Knit Picks Zephirs and a 60" cable.
Post Edit:
I was asked to write a little about the Knit Picks Zephir needles. These needles are made out of acrylic and are completely see through. They are softer than wood needles and bend a little. The first time you use them you might think they feel like wet noodles but it's not in case the fact at all. You will get use to them soon enough to see the advantages of such comfortable needles on the fingers and wrists. My favorite thing about them is their price. They are incredibly affordable and it's very reasonable to hope to get yourself a complete set! I have not so far used Zephirs in very large sizes but I can't imagine they would be any different than in the small ones. I do like a little bend in my needles when they are on the small side.
The cables come in packs of two. They also are a real deal. You can get about any size cable you dream of, but if it's the magic method you have in mind then go big.
and no, I don't work for Knit Picks... hehe.
another edit:
The needles are not as slick as metals ones and the yarn slides better than with wood.
Birthing Quilt 
Baby Blanket Set
Infant Bibs 
Diaper Burp Cloths
Crochet Basket 
Crumb Catcher
Key Wristlets
narrow hem
Fabric Pinwheels
placemats
pocket bag
Roller Coaster
Tree Skirt
