I’ve moved myself to Mikknit since DH so kindly set up space for me on our server. I’ll be pulling all of my posts from here over there once I figure out how to do that, and I’ll probably end up deleting this account.

I did some dyeing with food-safe dyes yesterday. Mostly with Kool-Aid, but some Wilton paste icing colors to fill in for missing Kool-Aid colors.



Left to right:

Wilton violet, Changin’ Cherry Koolaid, Lemon-lime Koolaid and Kelly Green Wilton, Orange and Mandarin Orange Koolaid, Lemonade Koolaid and Lemon Yellow Wilton, Cherry Koolaid.

I’m rather disappointed with the Wilton violet - the yarn was the PERFECT purple in the dyebath, but when I rinsed it the blue all washed away. :-/ I was also expecting more of a green from the Changin’ Cherry, but this blue is nice too. Not sure what I’ll do with it though - this was all supposed to be for crocheted and knit fruits & veggies for G’s Christmas gift... I suppose I could make a basket or the market bag from the odd colors.

Process: I used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Natural and wound the large skeins (around 220 yd) into three smaller skeins (around 74 yd each). I threw them all into the kitchen sink to soak in warm water with a splash of white vinegar while I decided on my colors. Once I’d chosen my colors, I drained the water from the sink and squeezed most of it from the skeins. I put one skein into a Pyrex pie plate, mixed my dye (2 packets KA or 1/2 tsp. Wilton dye in 2c. water) and poured it over. Poked the yarn to submerge, then microwave on high for 2 minutes, let rest 2 minutes, nuke 2 more minutes. Allow to cool slightly and pour off water, then rinse with progressively cooler water until the water runs clear. Squeeze out excess water and hang to dry.


I’ve done this before and made variegated yarns, but it’s fun to do single colors too - there’s enough variation in the skeins to make them visually appealing but not enough to make them variegated. I really like the KnitPicks yarn in general, and I see it takes dye beautifully, even better than the Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool which I’ve had good results with in the past. I’m going to try my hand at dyeing the KnitPicks sock yarn that’s been sitting here for months, I think.

I finally got the buttons for A’s Robin Hood Jacket and when I go to sew them on, my yarn needle won’t fit through the holes in the bloody things. #@*)SDALKJH@#(*&Y)FSAJKLDAS(*_@#(YRGWOEHJB!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!ONE

Couple this with the extraordinarily frustrating bedtime tonight and I’m about to guzzle a bottle of whiskey. Thank goodness I have something else to work on, a new project in pretty yarn. Pictures will come tomorrow (maybe).

I finished the neverending alpaca socks!!! Woohoo!!!!

I’ve just got to wash and block them, let them dry, and mail them and I’ll be free of these horrible socks FOREVER!!!

Wahahaha!

I do not need more sock yarn. I do not need more sock yarn. I do not need more sock yarn.

However, if someone were to buy sock yarn for me, I wouldn’t turn it down.

I especially like the Seastone and Azure Malachite. Very pretty.

Sock yarn is such an addiction. Much better than drugs or alcohol, true, but still an addiction.

( Longies #1 )

( Longies #2 )

( Socks! )

It’s not quite done yet - there are still ends to weave in, it still needs a tassel, and I had to order buttons, but I’m claiming to be done anyhow. ;-)

Here’s a picture of the back - this was the best picture out of the batch I took and I didn’t realize it until after I uploaded everything. I’m too lazy to set it all up again, LOL. Oh yeah, and it needs a good blocking. Apologies for that.

The Robin Hood Jacket is finished but for having ends woven in, buttons, and a tassel. It also needs a good washing and blocking to soften it up - it’s rather stiff from all those cables. I’ll post a picture tomorrow when I can take it outside and get some good light for it.

Next on the agenda, alpaca socks for the sock exchange in advanced_knit. I’m not so excited about them, to be honest. My exchange partner has feet about the same size as mine (10” long, 10” around) and I never make fancy socks for myself since all the commercial patterns are designed for narrow feet. I got the idea to design my own - I’ve got a few design books sitting here but nothing’s grabbed me. I hope I can come up with something in my sleep tonight - I haven’t actually knit anything in several days and it’s driving me nutty.

Off to bed.

I finished the left front of the Robin Hood Jacket last night after a few fun goofs that needed correcting. One: I started moving a cable two rows too soon, so I had to take out those stitches and re-cross the cable. Then I found another cable that I'd goofed up and had to redo it, too. Then, with the decreases for the neckline, I missed a row and had to go back. I think I've probably done enough error correction on that to be able to do the other front without any errors. Right. And then I cast on from the right front and started knitting, of course forgetting about the bloody buttonholes. Buttonholes are my downfall - if I'm making a cardigan, chances are that I've had to go back and put in at least one buttonhole because I cannot for the life of me remember that they need to be put in.

This kid is going to get herself scratched or bitten here, harassing the cat.

Many months ago, hatboxmoon posted a picture of the Robin Hood Jacket from Adorable Knits for Tots by Zoe Mellor. It's a beautiful sweater and reminds me a lot of the sweaters my aunt knit for my sister and me when we were small. I HAD to knit it, and it'd be so sweet to make matching sweaters for the kids.

I cast on the back of A's sweater on Sunday, and I'm already a good ways in:


(click to see larger image)

My picture doesn't do the color justice - it's a gorgeous ocean blue from KnitPicks. (picture here) The yarn is Sierra, a bulky weight yarn that's 70% wool and 30% alpaca. It's lovely to work with, and you can see that it does beautifully with cables. I love KnitPicks yarn! I'll be ordering more of the same yarn for G, in this color. The site says that color won't be available until mid-October, so I'll get a break between sweaters - good for my sanity and it'll be much more likely that I'll actually finish both sweaters instead of leaving both partially knit or knit but unassembled.

I'm really enjoying the time I get to myself in the evenings after the kids go to bed. Having G give up naps was the best sanity-saving idea I've had in a long time. Lots and lots of knitting time!