I'm still not going to rank this NZ yarn among my favorites because of the prickliness, but I must say, it sure did dye up pretty. Here's a small swatch knitted on US 7 needles.
Before felting...
After felting...
I'm very please with the results. The fabric is dense but not stiff and should make a great belt. The sample was 15 stitches wide and after felting is about double what I need my finished belt to be. So I figure 8 stitches should do it. It shrank very little in length. But even if I knit it too long, after felting it shouldn't be a problem to cut it off.
Tonight I skeined off 4 100g hanks of the tan wool to dye to make the Stag Bag from yesterday. Although I'm sure it would be fabulous to knit the bag in the alpaca yarn called for, I've got this on hand and am anxious to find a use for it. I realized, on further reading of the pattern, that the colorwork chart is worked back and forth. I loath purling in stranded colorwork, so that's just not going to happen. The pattern as written has the colorwork panel on the front and a plain solid color back. This creates a problem if done in the round since my 2nd color will be on the wrong side of the work when I get back around. I know there's some way to do it with slip stitches, but that's way more complicated than I want to try for now. I could work the back of the bag in a two color pattern as well, maybe a checkerboard or something. Or I could just cut the yarn and reattach at each new row. This would mean a ton of ends to weave in, though. These are all problems for another day. For now, the yarn is in the dye pot. Results soon.
SoS report: I knit an inch or so on the Horcrux while listening to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians audiobook. In addition to SoS, I've signed up for the library's adult summer reading program. With the aid of audiobooks, I've gotten 2 books "read" already. And my hands are free to stitch away.
I hated going back to work today. Normally weekends don't really effect me like that. But losing that freedom to pickup Horcrux and knit at my leisure was tough. I shall treat myself to a good long knit tonight after dinner. Unless this keeps me to distracted...
2 cones of New Zealand wool. Each is over a pound of dk weight yarn. Purchased from Ebay. You'd think I'd stop buying this unknown yarn after my recent experience of Ebay yarn that didn't meet my expectations. But it's actually not bad, for what it's intended for. It's very scratchy wool indeed, at least too me it feels scratchy, but I'm pretty sensitive to that kind of thing. My intention when buying it was to try dyeing it, and that's what I'm going to work on tonight. I wound off 100 g of the gray wool and it's soaking now. I haven't decided what colors I'm going to use, but I'm thinking greens and blues. Since the wool is so scratchy, it will most certainly end up being knitted into something felted. I'm really horrible with this part, coming up with ideas on what to do with x amount of yarn. For now, I'm just interested to see if I can get something I'm even going to want to knit with!
Also in the mail today, more inspiration for sock yarns!
Apparently I'm not the only one bitten by the dye-your-own sock yarn bug. It's becoming increasingly hard to find affordable undyed sock yarn. I've still got 2 skeins of Knit Picks Bare merino/silk. I'm jonesing to get some superwash, but their site still shows it's back ordered until the end of July. Now the merino/silk is back ordered until the end of September! I did get some of my yarn from Socks that Fit and it's very nice. Just a bit more expensive than Knit Picks. Most places sell by the cone and I'm not ready to commit that kind of money just yet. At least I've figured out how to get the yarn off the cone into a hank without too much trouble. I mount my swift on it's side so it spins like a ferris wheel and set the cone on my scale so I can see when I've wound off the appropriate weight. I've also marked the swift and calculated the amount of yarn per revolution. All I need to do is count the number of strands in the hank and I've got the yardage.
I'm off to dye now. Oo, that didn't sound very good!
Holy crow! I started the Horcrux sock (sock #1 for SoS) on June 21. I cast on before work, because I was DYING to start. And I've pretty much only worked on these socks when knitting (I knit a few rows on the Bamboo socks when I needed mindless, no counting involved knitting). But mostly, it's only been Horcrux. And it's not been all that much knitting time, actually. I worked Thursday and Friday, all day. We went away Thursday night and Friday were busy with Ebay listings. So I'm thinking 2-3 hours TOPS I've spent knitting. Look at this....
As of 8:00 this morning, I'm ready to turn the heel on sock #1! This pattern totally rocks. It's so easy and looks awesome. It looks kind of poofy in the lace section because of the way the ribbing pulls in, but it looks just fine on my leg. Very comfortable. This is my first lace sock and I wasn't sure how I'd like it. So far I'm very pleased.
I've decided on Sock #1 for SoS...
I think we all knew I'd choose the Horcrux sock. How could I not? If I'm REALLY speedy, maybe I might even be able to wear them to the movie next month! When I got all my sock yarn out to take that picture over the weekend, I found a skein of Opal Cotton hiding in there. And, as I said before, I'm really in need of summer weight socks, so the Opal turned out to be the natural choice. I've even got the death eater bag to keep it. So I'm all set. Summer of Socks, here I come!
Yikes! Summer of socks starts this week and I'm still knee deep in both the Regia Bamboo and Katsara socks. I just turned the heel on the second bamboo sock and really want to keep working on them so I can wear them during the warm weather. I miss my handmade socks in the summer since wool is just too warm for our climate. I'm really looking forward to some summer-weight socks. I'm still on the first sock of the Katsara socks and won't feel too guilty putting them aside for awhile. The rules for SoS are pretty loose. You can knit as many or as few socks as you want using any yarn and pattern you want. It doesn't specifically say the socks must be started on or after June 21 (the start of the KAL) unless you are participating in one of the contests. I'm not a contest kind of person so I'm not too worried about that. But I think the spirit of the KAL is to try to start and finish the socks during the 3 months of summer. So. Now I've got some decisions to make. I've got a pile of sock yarn to choose from.
Knowing my general slow knitting speed, I'm figuring I'll be able to do 1 maybe 2 pair during this time. I want to do something special, so I'm leaning towards using one of my newly hand-dyed yarns. Although the Lime & Violet yarn is pretty special too. And then there's the Socks that Rock. As for patterns, I'm thinking Horcrux (since this is also the summer of Harry Potter) but Jaywalkers have suddenly started calling my name too. ARGH!
I finally got around to getting a picture of the machine knit sweater I made over Memorial Day weekend.
It was knit from Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Berry, 6 skeins plus a tiny bit of a 7th, on a Bond ISM using keyplate 3. The ribbing was knit by hand. I used Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns to come up with the pattern. This sweater is super comfortable. We had a cool snap last week and I actually got to wear it one day. I would only make 2 changes for next time: I'd shorten the sleeves a bit and start the v-neck sooner, there's very little depth to this one. I really like the modified drop shoulder design. It's much less bunchy under the arms, very well fitting but still comfortable.
And finally, thanks to Charles for mentioning my blog on his knitting videocast this week! As far as I know, he's the only knitter doing a videocast. He's up to his third episode, I think. He features book and magazine reviews, website reviews and yarn porn. Since I tend to listen to podcasts on my Ilo and not my computer, I often don't get a chance to see what the podcasters are talking about. With Charles' videocast though, you get to see the stuff as well as hear about it. Great job Charles!
All of the hand painted sock yarn I've discovered since I've started listening to Lime & Violet has inspired to try my hand at it. If you remember a while back I did a skein of kool aid dyed yarn. Although I loved the results, the selection of kool aid colors available here is very limited so I bought me some acid dyes and several skeins of undyed yarn and decided to have at it. I did order a book on yarn dyeing from Amazon, but haven't had time to read it yet. There's plenty of instruction and inspiration online, though. Just search yarn dyeing. Here's a quick look at how I did it (and what I learned in the process).I started with a skein of Knit Picks Bare merino/silk blend fingering weight yarn. I love their yarns. Their fingering weight is a bit heavier than the other undyed yarns I've got waiting to dye. Some people suggest reskeining into a longer skein so I did that first.
Stuart insisted on "helping". The chairs were set about 2 feet apart and I ended up with a skein about 40-something inches long. This process took forever and killed my back (not to mention the constant cat wrangling). Next time I'm going to try painting as skeined or winding it on the ball winder and then reskeining onto the swift set at a wider diameter. Then I soaked the yarn in warm water with some vinegar while I mixed the dyes.
These are Cushing dyes. I only had yellow, turquoise, crimson & black. I was aiming for yellow, purple, orange and black and figured I could mix colors to get the right shades. I didn't succeed so well with the purple. I know from grade school you should be able to mix blue and red to get purple. Apparently turquoise is not close enough to blue for this to work. My ultimate goal was to emulate some cool Halloween yarn I saw someone else do. Their's was mostly orange with touches of purple and black. I drained the yarn and squeezed out most of the water and spread it out on plastic wrap. I must get wider plastic wrap and make sure I tear off a long enough piece. I tried piecing my plastic wrap and ended up with leaks. Which brings up an interesting observation. This dye did not seem to stain very much. I splashed yellow dye all over my shirt (a cotton/poly tee shirt) and from the leaking plastic wrap there was a big splotch of black dye on the counter. The counters cleaned right up with a little spray cleaner and I used a bit of stain spray on the tee shirt and washed it later that day and there's not a bit of stain on it. Perhaps the acid dyes truly do need the acid and heat to make them stick. Anyway, back to the story. Here's the yarn after I applied the dyes.
I ran out of orange and rather than mixing more I just decided to just use all the colors a little more evenly. At this point I had abandoned the Halloween yarn (I've got more dyes & yarn coming so there'll be plenty of opportunity to try again). I wrapped the yarn up in the plastic, plopped it in a glass dish and microwaved it in 3 minute bursts, letting it rest for 5-15 minutes between, for a total of 9 minutes. Then I let it cool completely before rinsing.
Most of the dye had absorbed so there was very little discharge in the water. I used just a bit of Eucalan in the water to give the yarn a nice scent. Then it was out into the sun to dry.
When it was dry, I looped it back over the chairs and rewound it onto the swift. Again, this took forever and I had even more trouble with Stuart (apparently the colored yarn is even more enticing than the white.) In the end, although it's not what I originally intended, I'm very pleased with the finished yarn.
I haven't come up with a name yet. It seems like most of the hand dyers come up with cute and witty names for their yarns. Me? Not so good with the cute and witty. Now I'm just interested to see what it will look like knitted. Damn, another project in the queue!
Isn't this the most awesome fabric?
This is my Death Eater bag. The shadowy skulls and sick green lining immediately put me in mind of the Death Eaters in Harry Potter. I'm working on making these little project bags (among other things) in the hopes of starting my own Etsy shop. I'm excited to have a potential outlet for some of the crafty things I like to do. More on that another day.
We rounded out the weekend by attending my aunt Linda's retirement party. Her daughter's threw a big picnic and a lot of the family we don't often get to see came for the occasion. A great time was had by all.
Ok, this sock yarn obsession has got to stop. Now look what I got...
LIME AND VIOLET! Wooohoooo!! I managed to score the Darvoset skein from Miss Violet's Better Living Through Chemicals set. Tres gorgeous. And soft. (At this moment, L&V have a new series up on their site. I froze my credit cards in blocks of ice so as not to be tempted.) I'm pretty sure this is going to be the Horcrux socks. If you want the sock weight pattern, you have to join this Yahoo Group, which I did, just to get the pattern. Much as I love plain jane stockinette socks for their simplicity, I'm ready to branch out into patterned socks. To wit...Here's the Katsara tube socks to date.
I'm going to have to come up with a new name because I'm not planning on making these actual tube socks. Unless I have to hard a time reworking the pattern, I intend to put in a heel flap and gusset. Think they'll fit better that way.
Progress on the Bamboo socks. 
These are so soft and light. Will be perfect for summer, if I can just find time to work on them!
This last week I've mostly been working on a machine knit sweater. I didn't take time to take pictures. The process goes so fast, it's hardly worth taking time for pictures. Now I'm doing the seaming up - which always seems to take as long (or longer) than it took to knit the sweater! Pictures next week.
My latest batches of soap.
I'm very pleased with these. On the left is a eucalyptus/orange blend, smells dreamy. On the right is a new batch of Castile. This time I put just a touch of green coloring. I thought the first batch was too pale, and this puts me more in mind of olive oil. The olive oil I'm using right now is very pale so it doesn't really lend any color of it's own to the soap. I'm patiently waiting for my lavender to bloom. Mom had requested some lavender soap with actual lavender buds. I think this sounds like a great idea and hope to give it a try.
As if I don't have enough projects going and in the wings...I did buy yarn for one more project. Be still my heart...
Fleece Artist/Handmaiden SeaSilk in Seashore. For those who haven't heard of this yarn, it's made from silk and seacell which comes from seaweed. It is unbelievably soft. This yarn would make the perfect pet, no need to even knit it up. I could simply carry the skein around and be happy. However, I do intend to knit it up. I was originally prompted to buy the yarn to make the Montego Bay scarf in the Summer 07 Interweave Knits (after the HUGE disappointment of the eBay yarn). But the more I think about it, I'm thinking shawl. Now, I'm not much of a lace fan, and this is laceweight yarn so I may just be screwed. But I'm willing to try. Eventually. For now, good pet.
It's Memorial day weekend and it sure feels like the start of summer. Our second 90 degree day in a row. The garden is loving it. I must say, I'm quite please with how the garden is turning out this year. I put in fewer plants this year and rotated where things are planted. We put down weed barrier cloth and topped everything with straw. I think it looks pretty, but more important, I'm hoping I don't have to do much weeding when it's stifling hot out. This is the main part of the garden.
In the front row there's a Tom Thumb cherry tomato in a pot (barely visible), Big Beef tomato, Better Boy tomato. Next, between the tomato trellises there is a rosemary and two basil plants, but they are too small to see yet. Next row, 2 Roma tomatoes. Next 2 Sweet Slicer cucumbers. I'm trying a homemade trellis made with steel enforced plastic posts and heavy twine. Those cages just didn't cut it last year. The rest of this bed has onions. 5 rows of Candy sweets (planted from onion sets) and 2 rows of Walla Walla from seed. The Walla Wallas aren't doing so well, but I'm trying to baby them along, keeping my fingers crossed.
This is the side bed where I usually plant my tomatoes. This year I've got a yellow squash (which I'm hoping doesn't spread too much (they can get pretty huge and that bed's only 3 foot wide, YIKES). Next are 4 Big Bertha bell peppers. I've got 3 eggplants after that, but they haven't grown a bit since I planted them a month ago. They haven't died, but they aren't flourishing either. Will have to see what becomes of them. Finally, two rows of radishes and 2 rows of spinach, both of which I was able to harvest some of today.
This week yarn porn...SOCKS THAT ROCK!!!!!!!!
I am so not exaggerating when I say EVERYONE in the knitting blogosphere is raving about this yarn. And has been raving for a good long time. But since I run hot and cold with sock knitting, I've never wanted to shell out the money to get some. Then I saw a skein come up on the KnitSwap list for $12. How could I resist? This is STR mediumweight in Lagoon. It's so soft and pretty. I carried it around with me and left it sit on the coffee table where I could see it for several days. I'm saving it for Summer of Socks. I'm REALLY hoping this sock-jones doesn't where off before then.
I also got this set of sock yarn from a seller on ebay. 
She described the yarn as "so silky you'd swear its half mohair". I beg to differ. The yarn is pretty, although the colors are nothing like what they looked like in the auction picture. But to me the yarn feels coarse. I'm not at all sure what I'm going to do with it. I had thought of knitting Montego Bay from the Summer IK. But after swatching this yarn for it, I don't think that would work. Definitely not going to be socks since it's way to scratchy. I've got about 500 yds total. Any ideas?
The Mister Joe Blanket socks are finished. Although I couldn't get a decent picture for the life of me.
This very unflattering photo at least shows off the patterning and funky heel detail. The socks are incredibly comfortable. This isn't a widely talked about yarn, but I sure like it.
Currently on the needles: I've finished the first of the Regia Bamboo socks and am well underway on sock 2. I've cast on the Katsara yarn using the stitch pattern from the Tube sock pattern from Drops. Do check out their site. Hundreds of free patterns. The search function is kind of flaky, but lots of great patterns.
After felting...
I'm very please with the results. The fabric is dense but not stiff and should make a great belt. The sample was 15 stitches wide and after felting is about double what I need my finished belt to be. So I figure 8 stitches should do it. It shrank very little in length. But even if I knit it too long, after felting it shouldn't be a problem to cut it off.
