What you might call a dyeing tutorial.

I know it's been a long time since I've posted, but that's just how things have been going around here. I was gone for 5 days over the St. Patrick's Day weekend, and I still haven't recovered. Like, I'm still living out of my suitcase so to speak. Really it's my duffle bag.

All that said, I've been doing quite a bit of crafting. Even some dyeing!



I dyed this with 9 different flavors/colors of Kool Aid: Cherry, Black Cherry, Strawberry, Grape, Orange, Lemonade, Lemon Lime, Ice Blue Lemonade, and Berry Blue.

Basically, what I did was soak the hell out of the yarn. Patons Classic Merino, if you wondered. I wanted the yarn to absorb as much colors as possible and not have any white blips, so I made sure it was really saturated with water. Then, I squeezed it out a little bit before I laid it out. That way when I painted the dye on it would be sucked up by the yarn. I
arranged it in the biggest pan I could find, which happened to be a metal roasting pan. I proceeded to paint it in rainbow order, mostly to avoid weird color muddiness. (i.e. red touches orange on one side and purple on the other.) I made my dye really concentrated (less than a cup of water to each packet) and just kind went crazy painting. I only painted enough on so that the yarn would absorb it; I didn't want a lot pooling in the bottom and thus mixing with other colors. I ended up with quite a few places where one color dripped onto another while I was painting and things like that. But they really give it character. (Expect some pictures of those spot when I photograph this yarn knit up.)
Once I was content with my painting job, I covered it with aluminum foil, stuck a meat thermometer in, and popped it in the oven at about 180°F. I left the oven on for about 20 minutes and then turned it off and left the yarn in there overnight to cool.

(eta: I used the knitty.com tutorials as references for this. There are a few good ones about dyeing with food color there.)


I'm super happy with this yarn. If I re-create it, I will add more blue. The darker color, Berry Blue which is consequently in the lighter package, came out great. I love it! I also would make at least part of the yellow darker, maybe by adding food coloring. But I like intense yellows. I've already got something knit up with most of this, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest. I'm not normally into such bright colors, but hell, I did it myself!

I'm working on quite a few other things, including some secret gift knitting. And I am definitely open to suggestions about cute baby patterns. Everybody and their mommy-to-be is having a kid, it seems!

more favorites.

I know it's a little late, since I made this on Monday, but I wanted to post my newest favorites mosaic.



I've been doing a little tattoo planning, and also trying to figure out what color of STR to order (see post about wanting opinions!). Oh, and I'd never seen granny triangles before this. I love them! I am dying to make some.

typing is not my strong point.

60 words

Speed test

I took it three times and that was my best result. Interesting, though!

Wanted: your opinions.

A while ago, I saw an ad for a place to take surveys for money. I thought, "what the hell" and signed up. Turns out that it was legit, and I actually made $4.50 from taking a survey last week. (If you want more info I will give it to you but I don't want to sound like an infomercial!) Anyway, I've been saving this money in my paypal with the intended goal of getting some more STR to knit a pair with it for myself. It's basically the only way I could afford it. Well, it's been a few months and I finally have enough to get some. Now, my dilemma is choosing which colorway and what pattern to knit.

I've narrowed my choices to Fire On The Mountain and 24 Karat. There are a LOT of colors I like, but I think these two are the most fun. I like the rainbowyness (totally a word!) of Fire On The Mountain, but yellow is my secret favorite color and I have been thinking about 24 Karat for at least a year.
Look at my flickr or ravelry favorites, and you'll see what I mean. There are a lot of gorgeous socks in both colors.

I'm alsot debating whether I should go with lightweight or medium. I liked th medium the first time I knit with it, and I do like thicker socks. But I also like cute patterns, and most of them work better (meaning with fewer mods) with the lightweight.
Pattern-wise, I'm really having a hard time. I have a personal rule (for the time being) that I won't knit the same pattern more than once. I have a tendancy to get caught up on one thing and miss out on all the great other stuff out there. I've seen a lot of Fire On The Mountain Jaywalkers, and I like them a lot. But, I've already knit a pair of Jaywalkers, so that's out. I also think Charade would look good in that colorway. Then, I saw a pair of Hedera socks in 24 Karat. Beautiful! Also, some Pomotamus socks turned my eye. And really, grevillea's recent FO in 24 Karat is what stirred my liking for the colorway again in the first place.

Now, I know all the socks I've mentioned are like the most popular patterns around, other than Monkey, which I despise. I'm not a trend-follower. Most of the time! I've been searching through pages and pages of patterns on ravelry, looking for something good.

Basically what I'm saying is if you have any suggestions or a strong opinion one way or the other, throw me your two cents. I tend to either look at the big picture and over look the details, or get so caught up in the details that I miss the overall point. You might have that unique perspective I need right about now!

(Some requirements, though, now that I think about it. I prefer socks that can be knit toe-up. I'll knit 'em to-down if they're cute enough to warrant the extra hassle. Also, I will only knit socks using the magic-loop method. Fuck DPNs!)

and sometimes things don't work out at all.

So long story short, there was a welding-related fire in theBoy's basement last night. The house is okay. No structural damage, just superficial stuff and a lot of soot everywhere. He is out a boat, all his fishing poles, and most of his fishing lures. (He had one backpack with a tackle box and lures in it that was okay, so he says he can "survive" with those.) He is really bummed. The boat was the whole reason he was welding, and now it is useless. He is pretty bummed. (Imagine your stash - GONE!) His house doesn't have power or water until some shit gets fixed.
I spent this afternoon scrubbing soot off walls and mopping floors. (Fire damage fixinf/removal tips welcome! Getting the smoke smell out is going to be a real bitch.) He spent the afternoon hauling burnt shit out of the basement. It sucked.

Be careful. Get a fireproof box to put your important stuff in. (He didn't loose anything more important than fishing stuff and tools, but there is a huge 'what if' factor.) Think about your favorite items, and love them while you can. Things are temporary.

He lost a fishing pole his grandpa gave him when he was a kid, and this makes me want to cry if I think about it for any length of time. To me, things are tangible memories. When I crochet with yarn and hooks that were my great grandma's, I feel such a connection. Seeing so much stuff damaged and worthless makes me very sad. I have a very strong connection to tangible stuff, which is probably why I knit, crochet, scrapbook, and just make things in general.

Please don't almost burn your house down. It's not fun.

And do something fun today, since you won't get another one for 4 years.

Things work out great when you don't expect it.

Sometimes when fate brings things together. The marriage of the perfect yarn and a fantastic pattern is one of those things that doesn't come around every day. For me, these things usually happen by accident. I started out thinking this yarn would be perfect for Hedera. I liked the idea of the ivy-based lace pattern in a green yarn. But those socks are top-down, and after I turned the heel and did the gusset on the first sock, I thought I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish it. Also, I just don't like the way top-down flap and gusset heels fit me.
So I decided to do something different with my other ball for the second sock. I searched for patterns, and remembered Charade, which I had seen before. I liked the pattern, because while it is written top-down, it seemed easily adapted to be toe-up. I started in on my toe-up Charades.
I blew through the first sock, but then needed my only pair of #1s to work on socks for theBoy. I actually lost the first sock in the time it took me to make the second one! By the time I did get the second one finished, my gauge was totally off from the first. The second sock is visibly bigger than the first but by the grace of the wool/elastic blend, it makes no difference when I wear them.
I love this yarn. It is mostly wool but you really wouldn't notice. It is so soft and smooth. And, oh, are they warm! The elastic makes them the most comfortable socks I have ever put onto my feet. If you have a problem with short row heels making it too tight across the heel/ankle, the elastic eliminates that.
The pattern is great, too. It's fantastic for variegated yarns. It's fun to knit. It's also easily customizable and adaptable because it's well-written.

What I'm trying to say is I really like these socks. I recommend both the pattern and the yarn one hundred percent. (Really, I am one picky bitch so it tells you something. I have never been so completely happy or liked a FO so much!)



pattern: Charade by Sandra Park
yarn: Knit One Crochet Too's Soxx Appeal in colorway 3590, Jungle.
needles: Addi Turbo #1 1/2; 2.5mm
mods: I did them toe-up; one with a magic cast-on toe and one with a short-row toe with provisional crochet cast-on. I don't care that they don't match. Also, I substituted a short-row heel for the one in the pattern. And, instead of the 2x2 twisted rib, I did 1x1 twisted rib. I like it more.
[ravelry page]

ILLUSION KNITTING TUTORIAL

Once I got a substantial way into my first illusion project, I had a basic understanding of what was happening. When I designed my first illusion project, the light bulb really went on. Illusion knitting is a technique that uses raised and flat stitches with two colors to create a design that is visible only when viewing the work from an angle. It might take a while to really comprehend what that says, but it's simple. If you can knit, you can purl, and you can follow a pattern, you can do this. What you're doing is knitting all the right side rows, making a flat row so that your design will show up on the nest row. On the wrong side rows, you're going to either do a series of purls surrounded by knits on both sides, or vice-versa. What that does, is either create the background or the design itself. The scarf I'm currently working on (which is the basis of all the pictures and charts in this) has a black background with a pink illusion. Okay, now to really get into this and explain it. To knit a pink "T" on a black background, one would do this: (most illusion patterns are charted, but I'm writing this out to illustrate it a little.)

CO 8 stitches
Row 1: Main Color. K all stitches (8). [this is a flat row]
Row 2: MC purl 2, knit across. [this row makes background stitches]
Row 3: Contrasting Color. K all stitches.[this is a flat row]
Row 4: CC knit 2, purl across. [this row makes your design]
Row 5-12: repeat rows 1-4 twice.
Row 13: MC Knit.
Row 14: MC Knit.
Row 15: CC Knit.
Row 16: CC Purl.



That will give you a letter "T". This is the "T" from the top view. Looks just like rows of stripes from here.


In the scarf it's done with two more background stitches on each side, but otherwise the same. My chart looks like this: (The pictures and charts I'm using are for a scarf that has the "T" or other letter patter twice, with blank stitches on each side. So it's 24 stitches across)




So if you can do that, you can really do any illusion pattern. I'll give the pattern for this scarf, which I charted out by hand. Letter by letter, square for square. I really should have cheated with it but I didn't. One resource that's great for illusion patterns: cross stitch charts! Everything is already made up in nice neat squares, and you're ready to go. If you compare the first chart and the second ones, you can see that when you chart it out, the illusion only goes on every fourth row. DO NOT FORGET THAT! The row two rows before the illusion row is the background row, which is the illusion row with OPPOSITE stitches (knits are purls and purls are knits). I like to chart my things out just as I would knit them. I draw a primary chart with just the illusion, and then I chart it all out with both colors and what each stitch will be. It's a lot easier for me to follow a chart like that than one with symbols and all kinds of crazy stuff.




I think the best learning is to design your own illusion knit piece. The only limitations are that you need to use one contrasting color on a background, and some things just may not look right. You just have to try it and find out.


So here are some suggestions of things to knit using this technique:

-Card Trick Illusion Scarf - I love this! It was my first illusion knit project, and I'm so glad I did it! Thank God for Knitty Gritty! (Which is basically the only resource I've used to learn about this, other than my knitting.)

-My "TONI" illusion scarf- Once I get a whole alphabet's worth of illusion letters this might be better. But if you know a girl named Toni, you should knit this for her! I need to get the last chart uploaded, and then I'll really put the pattern up.

- Naughty/Nice scarf from Son of a SNB. This is my favorite illusion pattern! Such a great idea.

Here are some search results on ravelry for "illusion knitting". There is a lot of cool stuff!

Illusion scarf from the top, and from an angle:

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!


And if you really liked it or found it useful, it would be wonderful if you would donate something. Anything is welcome! <3

tangled up in barbed wire love

Since I've had pretty much no attention span lately, I've wanted to work on granny squares. They're perfect, because it doesn't take long to finish one and yet I'm still contributing to a bigger project. They are also great for things like Project Spectrum. I love looking at what squares and yarns I already have and getting them to work for the month's colors.




As for layout goes, in the end I want to have things looking very random. I don't want any two squares of the same color touching. Which makes things a little hard. I also am trying to avoid two solid squares next to each other. In these pictures, I didn't pay very much attention to that, and I now notice a lot that shouldn't be together. It's really hard to do, especially when there are a lot of squares with 4 colors, and a lot of similar colors throughout.



These aren't final. I just wanted to lay things out and get a visual for what I've got done. Like I've said, they will also all have a round of black before they're seamed together.

I cannot stop sneezing.

I don't know what the deal with my nose is. I even took some benadryl and it hasn't helped. It's been going on for a couple of hours and it's driving me crazy. Allergies, go away!



This is the first favorites mosaic I've ever made. I don't really favorite photos too often or as often as I should, so some of them are pretty old. And I barely have any knitting pictures favorited! I need to rectify that, for sure. And a couple of them have me in them, hahah!

I did a TON of seed starting today. I got supplies at the hardware store yesterday and set to work this afternoon. I didn't take any pictures because I was a little pressed for time, but once things start sprouting I'm sure I will have some.

I can't concentrate with this nose.

C is for ...

fucking crazy! Which is how busy I've been lately. (Notice how I've blogged twice in one week and put up a ton of pictures? That just means I was really supposed to be getting other things done.) I have had at least two different things to do every day, which is not the norm. And I don't mean I had to both do the dishes and vacuum the carpet. I've had appointment and meeting type stuff, as well as dance classes, work parties, practices and helping cook for and serve a dinner for 60-ish people. And I memorized like 3o minutes worth of a speech and said it on Tuesday. No one today when I was supposed to be handing someone as check, I pulled out my school ID/bus pass and started to show it to him. Uh, what? (I also managed, on Tuesday, in the middle of my speaking thing to almost fall down and knock a waist-high pedestal over. I'm not very coordinated, what can I say.) On top of all this, I am one of the co-chairs for planning an event with an expected 600 people in attendance. So let's hope I can keep my head on straight 'til Sunday night when I am done with all this. I am really not good in high stress situations. (Really not good. I just end up frustrated any crying most of the time.)


C is also for cap! I finally took pictures of the Amelia Erhart aviator cap I made in about 2004.

I've only worn it a couple of times because I'm really not a hat wearer, but I do like it a lot. And good god was this thing hard to photograph! It is a challenge to take pictures of the back of yuor own head.
yarn: LB Cotton Ease -the original- in red
needles: I'm guessing a US #5, but it might be a #6 or something in that range
pattern: Amelia Erhart aviator cap
ravelry page

I tried to avoid more obvious Cs like, craft or crochet. Really, I haven't got an crochet WsIP. After that giant freaking afghan, I could use a little break.

C is also for cutting out 600 moons and 1800 stars. Also well as punching footprints in all the moons. That sucked, and I'm still really not done. (And I should be doing that right now!)



Oh my gosh, I can't believe I almost forgot about this. I have the best boyfriend in the whole (fiber) world. You know what he got me for Valentine's day? A ball winder! I've already wound 1/3 of my stash into neat little yarn cakes. I have some pictures. I'm so excited, I've wanted one of these for so long! I love having yarn wound up so that it doesn't roll everywhere. Very helpful, especially on the bus ...