Yarn dying experiment…

ok, I have long since wanted to make gradient dye jobs, but I am too lazy to do as I have seen so many time and dye it in portions. So I thought about it.. What would happen if you wound the yarn into a cake and then dyed it? I can tell you.

First I admit I used a LOT of food coloring here, I like jewel tones, and I have learned that I need to use a lot of dye for that. I use Wiltons  cake decorating gels, the ones you get at Jo-anns or Michaels, in the cake section. I used an entire jar for this experiment.

First I wound off my yarn (100% wool, Jagerspun Heather, fingering weight, to be specific.) This yarn is destined to be leg warmers for the cool mornings here. Mainly around the house wear, so it didn’t really matter how badly the dye job came out. I did wind my yarn doubled, so that they will match mostly. Later I will rewind it into individual cakes.

I took the wound cake of yarn, and soaked it in a water and vinegar solution (I never bother to measure I just pour some in. I admit this was a pretty strong vinegar solution.) I set the cake into a pitcher and added the water and vinegar to it, when the cake floated I took a mason jar and half filled it with water and set it on top of the cake, after about half an hour I removed the jar and the cake stayed submerged. 

Next, I prepared my dye bath. Same quart jar I had used earlier, I dumped the food coloring into and more vinegar, this time about half a cup, and a couple cups of water, I used my whisk to stir well, dissolving the food coloring, I poured this into the bottom of my small (4qt) Crockpot I set the yarn cake into and rinsed the jar out with the water/vinegar mixture from the pitcher until it covered the yarn cake. I set the Crockpot on Keep warm, put the lid on and walked away fro several hours.

When I came back I removed the yarn cake carefully with a slotted spoon and set it into a bowl to cool, once it was cool to the touch, I mean room temperature. I put the cake into a colander and ran room temperature water over the cake, occasionally flipping it over to rinse the other end, until the water ran clear.  I shut off the water and set the colander over the now empty bowl and let it sit there for about an hour, dripping as much of the water off as it would give. Next I very carefully wrapped the cake up in a towel and added pressure to squeeze out as much of the water as possible while disturbing the construction of the cake as little as possible.   I carefully reshaped it (from the smashed oblong it had become back into a cake) and set it in front of my fan (yes I am still using fans here.)

This is what the exterior of the cake looked like this morning, just as it came out of the dye bath, but dry.

It was a little more purple looking that the photo shows almost a grape color.  And then I rewound it, starting at the outside and working in, so that what is now  on the inside of the cake is one the outside (this was done mostly to dry it, but also cause I wanted to see it.)

This is the rewound cake.

there are spots of the darker color all through it, but the closer you get to what was the core the more of the bright Caribbean blue that there is, I totally love it so far.. right now it is sitting in front of the fan again, but once it is dry I will separate the two strands and we will see how it knits up.

Oh.. and I have to share this one, just because I love the shot.

you can see all the little hairs and the definition between the plies and the two strands that were held together in the winding.  Ahh.. the fiber, you can almost feel the yarn love.

it’s done!

my little wrap that is… I finished the knitting last night, went button shopping today, and wove in ends and blocked it this morning. Here it is..

it’s not really big, it wears like a cape, and is not quite elbow length. or can be rapped tighter and worn like a scarf. I totally love it. It was a great quick knit! 

I will have to take a closer picture, but the button is a dragonfly, that the wings almost exactly match the yarn of the upper portion.

Knitting quandry…

I have been working on a bag for the last week or so, it is supposed to be a carrying case for a netbook. I wanted a sleeve style, but a knitted one, and I decided I would do what is called Button hole handles.

I knew I wanted the bag felted, because felted has more strength, and less stretch/flexibility, plus, the process of felting makes the fabric more dense and pads the computer better. I did a couple swatches… and decided I liked the thicker fabric that a seed stitch makes better than the one a stockinette makes. So I started my bag. After working the bottom, and several inches up the side of the bag, I noticed that the seed stitch spirals around the bag, and my marker, marking the corner of the base, and the beginning of each round, was migrating around the side of the bag. Which made the handle placement a little more difficult.. So I asked around on Ravelry about if this is normal, how will it effect the handles when I felt it?

I was told that the spiraling is a charicteristic of seed. and to just follow the corner of the bag up and place my handles from there… So I did.. I made the bag, and when I cast off all my stitches, the handles were centered and lined up. I put the bag in the washer, set on hot to felt it. It felted beautfully, until I went to block it to dry it. I fussed, I fiddled, I pulled. This was the best line up of pictures I could get. Now I have to figure out what I need to do to fix this. I am thinking I will cut one side of each handle and sew up the extra on the other side. I am hoping this works.

And in the future, for bags, that I want to do in seed, and have buttonhole handles for? I will be knitting the bag solid, felting and then just cutting the frigging handles into it.

Some things I have realized..

yes, even in I have deep moments.

1. My children are teaching me tolerance ~ I can tolerate them running and screaming through the house for about 3 hrs.
2. My tolerance is not yet perfect ~ after about 3 hrs, I am forced to find them each separate jobs so that they will be quiet and stop running.
3. Knitting is teaching me patience ~ I can wait almost forever when I have my knitting with me.
4. My patience seems  conditional ~ if the kids are with me, or if I don’t have my knitting, my patience is apparently absent.
5. Knitting has also taught me that time is relative ~ when knitting a sock, those first 8 inches seem to just fly by, but that last inch, though worked at the same pace, can take hours.
6. There is no such thing as too much yarn ~ just trust me on this one. And don’t ask how much yarn I own.
7. I love my extended family, and sometimes I love them more the further away they are from me.
8. In some ways, I am a very old fashioned woman ~ I love cooking, canning, putting up food, making things “from scratch” as in not using mixes, taking care of my family (though the whole washing dishes by hand thing, it is for the birds)  and just in general being a homemaker.
9. In other ways, I am very modern ~ I love my computer and internet, and I am not willing to give them, or my cell phone up. (mind you, cell phone is our only phone, we gave up a land line years ago)
10. Knitting has taught me to plan ahead ~ it is easier to use up extra yarn than to find more of the same color and dye lot to finish a project.
11. I have learned that beauty is relative ~ I have a red circular shawl pinned to one wall, I knitted the shawl, and dyed it myself, I am very proud of it and I thin it is beautiful, I have had people ask me why I have a huge doily on the wall.
12. I have learned that by the age of 3 children can no longer hear the sound of their mother’s voice.
13. A child who loves to read is a gift, though sometimes you may wish that she reads slower, so that it is easier to keep her in reading material.
14. A child who doesn’t love to read, sometimes just hasn’t yet found something she enjoys reading.
15. Time spent reading is never wasted. Trust me on this one, ignore the rest of my family.

Hubby socks

ARE DONE!!!!  I finished them yesterday, with just 4 days left until he returns (today it is 3 days, but not like I am counting or anything)  They are in hiding with the rest of the Christmas stuff…

On the other hand, I am seriously wondering about my children’s sanity. The oldest (9) and the youngest (3) are each holding pencils rolled up in  washcloths, and then a rubberband to hold it on.  They will at random point them at each other and shout things. Things like “Expeliarmus“  and “Impedimentia” but I think my favorite is from my 3yo. He is pointing his at his sister and yelling “Expelidavra” I am wondering if it will kill the wand that flies across the room?

Ahh… the joys of children…

I will let them do this until I can’t stand it anymore, and then I will find work for them to do.

See, Mom’s not so dumb.

Project Progress!

I did manage to finish the hunting socks night before last, and have put some major time in to the Christmas socks for the Hubster, doing good, they are now half done. Just a few more days and they will be complete, and I can hide them until Christmas.  Since I have a week left before he gets home, that should work out well.

Still not sleeping well at all, I didn’t get to sleep until 5 this morning. I have decided that I have had enough of this, I am going to take a couple Benadryl in few minutes, and in a half hour to an hour, I should be out like a light. Sleep, precious sleep…. I am just waiting for the end of the girls reading time (they are required to read for at least 30 minutes every night before bed) to take my meds, or I won’t be up to tell my oldest (a totally reading fiend like me) to turn out the light and go to sleep.

I have been working on a list of things that we need to get done, both before Hubster gets home, and after. Things like enrolling the girls in their new school (new district with the new house,) school shopping, grocery shopping, returning books to the library. Mainly just day to day crap, but it adds up.

disjointed ramblings of the evening…

I have made sock progress, I have only 3 inches remaining on the hunting socks, I am hoping to finish them tonight, if not, they will be done tomorrow.  Then I will work on the socks for hubby, only 9 more days till he is home, I think I can finish them in time, and if not, I can work on them while he is at work.

I did get to talk to hubby on the phone this evening. He asked me if  I am aware there are 4 Fast and Furious movies out. (I have the first, and watch it all the time.)  I told him yeah, the fourth was the one that I kept trying to get him to take me too earlier this year, and he wouldn’t… so he says he didn’t see the point since we hadn’t seen 2 and 3. At which point I told him again, (for at least the 3rd or 4th time) that there is no point in seeing 2 and 3 because Vin is not in 2 at all and he has a 3 second cameo in the final scene of 3, and since, in my opinion, Vin makes the whole movie, there is no point in seeing the ones without him in them. He saw my point, but he still wants to see 2 and 3. Thankfully, 3 was on HBO last week and I DVR’d it.

I also managed to catch the first Transformers movie, which we haven’t yet seen, and Eagle Eye, another we haven’t seen yet. Both are supposed to be pretty good movies and he is excited to get home so that we can watch them together.

I enjoy curling up on the couch with him, he lays on the couch, I sit close with my knitting and we watch tv together, almost always after the kids are in bed, it makes for enjoyable evenings.

Christmas in July…

Kinda….

Since I would like to make a lot of my gifts, if at all possible, it has occurred to me to start early, as knitting, and other crafts, can be time consuming, as I am sure you know.

First I decided to look at what I have on hand, my Christmas list, and what each person might like.

• sock yarn, about enough for 5-6 pairs, if the pairs are short, ankle socks like I wear.
• fun fur type yarn, 5-6 balls of it, none the same.
• random skeins of acrylic yarn, in random colors, mostly pastels, and left overs from baby blankets
• wool, some really nice, some not so nice, some undyed, some hand dyed. Various amounts of each.
• Some cotton yarns, mostly in earth tones, all kitchen cotton.

People on the list, who might appreciate hand made items.

• mom, she really likes the socks I have been making, might  like a pair or two
• kids, my 3, and my niece, would love scarves made from the fun fur, if nothing else will make great dress up toys.
• hubster, says he will wear socks I make him, but not in “foofy” colors
• dad, he will wear anything I make him, any color, he likes bright colors too.
• brother, he is hard, he is 11, but they live where it gets cold, maybe he would like a hat and scarf?
• step-mom, she would appreciate a lot of things, but she is allergic to all animal fibers, so anything I make has to be non-animal, maybe hat/scarf or a set of facecloths..
• Mother in law
• father in law
• step mother in law
• grandfather, he gets cold in the winter, maybe a hat, in green, his favorite color.

I have more on my list, but I don’t think some of them would appreciate a hand made gift, and some, we have other things in mind for already.

Second, What I have done so far…

No, no pictures, at least not now. For two reasons. #1, though I don’t think any of my family reads this, lets not take chances, huh? and #2,  And really, the one most influencing the no pictures decision… Hubster has my camera in Germany.

Looking through my stash I found 3 skeins of an alpaca / acrylic blend in a bulky weight, having no clue what else to do with it, I cast on my size 15 needles, and in 2 days I had a hat, and 6 1/2 foot long scarf.  No clue who it will be for, it will go in the Christmas Bag, and that will be decided later.

On the same needles (after the hat and scarf were done, and off of them) I made several (I think I have 4 so far) fun fur scarves. Very simple, garder stitch scarves, from a single skein each. I made 3 in just a couple hours, very fast, but that stuff is a pain in the ass to work with. The kids will love them. Dropped them in the  Christmas Bag too.

Knowing my father (really, I have know him all of my 31 years…) I opted for a washable wool product, and I decided I wanted to make him hunting socks, so they need to be thicker… best washable worsted weight wool I can get around here? Wool-ease, yeah, it isn’t the best thing available for socks, but it should last better than the $30 pair of wool socks he bought last year, and wore a hole in the first day. I picked up 3 skeins, cast on a week ago, and I am about 3/4 done with the pair, and let me tell you, a mens size 12? These things look like you could fit aircraft carriers in them. When they are done? You guessed it, into the Christmas Bag.

I also had on hand 2 skeins of Knit Picks Risata, in biscuit (off white), which is enough to make real socks, that you know, go up the leg a little bit, not just the hide in your shoe style I wear.  So I will make these for Hubster. Off-white counts as non-foofy, right? Anyway, they are about 1/4 done, when they are done, they too will go in the Christmas Bag.

Hopefully I can finish these two projects, and maybe another fun fur scarf or two before hubby gets home, and have moved on to more.. We all have dreams.

Pretty Lazy Wednesday…

I didn’t get a great deal done today… I unpacked like… 2 boxes. But one was a large uhaul box, full of clean laundry that had to be folded and put away.

I went over to the old house and did the last of my cleaning and loaded up the last of the stuff for me to load.

Spent the afternoon with my hubby, since it is his day off, and the kids.

Pulled everything out of my refrigerator and freezer, so that the delivery guys from Lowes could trade them out, the put everything back in it.

Made dinner for my family.

On the agenda for this evening? Kicking back and relaxing. I will either be watching TV with the Hubs, or reading, but either way I will be working on knitting the moebius cowl I have on the needles.

Knitting thoughts

I am almost out of sock yarn. *sob* I only have enough yarn in the house for 2 more pair, and one of those is yarn that is a royal PITA to work with.  So last night, in an effort to find something else to work on knitting, I started another shawl, similar to my not so Basic Black Shawl, from Folk Shawls. Here is my first version.

it was done in Knitpicks Palette, in black and garnet heather.  This is a fingering weight, and it has been really handy, I use it all the time. But I got into my head that I want to do another one. This time, lace weight, and green and red. I ordered the yarn to do this several months ago. This time I went with Knitpicks Shadow, in Juniper and Sunset Heather. It took me a couple false starts to get the needle size right for the yarn (I ended up with a 5) and off I went. so far, I am making good progress, andI am almost to the second lace panel, in the second color. The rounds are fast at this stage, but as it gets bigger, the longer they take. The first shawl took me right at a month to finish, any guesses on how long this one will take?

And  Yes, I will share pictures when it is done.

March Treadmill time 3Hrs 33 mins 10.31 Miles