Fiber Friday - What's Dyeing?

So if you happen to read this in any kind of blog reader.  Mea culpa.  I accidentally posted it earlier this week and updated later in the week and did it again.  Sigh.  Now it's posting today even tbhough it's not Firday.  I give up.  Fiber Friday comes early.

Anyways, I'm dyeing some yarn to knit Solstice Stockings for the family. I thought it was about time to have something colorful and fibery to put goodies in this year.

All the colors: Magenta , teal, dk yellow, and purple

I dyed the yarns in my dye crock pots using 1% stock solutions, of jacquard acid dyes, at depth of shade of one which means I will use 1 ml of 1% stock solution for each gram of fiber.  If I had done a depths of shade of two I would use 2 ml of dye stock for every gram of fiber.  I chose a depth of shade of one to get a medium dark color.

The yarn base is Oatmeal Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool.  It takes dye wonderfully. I weighed out about 70 grams of yarn for each color and measured 70 ml of total dye solution for each skein.

Magenta on the top left: I can't give you an excact formula because I didn't not write it down right away.  So what I share is a guess

Magenta:  for the boy kid
40 ml fuchsia ( This is some fiber reactive color I used as an acid dye)
10 drops periwinkle
10 ml cherry or vermillion

Teal:  for the husband
This one was easy  70ml of  teal

Yellow Orange: for the girl kid
50 ml aztec gold
20 ml sun yellow

Purple: for me!
60 ml Burgundy
10 ml Periwinkle

Each family member chose the colors for their stripe and I will use all the other colors for the ribbing, toes and heels.  For example my husband chose teal stripes so he had purple ribbing, magenta heel, and a yellow toe.



So far so good.  Stay tuned for more dyeing fun and more stockings!

Fiber Friday: A Groovy Fibonacci Poncho

I so wanted to show of this shawl with a lovely modeling shot. I just haven't managed it yet. This is how to goes and why I get into a blogging slump.

 

 I want to have modeled photos and perfect pictures. Not this Friday, this Friday I'm practicing Good Enough! I'm so happy this is done so I can get on to something new.  The girl kid likes it so all is good.

A last minute action shot.  The girl kid got dressed up today to be in a commercial for the teen zone at our local library.



She's so groovy! Go here if you want to see the specs.

WIP Wednesday: The Fibonacci Poncho

Fibonacci inspired that is. So the poncho starts with 13 rows of yellow then 8 rows of dk brown, 5 rows of blue, 3 rows of brown, 5 rows of yellow, and so on back up to 13 rows then down to 3 rows.

 

But it was too big. Sigh, knitterly denial bites me in the but again. Rip it, Rip it....



Frogged and all balls of yarn are marked to which section of the sequence they belong and how many rows to knit with it.  I'm most proud of myself for this. It's called organization.  It satisfies No. 2 on my uberlist. 

 

 So all I need now is a glass of wine and some Deep Space Nine reruns and some company on the couch or not and knit this thing!

Crazy Blanket

I started My Crazy Blanket in October 2009. I'm only using yarn leftovers or yarn I have dyed myself and the bits of handspun that's the right weight. I'm trying not worry about colors and and any particular sequence. This is very hard for my symmetry and color coding tendency. I'm not all that patient either.



My first go around was a fail as some of the yarns were too bulky so it came out kinds of wavy. I was trying to go with the flow but just couldn't manage it. So I started over.



Phew, much better.



This is where I was in December of 2009. Oddly enough just as it start warming up I've been motivated to work on it some. I picked it up again at the ned of april I have completed a few more blocks.



Even though long term projects are hard for me, I'm considering a similar blanket with sock weight yarn. See what I mean. Crazy!

The Knit Princess

No, that's so not me. But a knitting comic that's quite funny. Go find it here. That's all for now as I need to take photos to share more.

So you want to learn to Knit too....

Someone just asked on my blog for some advice on learning to knit after being a crocheter for a long time. So I thought I'd share a bit of my journey from crocheter to knitter too and the attitude I needed to take to bring on the needles.

Some of my fears were handling two needle instead of just one hook and all those stitches on the needles made me nervous. How did I do it? I was already adventurous with crochet then so brought the same mindset over to knitting.

I found knitting continental much easier than throwing because I was already used to tensioning my yarn in my left hand. When you need help knowing what to do I highly recommend the videos on Knitting Help.

So if you want to knit. What is is you want to knit? I wanted to knit socks. But knowing I like to have some skills under my belt I started with a scarf, a Harry Potter Scarf to be exact.



I really don't recommend making this scarf unless you enjoy knitting endless stockinette in the round. By the time I was done with this scarf I had essentially knit the body of 10 toddler sweaters. My husband does look very courageous though. Yet this was a great take with me project. If I were to do it over again I think making a some wool hot pads would have been a good idea. If the work was not to your liking you could felt them.

Because the scarf was so boring I started a Basket Weave scarf to learn to purl. You won't find that scarf here though because I didn't keep knitting it. So don't be afraid to bail. I came away from it feeling confident in my purling so I could do ribbing.

Anyway when I was maybe a fourth of the way done with the scarf and done about 4 inches on the basket weave scarf that no longer exists. I started my first pair of socks. I grabbed some baby weight yarn which was a sport weight in the stash. Yes it was acrylic but I was just learning and it did the job. I used double points even. I broke my first wood needles as well. So that was the last time I used wood needles to knit socks. I followed Silver's Sock Class as well as reading things on Knitting Help to understand the sock knitting process and made some socks.



I made footies because I wanted to get to the hard parts first: turning the heel and the gusset. It really is not that hard, seriously. The first few rows are the most fiddly. After that you get going it gets easier.

So I say go for it what ever you want to do. If you need help I recommend the Newer Knitters Group on Ravelry. Lots of great info and helpful fiber fiends to get you on your way to knitting glory;)

Tips and a few more in brief:

Knitting Help.com
If knitting English doesn't work try knitting Continental or start out that way.
Be fearless! Don't be afraid of making mistakes or need or rip things out. Actually I suggest you knit something then take out the needles then pick the stitches back up again. This way you learning how your stitches need to be mounted.
Use life lines even if you are knitting a dishcloth it will help learn to read your knitting.
Count, count and count your stitches at first.
Use stitch marker to keep track of patterns.
If you can't see the mistake riding on horse then you don't have to fix it.
Knit something you want.
Most of all have fun.

Eek! It's a Steek!

Steeking is scary process. You actually CUT your knitting. I'm not ready to steek a sweater yet. So I made a coffee cozy instead. I knitted a tube in the round then using a crocheted steek and scissors I cut it to lay flat then added a button band.



You can see more pics here of my the steeking process. Give it try! It's both scary and empowering at the same time.



Overall it was a success. I learned a lot. I wish I had done a grabbier yarn for the crocheting part. The green is Cascade 220 and the pink is Paton's Merino that I dyed. The merino was just too smooth so some of cut ends of the steek worked loose. I manage to tighten it up so it seems fairly secure now.

Yippee! It's Shawl Season

It's finally cooling down so I can wear my shawls. There are a few some of you have not seen in my blogging absence.

Eva Shawl


A free pattern online here, made with lace with yarn from knit picks, in my favorite colors.



It's very light weight and nice if it's just a bit cool outside and great even in the summer when you go in to the store that is cooler than it is outside.



This picture I just had to share because I like it so much. Danielle is such a sweet kitty.

My Flower Basket Shawl and first knitted lace shawl.


(if you click through to flickr and look at the larger photos you can get some great detail on the pattern)




Specs:
Flower Basket Lace Shawl and Scarf by Evelyn A. Clark
Size 5.0mm needles and about 1000 yards of Naturnspun Sport in Mallard



Finally my Infinity Shawl:


Specs:
Infinity Wrap designed by Kristin Omdahl
Interweave Crochet Winter 2007
Plymouth Boku and and I / 5.5mm hook



That's all for now. You all stay warm now.

Emerald City Hat

How cool is this. My first knit hat from my very own two ply hand spun with some colorwork no less.



I like and it will keep me warm this winter for sure.

I cast on 80 sts with the size 7 needles then did 1 inch or so of k2p2 rib. Then switched to size 9 needles. I still have some yarn left but likely not enough for another hat unless I spin more yarn about the same weight.

Mittens, Mittens who's got mittens?

I do! I thought I had posted this but I had not.

A several months ago it snowed here in Kansas and apparently the mittens and gloves were in low supply so I got out the wools and told the kids to pick something out for me to make them some mittens.

I made these for Corbin:
Specs:
I used the House Mittens pattern from Charmed Knits.
US 4/3.75mm - 32" cable needle for magic loop
Harisville New England ww wool

He loves them which just tickles me. He keeps saying how excited he is to have them and how he wants to show them off.

I made these for Jade



Specs:
Same as above but I did knit the cuff a bit longer.

Finished Object Friday

I have more finished projects to share many were made last year and some more recently. I think this is why I have not blogged much. My hands are busier crocheting and knitting.


Skull Holder from the Happy Hooker

Another potholder from using yarn from the stash:

This is a free pattern you can find here


Diamond Dishcloths

Another free you can find here.


A few more colorful dishcloths I call my Sunshine Cloths.

I adapted the dishcloths design using the Sunny Spread square from Crochet Today! Jan/Feb 2008.



Mini-Mini Ball Bands

I made them thinking I would use them for small clean up jobs but they are he perfect size for a coaster.

Small Ball Band

I have these set aside for impromptu gifts. I love making these they are so easy and it's fun to play with the colors.

Plastic bag holder

This was my own design. I used up bits and bobs of size 10 crochet thread. I use it in the kitchen to store plastic bags.

Stay tuned for next friday's Finished Object installment of amigurmi and colorful bookmarks.

Finished Objects Friday

I've been busy.

I finished this baby blanket for my neice who likes frogs:






Specs:
The frog motif is by crochetroo who sells patterns on etsy.
Several Colors of Red Heart Soft and and I/5.0mm hook.
I wip stitched squares together and like how that looks.


Another pair of mittens, this ime they are for me.


Specs:
US 5 /3.75 mm circ needle to do magic loop
House Mitten Pattern from Charmed knits
Lambs Pride worsted in Chianti

Felted mittens for me too.


Specs
Double Cuff pattern from Knit One, Felt Too.

Patons wool in purple for the felting part
US 11 needles

Lambs Pride in turquoise for the cuffs and needle felted curlies. I which I had knitted the cuff a bit longer so it would go under the coat, without that there is a bit of a draft. The sure keep my hands warm. I did about 3 inches so I might do 6inches next time.

Frog tree alpaca in lavender and rowan silk spray in pinks used to crochet flowers that are needle felted on to the mittens.



Specs
My very first finsihed knit cables project and the first time I knit bobbles too. It turned out pretty good but I will need to work on my tension when doing cables.
Hat pattern from Charmed Knits
Knit Picks Andean Silk - 2 skeins - I love this yarn it is so soft!
US 8/ 5.0mm

Socks and socks

I finally finished off my Sockotta socks about a month ago.



I finally tackled those dang short rowed heel socks. This has a bunch of firsts for me: first pair of socks on magic loop, first short rowed heel and first toe up sock. It's my own pattern too. In the sense that I did a gauge swatch and figured out what I needed in gauge taking into account some negative ease then cast on and knit.

Other specs:
US 1/ 2.25mm 32" circs - I used two circ. needles with one sock on each using magic loop
Most of the ball of Sockotta



About a week ago I finished off these socks. The main first for these is the color toes and heel and the fancier stitch pattern.

Specs:
Twist sock pattern from Hello Yarn
cuff down/heel flap
ww cascade 220 heathers in purple and green from my stash
US4/3.5mm 32" cable needles for magic loop



These are for me and they keep my feet toasty! The only thing I wish I had done differently is make the entire toe part out of green. I like this pattern it's easy to get the rhythm of it. I'm sure to make more. I still have some sweater yarn and other worsted yarn that need using up.

I'm alive and well

I did have a cold last week but we all get better just in time for Halloween. We didn't do much decorating like we have done in past years. I totally forgot to take picks of the kids. Jade was a with and Corbin was well something kind of scary. He was going to be a a cowboy but changes his mind at the last minute.

The week before that we went camping south of Wichita It was a bit cold at night but kind of nice to get warm by a fire with s'mores and a hot cup of cocoa. We did lots of cooking over the fire and baking potatoes in the coals. The night sky was brilliant where we camped and we some shooting stars.

I've been busy getting all my wips wipped. I finally finished dear hubby's Gryfindor scarf. It make him look courageous don't you think ?



Specs:
free pattern on atypically.knit
Plymouth Encore Yarn
16" size 8 needles

This never ending scarf was not enough for me as I plan to cast on a Ravenclaw one for my son. I will cast on 70 sts instead of 90sts. So hopefully it won't take so long. I need to get a bit more yarn so I can make hubby a matching hat.

I finished sweater for me:



This is an adapted Suzanne Sweater from Cool Crochet by Melissa Leapman. It called for a hood and I made it a scooped neck cardigan instead by shaping the neck while I shaped the arm holes. I need to get some better pics and a close up if the buttons which are silvery look with a celtic design.

I used double crochet post stitch for edging around the neck and the bottom of the sweater. Then I did a crab stitch to finish it off and on the sleeves. I used about 8 skeins of Cascade Heathers and an H hook.

I ordered some yarn because dear daughter wants a cardigan like it. I got some yarn for me make another cardigan too. I don't have hardly any sweaters. So I am spoiling myself this winter.

I'd like to make a promise that I will post more often this month but I'm also trying not to spend so much time online. So we shall see.