Color Play

The dyeing I did yesterday cam out too unsaturated so I gave the yarn another go. While I liked the new tones, they are notvwhat I am looking for for this project. I'll have to play with saturation formulas later. After today's effort, I  am happy to say that I reproduced the saturated testcolors  rather well!  

I am well into knitting a second version of the brown bag to be felted. :). For both the felted and tightly-knit versions I am ready to add the intarsia. Now, with dyed and dried yarn in hand, I can begin!

Dyeing with Wilton

 I finally got my husband to confess what the look on his face was already telling me; he didn't like the Koolaid dye.  It lost something when knit in with the brown yarn into the bag.  The top stripe was fine, but the shamrock was getting lost.  He didn't want to be picky but I invited him to be.  (I reminded him just how excited I am to *finally* knit something for him.)

He finally pulled out a circuit board and said that's the color he's looking for.


So that night I took my stuff to my guild night and asked the ladies what they thought.  I could either buy the yarn (the shop didn't have my requirements in stock) or I could try Wilton dying.  I decided to do that.  So I did some research online and found some info.


This site has marvelous info on various kinds of dyeing: http://www.dyeyouryarn.com/wilton-general.html
These are the directions I followed (for the most part) and I am SO inspired by her gorgeous roving and yarn!  I will need to play with her technique some more.   http://keeponknittinginthefreeworld.blogspot.com/2006/11/wiltons-icing-gel-dying-tutorial.html


I bought three colors of Wilton icing dye at Michael's Craft store this afternoon; Kelly Green, Moss Green, and Juniper Green.  The Juniper label looked like what I wanted but I wasn't 100% sure how it would translate on yarn so I grabbed the three to play with.  They were about $2.45 a piece (1 oz.) and I had a 40% off coupon.


I got out some mason jars; pints for my mix jars and quarts for my cooking jars.  I mixed them up according the [the second website above]'s directions with vinegar and water.  Then I poured about half into jar and added a cup of warm water.  I dropped in a mini skein (tied at two points) of 10 yards into each jar and stirred it slightly.  Then I lined them up and they jars took turns nuking in the microwave for two minutes.  I think each jar when through three times but I was distracted by my kids.   Anyway, the water became see through.  The last little bit didn't get absorbed as I had overloaded the water.  That's okay.

I let them cool and later pulled them out with tongs and tossed them into a colander and rinsed.  (I wasn't sure if they'd leak on me.  Turns out they were fine, but I didn't want green fingers.)  I squeezed out the excess water and hung them up to dry.

When I check on them later I could see the final color (dry fiber will sometimes look different than when wet.)  They were close, but I decided to play with the fourth mini skein I had set aside.  I mixed a quarter cup of each the Kelly and Moss greens together in a mason jar and added the cup of water and yarn.  I really like how this one came out.  I think its the computer-board green he's wanting.  We'll see when it's completely dry!

Furthermore, I also finally set some alpaca yarn that I finished spinning a few weeks ago.  It is what I was spinning at World Wide Knit in Public Day.  That was my final batt I was working on from that fiber.  It was the very first fiber I processed raw from the animal and I am so excited that it is finally done!  Most of it I spun on my drop spindle  Only two of these skeins where spun on my wheel and the other was plied on my wheel. 


I'm a bit embarrassed that one of the skeins got messed up but this is real life and it's not always pretty.  Somehow there was only one single tie on it when I usually do four!  I didn't realize it until I was hanging it up.  I will probably re-skein it after it is dry and re-set it again.

WIPs

My sister asked me today what I had going on and I had to really think about my WIPs*. Since I surprised myself how much I had going when I wrote them all down I thought I'd share them with you. :)

*WIPs is short for Work In Progress; things I have either on the needles or in elsewhere in process.

Completed Sasquatch socks.

1. I'm designing a dice bag. 
2. I'm knitting a pair or socks for a friend (This is third part of a set of three. The Sasquatch socks are done, as are mine. Now I have to make the matching pair for the 3rd person in our set of friends.).  
3. Making a hat for a babysitter.  
4. Working on a SAPGAP trade. 
5. I also have another design hibernating.  (Hopefully it'll come back out soon.
6. Next I want to design some summer driving mitts.  I contemplating a Mario Kart design.  (If you can think of a better geek driving idea, let me know.  I'm still flexible at this stage.)
7. I have an idea for a baby blanket for my sister who is due any day now. (She knows it wont be ready for a few months and she's in California where its 95 degees anyway.)
8. Ongoing charity blanket
9. Ongoing Beekeeper's quilt
10. Drop spindle project
11. Need to set the yarn I finished spinning a couple weeks ago. 
12. A special order box bag. 

 

Lol. I might have a few things to keep me busy. You know, other than my three kids and the housework. :P

 

 



Fiber for second SAPGAP trade.

 

Ready for testing

The Luck Sack pattern is complete!  Would anyone like to test knit it?  You will get a free copy of the pattern and, when you link your Ravelry project to my pattern, I will send you a $2 off coupon code for my online shop. Www.etsy.com/shop/RCozyKnits. 

If interested, email me at RachelsCozyKnits@comcast.net. 

Making Swatches

Yesterday I promisted you that I'd give you an update on my pattern "Luck Sack."  Here's what the bag currently looks like:

Thats is my handspun California Red / Huacaya yarn that I just finished for SAPGAP, a portion of it dyed with lime Koolaid. A walkthrough of the technique will be included with the pattern. You can also search the internet.  I had fun trying out a few combinations yesterday. :D

When the bag is finished I intend to felt it so that no dice can force their way through a stitch. I did a swatch in the yarn, 25 sts by 25 sts.  Then it was time to felt it. 

(Well, technically turning a knitted piece into a felt-like fabric is called "fulling" but most non-knitters don't know that.  I prefer to stick to layman's terms so I will call it "felting" here.)

I measured my knitted piece then I went and held it in the sink under hot/warm running water and rubbed it viggirously.  I folded it in half and used the swatches' own abrasiveness. It rolled up and I used that, too.  Then I unwound it from itself and folded it the opposite direction and rubbed again. Think; using a scoring pad to scour itself. 

I did this over and over again until I was satisfied that it was done felting. I tugged at the edges to get it to lay out. 

I meaured how big it was again.  I divided the new size by the old size.  My swatch is 66% of its original size in both directions (sts and rows). So I know it shrunk by 33%.  Using those numbers I can now calculate how many stitches to cast on or increase to while knitting to get my finidhed felted piece to the size I want. 

Furthermore, this pattern is going to have an intarsia (method of adding a color picture to the knitting) shamrock. I needed to write out the graph and test it. I hand drew a shamrock on knitters graph paper. (The boxes are rectangles instead of squares to reflect the shape of the knit stitch.)  I then knitted up the swatch using some scrap yarn. (I don't want to waste my good handspun!)

I snugged up the intarisa too tight but didn't worry too much. I went and felted this swatch. 

I'm sure you can see some of the problems. 

1) The too tight intarsia did effect the swatch

2) The scrap sock wool I used was 25% nylon and didn't felt right. 

3) The middle leaves are too tall, the side leaves too wide. You can't even see the stem!

4) It is a little smaller than the requested 3" square. 

So I hit the graph paper again. I also use some rejected Koolaide-dyed yarn to do the colorwork. I liked the color but it wasn't what my husband envisioned for his bag.  Here is the new swatch I finished this morning:

And here is the reverse side with very loose stranding. 

Before I felted the swatch I made sure to tidy up the color change stitches but tugging firmly, yet gently, on those back loose strands. I wove in my ends and then got to work at the sink.

 

Victory!  I love it.  My husband is happy with it.  The shamrock is about 3 1/8" square so it is the right size. I yanked a bit too hard on the right side but that issue should be eliminated when on the bag.  Now it's time to knit the graph into the bag.  Woohoo!  It is so exciting seeing everything come togather. 

By the way, the next time you think a pattern is too expensive, think about all the trial and error that went into it. All the drawing and swatching I've done has taken an estimated 6-7 hours. That's not counting knitting the final product!


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California Red

Hello!

Last night was my once-a-month spinning guild meeting. It was also our annual alpaca fleece sale as our local supplier sheered just last week. This time we also had another vendor come in with his hand dyed roving and yarns. 

He also brought some raw fleece that I've never spun before; Rambouillet and Targhee. I couldn't resist them so I came home with a pound of the former and half a pound of the latter. They're unskirted so he gave me a bit extra to make up for the waste as he didn't have time to skirt it (take out all the short bits) right then. 

Because of the sale I knew there wouldn't be much room for spinning so I left my wheel at home and brought my drop spindle. I grabbed my California Red roving that I bought at Oregon Flock and Fiber last year.  I also brought Thomas' drop spundle as he came with me. He ended up playing a game in the other room so I used his spindle to teach a new person to spin. I think I've got another one hooked!  :D

This is how much I spun last night, between guild time and later at home. 

Let me tell you a bit about this fiber. I've spun another ball of this roving already and plied it wuth some Shetland. Just recently I blended some with huacaya alpaca to make batts and spun it for my SAPGAP trade. I really like it!  Because of the red hairs being a little corser it isn't as soft as some other wools but it is still soft and squishy. I absolutley love the color depth of this fiber; there are no parallels. 

It spins fantasticly and lets me spin it fairly finely.  Some of this single is what people would call sewing thread. 

The California Red sheep is a rare breed with an interesting history.  It was the result of cross breeding in the 1970s in California to try to create a wool-less meat sheep. Obviously the failed on the wool-less, instead they got a great dual-purpose sheep with wonderful unique fiber. 

If you'd like to know more about this breed of sheep and its interesting story check out this link:  http://www.caredsheep.com

Here is my previosly spun 3 ply (2 Cal Red, 1 Shetland):

I know my blog has been spinning- heavy of late. Because that is where progress is being made. My knitting is slow going as my two projects are. I still need to try the Sasquatch socks on the recipient (hopefully Friday!) and I'm swatching my intarsia for the Luck Sack.  I'll give you a progress report of the design tomorrow.


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World Wide Knit in Public Day

I've been quiet for several days with good reason;

1) I was celebrating World Wide Knit in Public Day on Saturday and Sunday. 

2) My daughter assisted me with spilling water on my computer.

I took my Macbook Pro into Apple this afternoon and found out it *is* fixable but expensive. I still have to talk to my husband to find out what we're going to do.  Sorry for typos I missed; I'm typing on my phone.

Now that I've told you the painful part, let me tell you about the fun stuff!  Saturday, June 13th was the (10th?) annual World Wide Knit in Public Day.  Knitters all over the world gather together in public places and knit in public, spreading the news of our fun, functional, and healthful hobby.  This year there were over 800 registered gatherings; my guild, Black Sheep Guild,  did 3 locations over two days. 

In addition to my knitting I took my spinning wheel to the Hillsboro Farmers Market demo on Saturday. I've demonstraited at many events now and I know the wheel draws lots if attention. At first I just used it as a prop but when I got to a stopping point in [the pattern I am designing] I switched to the wheel. 

As I sat there, with three of my guild members, lots of people came by to visit and talk.  We gave out all the knitters prizes given to us Black Sheep at Orenco (my favorite local yarn store) and many guild fliers. I also brought some color pages for the kiddos. I'd be surpised if we didn't see some of those new faces at our guild events!

I don't think anyone caught a picture of me but here are my friends having fun. 

Also not pictured is my middle child, Thomas, who was having loads of fun getting soaked in the fountain!

I also made a short appearance at the Orenco Farmers Market on Sunday where more guild membets were continuing the fun.   This time I brought my daughter, Anna.  She played with my camera. While it is a pretty bad picture, it is pretty good for a three year old. (At least it's focused!). 

Those are my Sasquatch Socks I'm working on there.

TTFN!

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow me by email or Google+ so you don't miss anything!
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You can also find me at the following sites:
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Dishcloth Roses

I've finally finished up the gifts for my son's teachers and school staff.  My son has ADHD and was having lots of difficulty in his 1st grade general education classroom.  Many people have helped him to succeed and he is now placed in a classroom where he has more support.  I want to thank the many staff that put in many hours to help him.

So I made dishcloths.  Dishcloths are great to keep on hand for emergency gifts.  I happened to not have replenished my stash the last time I gifted dishcloths so I've been working on them on and off for the last several weeks.  I now I have ten cloths to play with.  Now, a single dishcloth isn't that huge of a thank you gift so I've dressed them up!  I found a tutorial and rolled them up into roses.  I did mine very similar to this except I wrapped it around the eraser end of a pencil.  I tweaked my fold and roll a little bit to accommodate the thickness of the dishcloth.

Before I wrapped the rose, I wrapped the pencil up with crape paper at a diagonal so it would roll right up the pencil.  I then ripped off a length of crape paper about 8" and folded it in half.  At the folded side, I pushed in the corner, folding a triangle inside.  I repeated that on the other side to make a point.  Then on the ripped side I folded the edges in paper-airplane style so I now have a leaf-like shape.  The ripped side I laid on top of the eraser end of the pencil then I proceeded to roll up the dishcloth rose.

Prepared pencil, leaf and wrapping.

Next I folded a piece of tissue paper into an offset triangle then made a tri-fold along the bottom followed by another tri-fold.  I then inserted the rose into the pocket with the leaf sticking out of the gap and did one last tri-fold around the stem.  I grabbed a piece of scrap ribbon (I keep a bunch on hand from gifts, store packaging, etc) and tied it around.  Lastly I tucked a thank you note into the tissue paper behind the rose.

And there we go!  A simple gift with a nice presentation makes a very satisfactory thank-you gift!

SAPGAP Shipped out

I finished my Spin A Pound Get a Pound spinning!  I am really excited about spinning all this yarn so evenly.  It was the first real effort I've made to try to get a spun yarn to a specific thickness.  All my personal yarns to date had been spun as thinly as possible and then I'd figure out where it was afterwards.  This yarn I spun specifically to a 2-ply fingering weight as that is was the wool's owner requested.  I did mini samples at the beginning to test how to do the spin, then adjusted my wheel ratio (how fast the wheel spins) and my drafting method I switched to long draw (one technique of pulling the fiber thin before the twist secures the fibers).

I was so excited about shipping this swap that I designed myself a yarn label with my logo and yarn details. :D 

Sharon, the person who owned the wool, is so excited to get her hands on her share of the yarn.  She shared with me that she plans to make a shawl to wear to church with it.  As she is getting the four skeins on the right I think she'll have plenty to play with!

As for me, my husband has requested his very first knitted item from me; a "luck sack."  This is a huge deal as I've been knitting for four years and he has previously refused to let me make him anything.  Not one thing!  So today I was able to wind one of my skeins into a cake and I can start a swatch and get designing something just for him. :)  The mini skeins are destined to be dyed and become the intarsia (picture) portion of my pattern.

For any spinners and fiber growers out there who wish to check out Spin A Pound Get a Pound, here is a link.  The group is very business like and there are a lot of rules in the group but they are all reasonable.  Every rule is in place to keep the growers and spinners safe from fraud or to keep the moderators from being overwhelmed with repeating themselves.  I am very happy with my first experience in the group.

Podcasts

I am never doing just one thing. I just don't have enough time in the day to do everything I need and want to do one-at-a-time. I listen a lot as I go about my daily routine.   This engages my mind as my hands do routine tasks. I love my audiobooks but I often listen to podcasts, too.  Some educate me while others inspire or amuse me.

Knit 1 Geek 2

My favorite podcast!  Maggie and Karen are just like me; geeks who are knitters and knitters who are geeks. They are funny and passionate about their interests from knitting and spinning to TV, books and the silver screen.  I love so many genres that it is rare to meet someone as passionate about my variety but these two hit nearly all of them!

The Bird Thing Podcast

Marly Bird is a wonderful host; she makes interviews fun while telling us what is going in in the fiber community. She mostly focuses in knit and crochet subjects. There is always a giveaway!

The Knitmore Girls

This is a multi-generational family-friendly show.   The mom and daughter duo often talk about knitting or spinning with the 3-year old granddaughter and make me think of my own little girl's interests in fiber arts.  These two women have been immersed in the fiber community their whole lived yet still enjoy talking about their weekly victories and mishaps. 

Domestic CEO, Quick and Dirty Tips

Not fiber related, but its a good 5-ish minute podcast on how to manage your home.  There are lots of good tips from getting organized to how to clean out the refrigerator.

Dizzy

Hello!

I know, I started up this blog and then fell off the face of the earth.  The thing is that I got really sick.  *Really* sick.  I was in bed for 5 days.  For other mothers out there, you know what that looked like; I had to try to parent from bed with a headache, dizzy, nauseated, lethargic, etc.   The second day my eyes hurt so much that I was essentially blind.  (My eyes were strained and looked, and felt like, those cartoons with the torpedo shaped eyes.)  It was a miserable week.  Also, because I was having to parent from bed, it takes longer to recover from an illness as I can't truly rest.  So I was slow going for days afterwords while also trying to play catch-up with all the chores.

Fast forward.

Everything is back to just the normal chaos now.  Trying to get my homeschooler to do his schoolwork.  Trying to get my 1st grader to do his homework and shoo him out the door.  Trying to keep my preschooler from breaking everything in site.  And of course I have a project to focus on to keep my sanity.

My big project right now is a spinning project.  I am part of Spin A Pound, Get a Pound on Facebook.  Essentailly growers and spinners meet in the group, "growers" will offer fiber that needs some work (washing, picking, preping, spinning, dying) and "spinners" will do the work and be paid in a portion of the fiber.  What needs to be done and percentages vary depending each deal and is worked out between the grower and spinner.

I am working on a deal with spinning California Red wool and haucaya alpaca seconds (shorter fibers).  When I got them they were washed and picked clean (all the seeds and grass, etc, removed.)  I then fluffed up the fiber and ran it through the drum carder.  Then I blended the two fibers together to make blended batts.  It sounds fast, but it isn't really.  It took several hours watching tv to open up the matted (from washing) fiber and then several hours in front of the big machine to get the final blended batts.  I then weighed the fiber and separated them into 50g bags.  Each bag I will spin onto a spool and then I will ply two spools together for the final yarn in 100g skeins.

Then I did a little test min-skien.  The first fiber came out too thick (left sample), she requested fingering weight, so I adjusted my wheel and drafting style.  I then came up with the right size (right sample). Then I started spinning and spinning and spinning.  It is hard to describe how relaxing spinning is.  It is very calming, relaxing and meditative.  When watching another spinner working just the rhythm is mesmerizing.  There is a draw back, however.  I found that when I was spinning all day and stopped occasionally for other household chores (entertaining my preschooler, making lunch, fetching the kiddo from school) I was in a sort of trance.  lol  I need to be careful of how much spinning I do during the day! 

Here's what I have done so far.  I'm just about half-way through the fiber.  I already have plans for some of my share of the fiber.  My husband has requested a special geeky dice bag.  When I write up the pattern I will tell you more about it!  I hope to have it done later this month. :)  Now I have to go spin some more so I can get to use my yarn!

 

In other news, I finished another audiobook in my series while I was in bed and later at my wheel.  It was Crossroads at Twilight, part of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.  Listening to an audiobook is a lovely accompaniment to any household chore or creative outlet.  :D  The mind is engaged while the hands are working.  I love the epic fantasies that keep going and going and going...