Taking the Plunge!

Or what soon may be 'Pulling out my Hair'!!

My next endeavor is a tank top for me. This will be a first 'it's gotta be right to fit' pattern.

According to Amy at my LYS it's a very easy pattern,,,easy for her maybe!!!

I'm using a Knitting Pure & Simple pattern:

I'll be knitting with a light blue shade of Queensland Bamboo cotton.

Wish me luck!!

Summer Shrug

Just in time for the 100 degree heat of a Texas summer I finished my button-up shrug.

This was a learning experience for me!

I learned the importance (and peace of mind) of a life line when knitting!

I learned how to do (and un do) a provisional cast-on.

I learned how to make a button hole, even though I haven't found just the right button to add.

The most important thing I learned, though, is I really like doing lace! I like it so much that I'm contemplating using this same pattern to make another shrug, maybe in an almond color. Admittedly this was an easy pattern. I might not be saying this if I tried a more difficult one. Time will tell I guess! *L*

Any thoughts on another color or pattern ?

Soft Linen Button up Shrug from Make it Modern using Classic Elite Yarns Soft Linen Lupine.

Green is the new black, seriously!

 After Laura left on Sunday, the husband informed me he really liked her green yarn.  As I was planning to knit him a henley and he had already requested one in green, this was no surprise.

This is the design he selected from Knits Men Want:

Because I needed 2000 yards or about 2 pounds of dk weight yarn, I had to dye in two batches.  My methodology was to mix up enough dye stock for both batches and carefully measure the requisite amounts for each.

The first batch came out exactly like the test skein.

The second one was about three shades lighter.

I seriously have no clue as to why, unless it had something to do with the dye stock sitting out for an hour after I combined the colors and until I could complete the first batch.  I have only one dye pot, you see.

Scratching my head, I felt compelled to make all four 560 yard skeins as closely as possible and defied the experts by mixing up a third batch and dyeing everything together.  This was moderately successful.

I did learn that omitting (intentionally) the glauber salt will result in a more mottled dye strike, which was fortunately what I was striving to achieve.

I also learned you can dye 2 pounds of yarn in half the liquid volume recommended.  There are semi-solid variations of green with spots of blue throughout all four skeins; however, the husband (extremely smart man that he is) expressed complete satisfaction and noted he wanted it to look hand-dyed and not perfectly uniform in color.

The eyes do not deceive.  The skein in front is a darker shade, but that darkness also appears in various areas of the other three skeins, too.

Knitted up, it looks lovely.

I have hereby dubbed the color:  Hubby Verde.

Laura was here!

And yarn was dyed, but only after lunch and a good visit.

Yarn:  Kona superwash dk
Color:  Laura Gruene, what else?

Feeling blue

The yarn I have been dyeing is Kona Superwash DK.  As I needed to order some Glauber salt (it is supposed to create a more uniform dye strike), I decided to try a different yarn base.  The above is Gaia Worsted.  The Kona and Gaia are both 100% merino superwash; however, the Kona seems a bit shinier.

My goal was to replicate a test skein I had done the other day, altering my methods slightly.  The test skein was done on a small 20-yard skein without the salt (because the cute UPS guys with the nice legs had not yet brought it to me).  It was also done in a mason jar and steamed, rather than kettle-dyed.

As you can see from the background, this shot came out quite a bit darker than the top one, but this is a good representation of the test skein.  I LOVE it.

When both skeins are shot together, the little test skein was slightly darker, but far more mottled.

The mottling is most likely due to the addition of salt, but it could also be a result of steaming the yarn in a jar.  As it is not really viable to steam a full 560-yard skein of yarn in a jar, I am hoping the difference is, indeed, the salt.

While not a perfect match, the tone, shade, and depth of color, as well as the uniformity of the color throughout, is lovely.  I was striving to achieve a semi-solid skein.

The next test run will be the Kona dk for a green sweater for the husband.  As it requires over 2,000 yards, about 2 pounds of yarn, it will have to be done in two separate batches.  I will mix the dye stock first, then divide appropriately between the batches.  I think I will omit the Glauber salt this time, hoping for more mottling which will help the eye in the event there are shade variations between the two batches.

This is what will accompany me on vacation next week!

Dye for Me! UPDATED

It all started because I wanted sweater quantities of yarn in colors I adored.

For the prior few months I have been reading, studying, plotting, planning, and procuring.

The last of my acquisitions arrived this week.  With Sweet One's assistance, the chemistry whiz she is, we transformed dye powder into dye stock last night.  The plan was (and is) for Laura to join me on Sunday for a little dyeing party, a first for the Feisty household; however, no sooner had we mixed up eight different colors did the little jars of promise begin to whisper my name.  Before I knew it, I had 10 small skeins, 20 yards each to play with.

The first three from last night came out a bit mottled, but I find them charming nonetheless:

As soon as they were dry (enough), I quickly knit them up into a swatch.

The yarn is Henry's Attic Kona DK superwash.  Something I consider to be a good weight for South Texas.

Spurred on with a little confidence, I quickly mixed together a few more custom colors and before I knew it, I had sweet little skeins to keep me company.

There is quite a bit of green, isn't there?

The husband has requested a sweater, one in green, no less.  Now he has something to choose from.

Feeling pretty spunky, feisty even, I resisted the temptation to dye the remaining big skeins, after all, two belong to someone else (Laura) and it just would not have been right to dye *everything* before Sunday.

Instead, I eyed a sweater I had knit in a very neutral shade, one that did not quite suit my complexion, this one:

Pretty, no?

It is Malabrigo.

It looks like this at this very moment:

The good news:  It's a lovely shade of blackberry (or so I am calling it).

The bad news:  I think I have managed to felt it.

Pride goeth before the fall...

sigh.

Good or no, I shall post the results when it finally dries in the next day or so.

UPDATE:

The dye Gods are smiling down upon us!!

It lives!!

The yarn in the neck line is what was left over from the knitting of this GORGEOUS sweater!

Yay!

I am so happy!

Knitting furiously...

just not much I can share to show for it.

Since the beginning of the year I have been test knitting, designing, and test knitting some more, but most of the projects are super secret; however, a few of the secrets have now been revealed.

My test knitting is primarily for Woolgirl who has the most amazing kits!

In her Alice in Wonderland series of kits, I knit socks for the Mad Hatter and for Alice, respectively:

Then, for her Miss Babs Club featured Katharine Hepburn with this beret and pair of mits.

One of these days, I will think to take a picture of one of these kits when it first arrives to share who truly wonderful they are!

Happy Knitting!