Adventures in Kool-Aid dyeing, take 2

I found a skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky in "Creme" tonight, so I decided to give KA dyeing another go. First, I wound the yarn into a hank using my handy dandy swift!



(Lesson learned #1: a small-diameter hank = three days' drying time.)

After soaking, I laid the yarn out on a flattened-out trash sack on the counter.



(Lesson learned #2: no matter how good Saran Wrap sticks to itself, if there is a seam, the water will run through it and stain your counter. Lesson learned #3: bleach works quite well to clean it up.)

Next came black cherry, two packets to 8 oz. water. (Is that Kool-Aid or is it...BLOOD?!? Muahahahahahaha!!!)



(Lesson learned #4: pouring it out of a glass does not work so well. Cheapy sports bottles from Walgreen's made it much easier to apply the dye.)

And here we are after applying dye #2 (two packets of grape in 8 oz. water) and microwaving. Looks a bit like intestines, actually...



(Lesson learned #5: grape comes out more grey than purple. oh well...maybe I can make something and market it to goths.)

The yarn is happily soaking now. I'm very, very pleased with the black cherry color and I will definitely do that part again. The grape, eh, we'll see how it looks once it's knit up.

Adventures in Kool-Aid dyeing

This started out as Cascade 220 in a pale pink color. I used some black cherry koolaid. It didn't turn out quite like I wanted - I was aiming for a striping effect by dyeing two wedges with the KA and leaving the rest intact - but I think it's still pretty. It'll probably end up being a charity hat. I just wanted to try it more than anything, and I learned some lessons. Like, I don't care how many people recommend Saran Wrap...next time, I'm using a cookie sheet. I had to use more than one strip of Saran and even though I overlapped them, the dye still seeped between the strips and stained my countertop a little bit. I'm also probably going to go to the beauty supply store and get a few hair dye-esque squeeze bottles.

Next up, Dream Swatch.



This is Tahki Yarns "cotton classic color" in colour 104. This is going pretty quick, and I started it mostly because I needed something non-black and non-wool to work on. Why, you ask? Because of this:



Sweater for Mr. Nekkid, very near completion (at least, compared to the last time I photographed it). It's been disgustingly hot, and naturally this is like a small double-thick wool blanket in my lap. Ugh. I hope this proves that I love him, because if knitting half a pound of wool sweater in the summertime in Oklahoma isn't love, I don't know what is.

Oh yes, one more thing. Belated b-day present from Mr. Nekkid:



hee hee :)

On a roll

I finished another languishing WIP today. It's a panta, and I'm pretty sure that it's been on the needles since March or April. (I remember putting it aside when it ceased to be frigidly cold earlier this year.)



It's made out of...well, I don't really remember. I think maybe something by Blue Sky Alpacas. Whatever it is, I know I only bought one skein of it, and I still have a little left over.

Then there's today's LYS 30% off purchases:



- 3 skeins Berroco Ultra Silk (40/40/20 rayon/nylon/silk) in color 6119
- 3 skeins Berroco Ultra Silk in color 6147
- 4 skeins GGH Linova (74/26 cotton/linen) in some unbleached cotton-ish color

The Ultra Silk is destined to become more wine bottle bags. I'm hoping to refine the pattern a bit and submit it to Knitty. Haven't a clue what to do with the Linova, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Lastly, my bday present from Mr. Nekkid should be here soon! I'm very excited. :)

Happy birthday to meeee....

Okay, so my birthday isn't till next Friday. But I'll be on PTO next week, so my coworkers gave me my present today...a $60 gift card to LYS. So after much deliberation, here is my birthday yarn.



1,100 yards of laceweight silk by Claudia's Handpainted Yarn. I'm sure it will be a while before I find a project worthy of it, but for now, isn't it pretty?!

Also, I finished Clapotis a few nights ago.



It was originally going to be a gift, but now I think it's mine. :)

I am weak.

I was able to resist buying a $23 pair of earrings yesterday, because I'd just spent $27 the night before on that yarn at LYS. But later in the day, we ended up at Joann's, and, well...I had an accident.



I have been collecting this yarn for months. It retailed for $5.99/ball. Every other week, I'd go and buy a ball (always of the same dyelot) with my 40% off coupon. Then one week I went in and it was on sale for 35% off, so I bought all that was on the shelf (maybe 6 or 7 balls). At that point I think I had a dozen balls. I know where at least half of them are...the rest must be in one of the various stash-management attempts I have here and there. Anyway, yesterday when I went in to Joann's (I was only looking for buttons for the baby sweater, honest!) I made the mistake of going down the clearance aisle. There, on the bottom shelf, was my beloved lavender Tesoro. Marked down to $2.37/ball. I bought all eight that they had in the right dyelot. I feel I showed admirable restraint in not buying the other two orphans while I was at it. I also managed to leave behind the several balls of yellow (more than enough to make a cute little baby set) in the bin.

I am still weak, though. I'm considering heading to the other Joann's in town to clean them out, too.

Clapotis is still progressing. I've started straight-row repeat #13 (granted, only one row of it is done). But still. This is the last repeat before I get to DECREASE. I think it'll be finished by this weekend...in fact, I'm sure of it (unless something crazy comes up).

Oh, and since it's been a while since I've given a Tallulah update, I'll leave you with the link to this video I posted on YouTube. She's really come out of her shell and gotten playful. Her favorite toy? Ponytail holders, which she steals out of my purse. Mr. Nekkid actually caught her in the act of digging around in my purse with her paw (no, really, I'm not kidding). I'm sure that when we move, we'll find a bunch of these things underneath the couch and coffee table and bookcases and...anyway. Watch the video...she's cute!

WIPs

I'm trying this crazy thing. I'm finishing old projects before starting new ones. Weird, huh? I went through my stash and frogged a few things, and picked up others that have been in progress for a while. Project 1: Clapotis.



This is what it looked like when I picked it back up about a week ago. I was somewhere in the middle of the fourth straight row repeat.



This is what it looked like this morning. And I've done a few more rows...in fact, I just finished the tenth straight row repeat. Three more, and I get to start decreasing! WOOOO!!

Meanwhile, Friday night is sweater night at the LYS, so I finally got back to Mr. Nekkid's sweater last night. It looks incredibly similar to the last pic I took...just a few more rows of grey. I think the stripe is just about wide enough, and then soon I'll have to figure out just exactly how long the sleeves need to be. Eek.

Finally, a little yarn pr0n. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with this, but it's MINE.



Six balls of Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed, from LYS sale wall (50% off!). I hope I have enough to make myself a nice cozy wrap or something.

Almost done!

Now it just needs blocking and buttons. I'll be blocking it as soon as Mr. Nekkid is done with the ironing board, and I ordered some buttons from Etsy last night. I hope they work, because I haven't found any others that seemed right.

Success!

Pea Pod Sweater update

In my ever-present effort to avoid seaming, I grafted the shoulders on the PPBS. Next time, though, I think I will do a three-needle bind off...my grafting wasn't horrible, but neither was it flawless, and I think the bindoff would have looked nicer. Anyway, I then took the quest one step further. Instead of knitting the sleeves separately and paying the girl at the LYS to sew them on, I picked up stitches around the sleeve and am knitting it outward. It required a little pattern modification, but I think it's turning out very nicely. Here's where I was mid-evening last night:



And now, the sleeve is only about 8 rows away from completion. I'm really very pleased with it, and I may never make sleeves any other way again. :)