Tuesday, June 06, 2006

dyeing update... and a few other things

Okie dokie, first things first: the kool-aid dyeing thing was more awesome than I can accurately say. I am sad that there is no more blue kool-aid to be purchased anymore (I really want to dye blue yarn, but I don't want to mess with mordants and strange dyes right now). Part of the fun is the surprise you get when the dyeing is done and the skein is hung up to dry. I made my dye of a combination of regular cherry and pink lemonade and it turned out to be this wonderful hot coral color. I dyed the yarn so that it's vareigated. It is now on the needles as a feather and fan sock a la Wendy Knits! It's coming along very well, though it has been derailed by my project A.D.D. My birthday was yesterday and as an early birthday present, I purchased a semi-precious stone whorl drop spindle from Yarn Botanika via ETSY and a crapload of roving and silk hankies from The Yarn Tree to teach myself how to spin. I got through my first 2 ounces of undyed merino and managed a semi-decent bit of singles. I'm afraid to ply it... we're planning trips to Lincoln, NE and Estes Park, CO (both places with decent yarn stores) this month and I want to have someone show me in person how to do this. I have been bitten by the spinning bug and I couldn't wait to have someone show me how to ply the yarn, so I dug into the 2 oz. of the dyed merino that came with my spindle kit and have been spinning on it. I am actually getting a fairly consistent very thin single that should ply up to be laceweight. The roving is dyed this amazing lapis blue with some navy and yellow-green spots in it that are making the coloration of this yarn something to behold. I'm so excited to see how it plies up and swatch something with it.

I have abandoned the candle flame shawl in the alpaca. I'm having a problem with the chart-reading and I frogged the thing and started over with the Branching Out lace pattern (with three chart repeats across so instead of a scarf I should have a fairly nicely sized stole) from Knitty.

I haven't touched the sock for Mom other than to get about 3 repeats on the second sock leg. She loved the one I wrapped up and gave to her on Mother's day and smiled when I said that she'll have the second one in time for her fall Student Teaching. (Who wants to wear wool socks in Nebraska in the middle of craptastically hot summer and humidity anyway?)

I borrowed "Mason-Dixon Knitting" from the library this weekend and I am now experimenting with washcloths. Peaches and Creme yarn is $1.27 per skein here and the projects are knitting up quickly. I don't like the patterns for the ballband washcloth, so I'm taking inspiration from those fine ladies and trying my own patterns. We'll see how they go. They're a nice break from socks and Mac's sweater and the shawl (to which I have to pay attention and therefore can't knit on that in the drive-up line at Wendy's) and in my purse they will reside until everyone in my acquaintance has a washcloth in their linen closets.
Needless to say, I'll have a couple "finish me now" projects to take to Colorado. I'm very much looking forward to an entire week of no work and minimal monster-minding (thanks to the Aunts and Uncles), so I can just put up my feet and knit and fish and shop and weird out my in-laws and RELAX. I soooo deserve this vacation. Yay for MIL to think of this great trip.