Episode 37: Adventures in Hand Dyeing Yarn

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On the Needles:
Vanilla Socks for Dennis using Cakewalk Yarns in Clove
Karise Shawl by Karina Westermann, using Halcyon Victoria


Yarn Acquisitions:

Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks that Rock Light Weight

• Mad Hatter
• Smokin' Cuz I Am

StashBustArmy:

• Honey Pullover by Amy Miller
• Bienvenue mon coeur Baby Cardigan by Kasia Lubinska
• Pucker Socks by General Hogbuffer

Tutorial: My First Dye Job

 Behold! My first attempt at dyeing yarn! I must say, I'm extremely proud of myself. 

After interviewing several indie hand-dyers over on KnitNook.net, I was totally inspired to try it myself. This past week, (aside from being glued to Netflix watching Vampire Diaries) I've been watching tutorials on YouTube and reading Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan. When Friday rolled around, I couldn't wait to dive in!

I did order a bare skein of sock yarn and some Jacquard acid dyes from Knit Picks but after doing more research, I decided to go the safe route and start off with food coloring. Otherwise, I would have had to invest in a separate pot, a face mask, funnel and all these other misc. tools (which for future reference, my local dollar store amazingly has all of!) Food coloring is at least safe and natural.

So, as you can see in the orange bowl, I had a small skein of 100% wool (leftover Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool) soaking 3 cups of luke warm water and 1 cup vinegar. I let it soak for 30 minutes. 

 

In the meantime, I mixed the dye stock. I just filled 2 separate cups with tepid water, then mixed the food coloring until I got the shade I liked. I placed a few drops on a paper towel to test the shade.

After 30 minutes, I removed the skein from the soak, gently squeezed excess water out and placed it in a flattened plastic bag. I pulled the bottom of the bag up through the middle of the skein to create a kind of mote. Then I poured one dye mixture on half the skein, gently massaging it in. (I stress gently, because you don't want to felt the yarn... which I now see is very easy to do, if you're not careful) Then I poured the other dye mixture on the other half of the skein. 

 Next, I wrapped it up and tossed it in the microwave for 2 minutes, 30 seconds. OK, this part freaked me out a little. I wasn't too keen on nuking plastic... but I suppose it wasn't in long enough to melt. I just tried not to breathe in any fumes upon opening the microwave door to remove it.

After taking it out of the microwave, I let it cool down a bit. I checked to see if the dye had been "exhausted" from the water... and it had! This part made me really giddy because I realized I didn't screw anything up!  -- always a good feeling :P

After that, I rinsed it out in more tepid water with a little dish detergent to remove excess dye-- (which was practically nothing)... then again, gently squeezed excess water out of the skein and hung it on a plastic hanger in my bath tub to dry... and voila!

 I have to say, this was so much fun... and easy! Laura from Gynx Yarns was right... I can see how this is going to become very addicting!

Vampire Weeks

Hello! I'm here and still alive... It's just after moving and settling into our new apartment, I seem to have fallen into a knitting coma.

I've been completely monogamous to knitting my Monkey Socks while plowing through all of season one and some of season 2 of The Vampire Diaries on Netflix... then watching Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 on iTunes.

I'm glad the socks are off the needles but on the other hand, I'm totally vampired out! I think my motive here was to finish them before I cast on anything else because knowing me, I'd get distracted and never pick them up again. So I let myself get sucked into some guilty-pleasure TV (pun intended).

So the Monkey Socks are done. Now I'm knitting a pair of V Junkie socks from Alice Yu's Socktopus: 17 socks to knit and show off, which I reviewed over on KnitNook.net! So, not only am I on a vampire kick, I'm on a sock knitting kick as well. Good times!

In other news, for my birthday I treated myself to a Kindle Fire... Let me just say, I'm in love! My office loaned me an iPad but to be honest, I never take the thing with me because it's so heavy. Most people criticize the Kindle Fire because it doesn't have 3G -- meaning without a wi-fi signal, you can't connect to the internet. I'm quite alright with that, because if I need internet on-the-go, I have my iPhone. I only plan on using Fire for reading books during my commute, Netflix and to store knitting pattern PDF files... This way I can watch TV with Dennis and knit on the sofa, or in the car. Referring to patterns on an iPhone in the car is no bueno... just saying. Also, I downloaded a few knitting magazines a while back... now I can actually take them with me and read them properly! So yeah, very happy with my new toy :)

So, that's what I've been up to these past few weeks. I hope to get a new podcast episode out soon! In the meantime, happy knitting!

~ K

Episode 36: The Yarn Fortress

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Announcements:

• Stitchmistress' TV Knitting Podcast
• IKEA, EDLAND linen closet
• Downton Abbey on PBS
• Birthday dining in Brooklyn:
• Five Leaves restaurant in Brooklyn (NY Times article about Heath Ledger)
• Nights & Weekends bar in Brooklyn (owned by Five Leaves)

KnitNook.net Update:

• Interview w/ Hoxton Handmade of the Electric Sheep podcast
• Interview w/ GreenTriangleGirl of the A Playful Day podcast

'The Yarn Fortress'

On the Needles:

• Monkey Socks by Cookie A
• Ephemera Mittens by Amy Christoffers
• Audrey in Unst Cardigan by Gudrun Johnston- hiatus
  
  

  

  The New Nook

Yarn Acquisitions:

• Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Mad Hatter & Smokin' Cuz I Am

Stash Bust Army

• Shur'tugal Socks by Alice Yu
• Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder
• Sock Yarn Slouch Hat by Sandra Bichlmayer
• Ephemera Mittens by Amy Christoffers

Room w/ a View

YarnGasm Theme Music:

Episode 35 - Living On the Edge

Episode 35 - 'Living On the Edge'
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Gynx Yarns Giveaway Winner

Big thanks to Laura Jinks of Gynx Yarns for offering up one of her gorgeous skeins for the giveaway and to everyone who entered to win it! Using a random number generator, I'm excited to announce that Ashley_Mann is the winner!!! Please contact me with your info so I can send you your prize.


On and Off the Needles

• This past week, I finished knitting a pair of vanilla socks, using Cakewalk Yarns in Weenie.
• Since most of my yarn is packed away in a ginormous moving box, I was able to focus on my Audrey in Unst cardigan. I finished knitting the body.
• I'm still working my way through chart 2 of the Evenstar Shawl

Stash Bust Army

• Cloisonée Mittens by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
• Aberdeen Mittens by Carol Sunday
• April Showers Cowl by Meg Strong

             

Vogue Knitting Live 2012

Yesterday, I went to Vogue Knitting LIVE! in Manhattan.  I had never been, so I was pretty excited to find out what was in store! I didn't sign up for any classes or lectures... If anything, I would have liked to take a spinning glass, but they weren't offering any, and nothing else on the schedule really jumped out at me.  So, I just got a marketplace pass. 

Unlike Rhinebeck, there weren't many indie dyers (not to mention, no livestock!)-- mainly yarn shops from all over the map... There were, however lots of interesting fibers like bison, possum... and for whatever reason fun fur and other novelty yarns. I'm blanking on the name, but Maria (from the Subway Knits Podcast) bought two contrasting yummy skeins of possum-- can't wait to see what she knits up with it. I also ran into Kaystarr from CraftStash, who is super nice!-- Caught her ogling and fondling yarn over at the Woolbearer's booth.

As if the day couldn't get any better, I had another Ysolda Teague sighting! -- and yes, I still behaved like a raving fangirl lunatic... All I could do was gush over her new Narwhal Mittens from her new book Whimsical Little Knits 3 and say... "I love narwhals!"... to which she replid, "I do too!" ::face/palm:: Granted, I was still waking up. I'm sure Maria could tell since I was a few decibels short of a human voice.

Overall, it was a great time. I'm not sure I'd go back next year-- if only, to hang out with knitty peeps and if there's a class or lecture that strikes my fancy. I didn't go too crazy in the market place. I came away with a gorgeous skein of Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock yarn in the Ryan colorway, a delicious tube of lanolin honey lip balm from the Long Island Livestock Company and of course, a copy of Vogue Knitting's latest issue.

In other news, I finished Cakewalk sock and cast on a second. Me and the Mister are driving down to Philly today to visit our niece and nephew so I'll have plenty of time to put a dent in that one. I'm absolutely LOVING the way it's knitting up! Very tempted to order another skein!

Speaking of tempting, I want to thank everyone who entered the Gynx Yarns giveaway and for your wonderful comments! I wanted to reply individually, but I don't want to throw off the entry count. Hopefully I'll get to publish a new episode this week and announce a winner!

Episode 34 - Shooting for Heirloom

Episode 34: Shooting for Heirloom
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Gynx Yarns Giveaway!
(ENDED)
To enter the contest, simply comment on this post. I will announce a random winner in the next episode. Good luck! 

Gynx Yarns Lemon Berry Parfait

Fiber content: 100% organic merino
Yarn Weight: sock / fingering
437yds / 100g

Thanks to Laura Jinks for donating this gorgeous skein of Gynx Yarns. Check out Laura's Etsy Shop and my interview with her on KnitNook.net!

Vogue Knitting Live 2012
I'll be there Saturday, January 14th, 2012... sometime in the morning. If you see me, say hello! :)

KnitNook.net Update

• Interview w/ Cakewalk Yarns
• Interview w/ Gynx Yarns
  
• Brooklyn Tweed's Wool People Vol. 2 Review

On the Needles

To help my Velynda Cardigan's loose neckline, Misiula & Nancy suggested I try the Yarn Harlot's crochet reinforcement technique… genius!

Sophie's Slouch by Kirsten Kapur
Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in Natural Heather

Audrey in Unst by Gudrun Johnston
Knit Picks Gloss DK in Velveteen

Man's Cabled Cardigan by Josh Bennett
(Vogue Knitting Winter 2009/2010)
Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted in Cobblestone

Evenstar Shawl by Susan Pandorf
Madeline Tosh Prairie in Antique Lace




'Round the Twist Podcast with Carin
* My sincere apologies to Carin... I may have referred to her as "Carie" at some point!!!


Stash Bust Army

• Snow Flakes in Starry Skies by Rowan Martindale
• HotPinkSocks' Reviews 
• 34th & 8th Mittens by SpillyJane (Brooklyn Tweed's Wool People Vol. 2)
• Karise Shawl by Karina Westerman

Episode 33: Smoke Jacketty

Velveteen Audrey in Unst

Episode 33: Smoke Jacketty
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Resolutions for 2012

• Learn to spin
• Stick to a schedule
• Convince Dennis to Get a Dog... not a cat

Updates:

• My interview on APlayfulDay's blog
• Mamaholmes started a 'Slow Cooker Recipe' thread in the YarnGasm Ravelry group
• Round the Twist Podcast with Carin

Off The Needles:

• Echo Flowers Shawl Jenny Johnson Johnen
• Velynda Cardigan by Bonne Marie Burns
• Butterfly Hat by Sofiya Cremin

On the Needles:

• Audrey in Unst by Gudrun Johnston
• Man's Cable Cardigan by Josh Bennet (Vogue Knitting Winter 2009/2010)

Stash Bust Army

• Gespeg by Ariane Caron-Lacoste
• Bosc Hat by Robin Ulric
• Olive by Diana Hanna
• Simple Pleasures Hat by Purl SoHo
• 135-31 Hat in textured pattern by DROPS Design

Goldilocks Syndrome

This one's a little too big...

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone is staying warm and having a lovely time with family and friends!
I'm back out from under my Yule log with lots of knitty updates! Some good... some not so good. So, let's get the 'not so good' out of the way, shall we?

... and this one's waaay too small...

First up, two weekends ago, I decided to put some elbow grease into my Echo Flowers Shawl. (I've been a slacker KAL buddy and @StitchMistress definitely gave me a metaphorical kick in the tookus when she finished hers!)

Long story short, I totally ignored the fact that there were center stitches and ended up with HALF a triangle!  ::head / desk::head / desk::head / desk::head / desk::  
How does something like this happen, you ask? Well, between the way my brain works and the way the pattern was written, I didn't realize the border charts 1, 2 and 3 were to be knit consecutively across each row! Also, my stitches were matching up so there were no red flags hinting that something was off... so I kept going.
No doubt, I'm super disappointed. But I'm not giving up! Will revisit this pattern in 2012!

On a happier note, I finished my Velynda Cardigan!  Overall, it was a very well-written and enjoyable pattern... However, my only gripe is that I wish Bonne Marie Burns had calculated instructions for a size 32. If I'm lucky, I can get away with a 34... this time, not so much. Regardless, I still like the way it turned out and will be great for layering. (Let's not even talk about the dye lot difference.)

To top things off, I was able to finish my Grandmother's Butterfly Hat just in time for Christmas! Yeah, I know... I vowed no knitted holiday gifts this year, but she asked so sweetly and after all, it's a hat we're talking about! I couldn't say "no!"
Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of her wearing it because she just had her hair done. So here's me! ;)

And this one fits juuust right!

It's the same Malabrigo worsted 'Black Forest' I used to knit my nephew's cardigan and just barely had enough to finish this. So, how's that for stash-busting?

As for YarnGasm, I will be whipping up something shortly! #StayTuned

Comfort Food / Knitting

I think it's safe to say my holiday shopping is complete! I know I vowed only to shop online but incidentally, I found most of the gifts on my lunch break! Also, you'll be pleased to hear (or shocked) that I haven't cast on a single knitted gift! I think I've done my fair share of KFO these past few months. I'm ready for some selfish knitting!

Although, my grandmother did ask me (ever so sweetly) to knit her a hat to match her Hanging Garden Stole. I ran out of the Woolen Rabbit yarn I used for it, but the Black Forrest Worsted Malabrigo I used to knit my nephew's Baby Sophisticate cardigan is a very close match! A worsted-weight hat? Now that I can do!

In other news, I'm a very bad KAL buddy, taking my sweet time making progress on my Echo Flowers shawl, while StitchMistress has officially finished hers! (And it's GORGEOUS!) I'm following in her footsteps and using beads instead of nupps, and I just love the way it's turning out. I just wish I had the right mindset to put more umph! into it.

I have to say, this past week has been a crazy one, between the holidays, work, mortgage stuff and that very special time of the month that graces most women, I'm fried! I spent most of this weekend catching up on and listening to new podcasts (like Fluffy Fibers and The Pagan Knitter-- she did an excellent interview with Jane Richmond!) while putting a dent in my Velynda cardigan's sleeve. I'm down to my last skein of wool and definitely going to need another... or two. The vicious KP cycle continues!

I was also craving comfort food and decided to try a new crock pot recipe I found on Food.com: Shredded Chipotle Chicken!  Except I used 2 skinless chicken halves. (Apologies in advance to vegetarians) What I really love about my crock pot is the way it cooks meat! I love how when it's ready to eat, it either falls right off the bone or flakes away like a fillet of fish. Anyway, I highly recommend this recipe. It's so incredibly easy.