Fair Isle Practice!

My fair isle is pathetic, as I recently discovered while attempting a whimsical toy from The Knitted Odd-bod Bunch.

The red patches bump out a bit because of my uneven tension. It’s more noticable from sides.

The pattern itself was mostly all charted, and I’m horrible with charts of any kind, On top of this, you also have to do the other half of this guy and it’s not charted. Don’t have the time for that. I’ll probably use this as an applique for a nice tote/bag or hat.

I’ve been wanting to make this fair isle hat since I first saw it, way back before I got into knitting. Perfect for some colorwork practice.

I finishd this forever ago, but it keeps with the theme of April Stash-Bust; I used a bunch of scraps, which have been piling up in my baskets lately. Modifications: I did this in the round instead of flat and I mixed up some colors according to the amounts I had left. I forgot to use a small needle size for the ribbing, so I’ll make sure to do that next time.

Oooh, I’m proud of this project, since I normally have trouble with multiple colors (two is usually what I can handle).

After seeeing this hat, my sister demanded a similar beret-version. While I mostly improvised the colorwork, I did take inspiration from Katie’s heart faire ilse raglan chart.

Odd-Bod Bunch, watch out!

Forgive me, April

I think I started this April Stash-Bust off wrong, since I made an order of yarn on the first. Last time, I promise! Besides, it was new yarn I wanted to try out and had no way of finding around where I live.

Those acid rainbow rain colors speak to me. I can’t get over how gorgeous it is. This will be a Boneyard shawl that will makes its debut in the fall, as it’s already summer-hot where I live.

Also, another skein from Stitch Nation. I was diappointed with Alpaca Love, but Bamboo Ewe is sooo soft and light. Perfect for a spring version of the Picot Cloche.

Though, as some sort of compensation, I did grab a piece of recycable sweater from leethal’s giveaway. First time doing this, and I’m excited. I may dye this in some other pastel hues, as I tried a sample and indeed it does contain some wool though it’s part acrylic as well.

Clocheret?

Oi, it’s been awhile. A month. Exams, papers, cancelled social outings (ugh college) and a final tomorrow. On to knitting…

My latest project is from the new Spring/Summer issue of Knitty.

Buttonheads by the amazing Lee Meredith!

First,  let’s start with the story of this yarn, which is Stitch Nation Alpaca Love. Originally grey, or Cobblestone, I dyed this yarn three times. The first was an attempt at a deep yellow, but this yarn has a very subtle blue tone that made it turn military green. Then I used a Crystal Lights drink mix (these work exactly like Kool-Aid, but much less neon-like) in Peach, but that came out turkey/gravy brown. It was ugly. Then I used another Crystal Lights, in Cranberry Apple. Turned it slightly red, making it a very lovely amber.

As for the hat, it was so simple to knit and came out so cute it’s unreal. I did the cloche version, but in blocking it a little too heavily, it came out a bit too slouchy to be called a cloche, but not slouchy enough to be a beret. A clocheret? Sure.

Speaking of leethal knits, my rainbow cowl was featured in a post on the leethal blog about Game Knitting, which you should totally try sometime. I was quite flattered and giddy in my little knitting (k)nerd way that I was featured. Thanks Lee!

Knitscene projects

Imagine this: The TV on the Winter Olympics, the latest copy of Knitscene, and something cooking/baking/probably burning in the kitchen. That’s what my whole week has been, when not working on school stuff.

I lalalove this cloche hat! It’s so simple and flatters most heads. A light-colored cotton version for Spring? Definitely.

These mitts were the reason for getting this issue. They came out too tight on US 6/4mm needles and worsted weight yarn. Found out too late into the pattern that my gauge was off.

Next project? These lovelies from leethal knits for the end of the Olympics. Then it’s back to Brazilian soap operas.

Men’s Figure Skating and a Hat

Occurance: Men’s figure skating, every jump & spin, or something cute they do. Those guys can be ridiculously charming on ice!

Yarn: Wool-ease Thick & Quick in claret. This dark plum-ish color is very lovely.

Needles: 10 1/2 US, 6.5 mm

Pattern: 3X2 ribbing, doing the opposite stitch at every occurance (purl at knit and knit at purl). I cast on 65 sts on 10 1/2 US needles. Decided on kitty hat, since it’s the cutest and easiest.

The ears on this came out larger than I expected, but this is the first time I’ve used Thick & Quick on a hat. They look a little more like fox ears than kitty. Still, very warm and fun to wear.

Now, on to figure skating. My favorite performances were Daisuke Takahashi and Florent Amodio. Johnny Wier was great, but his flamboyance gets so annoying. Not a fan. I’m from the US so I’m glad Lysacek won, but I kind of felt horrible for Plushenko. His body language after the results was so full of disappointment.  Also, I think I have crush on Stephane Lambiel. Overall, last night was rather… unimpressive? I liked the pairs free skate more. Next up, ice dancing. I may game knit something for that was well.

Study, eat, knit, sleep, repeat

This month has been “first-test-of-semester” month. Every week there’s something to studyfor or finish a paper for. Kind of stressful. Enter a bit of game knitting:

I have a thing for colorful, striped projects.

Yarn: Knit Picks wool of andes, various hand dyed.
Occurances: Start a new color every day, until knitting for the day is over or color runs out.
Size 9 needles, approx 150 yds

Using the various bits & bobs of hand-dyed worsted weight yarn, I started this cowl over the weekend. There were about 100 stitches that I cast on, though maybe I’ll do fewer next time, since this was slightly too big for my tatse. Using plain stockinette, and garter borders, I started new color every day until knitting for the day is over or until the color ran out. I used a red yarn in between colors. As you can see, some days I have more time to knit than others. I love how the colors came out on this.

Yay, more dyeing.

While not as delightful as Kool-Aid dyeing, using food color and vinegar can acheive some nice results.

With plain white wool, I was able to make the minty/light green yarn using only green food dye and a lot of water. I made the deep blue using a very saturated blue (I added less water to the dye).

Orginally a bland tan color (Snickerdoodle Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks), I made mini skeins and turned into: a burgundy/wine color with a bunch of blue and even more red; a nice deep green with a bunch of green; a lovely orange using a combination of red and yellow; and this lovely strip-ish yarn using plain red and blue:

I turned it into another buttony chevron, my go-to pattern for tiny amounts of precious yarn.

Up next, more dyeing samples with things other than food dye or Kool-Aid.

“oh yeah” colors – kool-aid dyeing

A little thing about my adventures with yarn and Kool Aid.

I’ve noticed the brightness of koolaid colors works best on gray yarn, as it deepens the color so instead of a blinding light blue, you get this rich deep turquoise.

For the yarn of these Veyla mitts, I used Knit picks palette in fog, a basic gray, and dyed it with two packets of berry blue and one of changing cherry. I can’t remember the exact process I used for this varigration, but I had the whole skein of Palette bunched up, so the outside and spefici areas wher I poured it over got more color than the other areas. (Does that make sense?) I poured the hot color over the yarn in a casserole dish, then stuck it in the microwave for another minute or two. I rinsed with cold water, and tata-da! I’ve yet to recreate this process succesfully. Perhaps it only works on fingering weight?

One of my many buttony chevron cuffs , pattern by leethal. The yarn is a little thing of Knit Picks Shamrock in Fitzpatrick dyed with ice blue. See what I mean by blindingly bright blue?

This lovely Perdita, obviously still in the works, is also being made with the Knit Picks palette gray yarn. Dyed it with a bunch of Strawberry.

Three packets of Tropical Punch was used one one whole skein of Knit Picks bare for this vibrant red. Next Time I may use one more packet for a more saturated color, but this is fine.

For full instructions on how to dye with kool aid (without joining a cult? bad joke…), visit these links:

Koolaid dyeing on knitty

Streets and YOS instructions on koolaid dyeing

sugaroni’s instructions on koolaid dyeing

Or, google it!

I’m currently experimenting with food color, so expect a post on that in the near future.

Baby Vader’s first winter

So, not strictly knitting, but I did make my Might Muggs Darth Vader a little winter hat.

I’ve always love how yarn scarps can easily be used for toys. My Blythe dolly gets spoiled silly with them.

The pink hat is actually an Urchin, made in the smallest size with size US 6 needles (4mm) and Caron Simply Soft.  The yellow scarf, as well as Baby Vader’s hat, were improvisations of my own.

Hello world of knitting!

I’ve tried doing the blog thing before, but I lose interest and forget, but knitting is something I’ve yet to lose interest in or forget, so here I go…

Yarn: Patons SWS in Natural Garden, 2 skeins (about 200yds)
Needles: US9/6mm dpns
Pattern: CO 48 sts and knit in 2×2 rib

Most people seem to really dislike Patons SWS because of its texture. It’s rather fuzzy, itchy to skin with even the slightest sensitivity, and a pain to unravel and re-work with, yet I found it rather okay this time around. Perhaps the ribbing gave it some smoothness? These leg warmers don’t itch as much as I thought they would, but I’ll probably wear them over leggings or tights. On active needles right now is a deep red saroyan.