On May 15th, I started my next project--a pair of socks. The interesting thing about THESE particular socks, is that they are largely my own design. They are not ENTIRELY my own design. In fact the pattern is based largely off of one by Pepperknits called Anastasia. Only I didn't like the short-row toe. And I didn't like the heel... and I wanted them to be taller...
The journey to these socks is a long one. I've been "lurking" on a group on Ravelry called Love to Dye, which is a group of people that dye yarn and roving by various methods. Several of them dye massive lots for sock clubs and retail sale. Many of them are Etsy shop-owners. And then there are those of us that dabble out of curiosity. After lurking and reading and thinking, and being inspired by a local spinner/dyer (Janis, the owner of Dyelots here in town) I decided to make a "Sock Block" which I talked about a lot in February and thus won't tell you all about it yet again.
I wanted a very simple pattern to knit my socks, but not a plain vanilla sock. It needed a little lace or cabling just to give it interest. I considered the Coriolis pattern from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, but I didn't feel like jumping right into that pattern. I decided I wanted some very specific things.
It needed to be toe-up, to use ALL of the gradient I dyed, especially since I wasn't able to keep the end of it as pale as I wanted it to be (I wanted the block to fade completely to white, but the superwash sucked up the dye a lot faster than I thought it would). I wanted a heel-flap, which I've never done with a toe-up sock. And I wanted that flap to use slip-stitches for reinforcement.
My gauge worked out to 60 sts for the ease I wanted. I started with "Judy's Magic Cast-On", which is about as slick of a trick for a toe-up-sock as you can use. I began the Anastasia pattern across the top of the foot, but when I got to the heel, I ran into a couple of problems. I could not, for the life of me, find a slip-stitch toe-up heel-flap pattern for a 60-stitch sock (my gussets took me up to 70 sts total). I found one that I thought would work and on my first try, somehow I had a misfiring of the brain and made the heel flap with no slipped stitches... WHAT IS THE POINT? Might as well have done a short-row heel. I finally extrapolated from a couple of other patterns and went back and figured it out. I think my heel is offset by maybe one stitch on one side, but I resolved the hole that created by picking up the bar between two stitches and knitting into it, twisted and knitting that together with the next stitch. Thus, no more hole.
My left sock is done more than half-way up the leg. I'm now contemplating increases for the calf. While I consider that little challenge, I've ripped out my plain heel on the right sock and am re-turning it and knitting it with slipped stitches. That should give me plenty of time to figure out exactly how to finish the socks!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
It's done! It's done!
The Icosa Ball is DONE!! YIPPEE!!
I decided near the end to put in a zipper along one seam rather than graft it shut over the ball. It felt like a wise choice, considering that two kids in my house could make a total mess of this massive amount of work. The zipper doesn't go down the middle of the graft, tho. On my drive home after discussing it with my Monday night knitting group, I had a "brilliant" idea. Instead I ran it down right next to the green purls on two triangles, and on the other side I knit the band between them the full five rows of stockinette (this replaces two rows on both sides of stockinette with a fifth grafted row between). It worked great! You can hardly find the zipper now. It's a bit of a wrestling match to get the ball in and out again, but that's just fine.
I made a couple of other changes to this pattern as well. The apexes were to be grafted shut by picking up ten stitches and then pulling yarn through them twice. I picked up twenty (one for each knit row and skipping the grafted row) and then K2Tog for one round. II then pulled the yarn through the remaining stitches twice and knotted it off. I think it gives it a smoother appearance.
Now, I can finally jump into some socks!
I decided near the end to put in a zipper along one seam rather than graft it shut over the ball. It felt like a wise choice, considering that two kids in my house could make a total mess of this massive amount of work. The zipper doesn't go down the middle of the graft, tho. On my drive home after discussing it with my Monday night knitting group, I had a "brilliant" idea. Instead I ran it down right next to the green purls on two triangles, and on the other side I knit the band between them the full five rows of stockinette (this replaces two rows on both sides of stockinette with a fifth grafted row between). It worked great! You can hardly find the zipper now. It's a bit of a wrestling match to get the ball in and out again, but that's just fine.
I made a couple of other changes to this pattern as well. The apexes were to be grafted shut by picking up ten stitches and then pulling yarn through them twice. I picked up twenty (one for each knit row and skipping the grafted row) and then K2Tog for one round. II then pulled the yarn through the remaining stitches twice and knotted it off. I think it gives it a smoother appearance.
Now, I can finally jump into some socks!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Icosa Ball - The finish line is in sight!
Here we are again with the Icosa Ball! I can't say I've ever started-and-stopped- and-started-again any project as much as I have this one. Lots of little things have slipped into the middle of it. I think that some of it is because of its modular nature. It is very easy between creating triangles to pop off and do some other project.
Because of that I've been very worried it would end up in la-la land for an extended period of time. This morning I took it out and finished off the three open apexes (apeces?) and pulled it onto the pillow. I think it's going to look great!
On the list left to do: five triangles, ten grafts and six apexes. Maybe I'll be able to take it to my knitting group on Monday the 19th!
Because of that I've been very worried it would end up in la-la land for an extended period of time. This morning I took it out and finished off the three open apexes (apeces?) and pulled it onto the pillow. I think it's going to look great!
On the list left to do: five triangles, ten grafts and six apexes. Maybe I'll be able to take it to my knitting group on Monday the 19th!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Sweater Sampler
It's done! I ran out of the black yarn, but it wasn't a tragedy. Rather than doing the bind-offs in the dark color, I simply did them in the white. There isn't any color-contrast visually, but it's not like I'm going to wear the thing! I also twisted some extra sock yarn into the cord for the top, rather than knitting an I-Cord. I'm sure the I-Cord would be more attractive. It would also be repetitive and unnecessarily annoying and boring.
Instead, this project was a lot of fun to knit; it was very easy and fast. I especially enjoyed getting to the colorwork. It made me extremely happy to have finished the Baby Kimono not so long ago. I was able to work the black using Continental style knitting, and continue knitting with the white in English style. The color-knitting went very, very fast. I had no problem with tension. There is no puckering, or loose strands. I even figured out a nice method to tack down the white yarn in the back as I went along.
There are a LOT more pictures at Flickr, so be sure to follow the link!
Instead, this project was a lot of fun to knit; it was very easy and fast. I especially enjoyed getting to the colorwork. It made me extremely happy to have finished the Baby Kimono not so long ago. I was able to work the black using Continental style knitting, and continue knitting with the white in English style. The color-knitting went very, very fast. I had no problem with tension. There is no puckering, or loose strands. I even figured out a nice method to tack down the white yarn in the back as I went along.
There are a LOT more pictures at Flickr, so be sure to follow the link!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Progress and Procrastination
I've finally managed more progress on the Icosa Ball! I just don't have pictures of it. What I did snap off real quickly was a shot of Jacqueline Fee's Sweater Sampler that I started to work on in-between triangles. It's nice to work on some larger yarn/needles and in the round as well. It is easy work, and fast. The sampler is interesting as well, although most of it so far hasn't pushed me with anything new. The color-work isn't until the very end.
I had a 'soft goal' that I wouldn't start any new project until I finished five triangles for the Icosa Ball. I did sneak in a bit early on that with the sampler... but I do have five more done and grafted onto the main work!! I also started to close the apex-holes on the portions already fully grafted. I don't like to second-guess the designer, but I am closing them slightly different. His instructions state to pick up 10 stitches around the whole and graft it shut--not very obvious what to do there. Since there are five rows per side of the pentagonal hole (one is the grafted 'row') I picked up a stitch from each of the four knit rows for a total of 20 stitches. Then I k2tog around, pulled the yarn through the remaining stitches twice, and pulled it tight. I really like the look of it and it matches the rest of the seams, as well as the cast-on at the center of each triangle.
I took the time today to pull what is done over the pillow-form and I'm just not liking the match. So I doubled up some thread and gathered the top and bottom of the pillow tighter. I hope it will reduce the size just enough to fit better, because I really don't want to unstuff the whole thing and sew the seams again to make the entire pillow smaller. With any luck it will do the trick as I finish and graft on the last five triangles.
I had a 'soft goal' that I wouldn't start any new project until I finished five triangles for the Icosa Ball. I did sneak in a bit early on that with the sampler... but I do have five more done and grafted onto the main work!! I also started to close the apex-holes on the portions already fully grafted. I don't like to second-guess the designer, but I am closing them slightly different. His instructions state to pick up 10 stitches around the whole and graft it shut--not very obvious what to do there. Since there are five rows per side of the pentagonal hole (one is the grafted 'row') I picked up a stitch from each of the four knit rows for a total of 20 stitches. Then I k2tog around, pulled the yarn through the remaining stitches twice, and pulled it tight. I really like the look of it and it matches the rest of the seams, as well as the cast-on at the center of each triangle.
I took the time today to pull what is done over the pillow-form and I'm just not liking the match. So I doubled up some thread and gathered the top and bottom of the pillow tighter. I hope it will reduce the size just enough to fit better, because I really don't want to unstuff the whole thing and sew the seams again to make the entire pillow smaller. With any luck it will do the trick as I finish and graft on the last five triangles.
Monday, April 21, 2008
A Hat for the Moon
The Rockin' Sock Club had a contest this year--make up an outrageous project and estimate the amount of yarn needed to knit it. something "crazy" like socks for an elephant were suggested. There were many, many very creative entries. I have mine below.
To kill the suspense, I was one of twenty finalists, and one of the ten winners! Let me tell you, I was bouncing about it all week, and then I got to bounce again when my prize arrived... All the winners were lucky enough to receive a skein of Socks That Rock yarn! I selected Mediumweight in a colorway called "Faulty Dyer". It's so hard to capture it here on film, because there are so many beautiful, subtle colors and shades. I purchased a sock pattern for it, but one of my friends commented that it would be a shame to hide it so. Now I'm torn between finding some way to use it in a scarf or other project, or still making those socks! Either way it will be something amazingly beautiful, because it's gorgeous even before I've knit it up.
Without further ado--here is my entry:
To kill the suspense, I was one of twenty finalists, and one of the ten winners! Let me tell you, I was bouncing about it all week, and then I got to bounce again when my prize arrived... All the winners were lucky enough to receive a skein of Socks That Rock yarn! I selected Mediumweight in a colorway called "Faulty Dyer". It's so hard to capture it here on film, because there are so many beautiful, subtle colors and shades. I purchased a sock pattern for it, but one of my friends commented that it would be a shame to hide it so. Now I'm torn between finding some way to use it in a scarf or other project, or still making those socks! Either way it will be something amazingly beautiful, because it's gorgeous even before I've knit it up.
Without further ado--here is my entry:
My three-year-old daughter and I were discussing just what ‘fun’ things we could knit and she looked up at me and smiled while announcing, “We could make a hat for the moon, mommy!”
And I thought, “Well, goodness. It is Blue MOON Fiber Arts ….”
Then I got to looking through the yarns, considering just what sort of hat I’d make for the moon, and lo-and-behold, I found the perfect color for this craziness–Lunasea!
In such a beautiful yarn, I’d hardly want to detract from the colorway. We opted for a stockinette-stitch hat that would cover half of the moon’s ‘head’, sitting high across the brow and down low across the back, with a brim that curls up happily on its own.
I present to you, a hat for the moon, knit in Leticia weight yarn in the Lunasea colorway…
Yarn needed:
Leticia - LUNASEA colorway
Content: 100% Handspun Merino Wool from Uruguay
Weight: 3.5 oz.
Length: 80 yards = 73.152 meters
Gauge: 2 sts per in. on US 10 (6mm)
2 Size 10 circular needles with a REALLY LONG cable (or needles required to obtain proper gauge)
Numbers are obtained from:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Moon&Display=Facts&System=Metric
The diameter of the moon is about 2,161 miles or (3,476 kilometers). This makes the circumference about 6,790 miles.
1 mile = 5,280 feet
6,790 mi x 5,280 feet/mi = 35,851,200 feet
35,851,200 feet x 12in/foot = 430,214,400 inches
430,214,400 inches x 2sts/in = 860,428,800 stitches
Let’s knit with 15% Negative ease, which means we only need to cast on 85% of the circumference —
860,428,800 stitches x 85% = 731,364,480 stitches to cast on, join in a circle. I suggest a crochet cast-on to give a nice, looped edge with plenty of elasticity, and because a backwards-loop cast on would be hopelessly twisted.
I want this to be a pretty form-fitting, curve hugging, round, round hat. Just like the moon. It needs to fit over half the ‘head’, so let’s figure out that distance…
5,771.5 widest circumference
2885.75 half-circ. - brim to crown
1442.875 quarter-circ - half brim to crown
721.4375 eighth-circ - quarter distance to crown
Knit in the round until piece measures approximately 1600 miles from cast on (a little more than half the total distance from brim to crown).
Divide stitches into eight equal sections and place markers (91,420,560 between markers).
To decrease:
Row 1: Knit to 2 sts before marker, k2tog
Row 2: Knit
Decrease until 8 sts left. Break yarn. Thread through stitches twice and pull tight.
Now, there may be many methods to calculate total yardage, but I figure the easiest will be to figure out how much total cloth to make. I need the surface area of the moon, adjusted for our negative ease–which I figured on the circumference. So forgive me a moment, but I need to work backwards in math to get our adjusted radius.
Circumference = 2 Pi r
6,790 mi x 85% = 5,771.5 miles of cloth around the cast-on edge in our negative-ease hat…
5,771.5 = 2 Pi r
r = 918.6 miles
Surface area = 4 x Pi x r^2
Adjusted surface area = 4 x Pi x (918.6)^2 = 10,617,525.2
A hat covers half the head so, 5,308,762.6 square miles
If you knit 2 sts/inch and 4 rows/inch I estimate (from a swatch I have in hand)
80 yards = 12in wide and 16in long (1.33 ft)
1 foot x 1.33 foot = 1.33 square foot
Now I know I use 80 yards of Leticia in 1.33 square foot and I need to cover 5,308,762.6 square miles!
5,308,762.6 sq mi x 5280 ft/mi x 5280 ft/mi = 147,999,807,267,840 square feet
147,999,807,267,840 square feet x ( 80 yards / 1.33 square foot ) = 8,902,244,046,185,864.66 yards
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Here's a new finished object. I was still needing a break from the Icosa Ball (I'm back working on it now and enjoying it again!) and I had it in my head to learn Continental-style knitting. Kelley Petkun speaks repeatedly in her Knit Picks Podcast about making a whole bunch of Baby Kimonos out of Mason-Dixon Knitting. It sounded like a great project to try a new style of knitting... very forgiving of mistakes. It is done completely in garter stitch--so no pesky purls to slip you up.
I'm not sure yet Continental will be my favorite. I'm quite good at English style, and my gauge is very sure and even. Clearly on this you can see where I slipped on gauge as I figured out how to keep the yarn in my left hand. Still, it's darn cute and it was a good project.
I'm not sure yet Continental will be my favorite. I'm quite good at English style, and my gauge is very sure and even. Clearly on this you can see where I slipped on gauge as I figured out how to keep the yarn in my left hand. Still, it's darn cute and it was a good project.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Sometimes, you just need a break
I'd gotten into a funk earlier this week and couldn't figure out what to do. I was plain old tired, and sick of just about everything. Cleaning house certainly wasn't appealing, but neither was working on any of the projects I have in line. The Icosa Ball wasn't going to do it for me, but I still wasn't ready to jump in and knit up my hand-dyed yarn, nor to leap into the March "Leafling" pattern with my Lucky yarn from the BMFA sock club.
So, I dropped the kids off at the daycare for a couple of hours and ran a couple of errands before meeting with a friend. One of those errands landed me in Ben Franklin Crafts--which just happened to have Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn on sale. I'm happy to say I bought some, with the plan of making an Amigurumi bear from a book I bought on a lark.
The Rialto is a lovely, soft yarn. It inspired me. The pattern was adorable, I started working on it before I went to bed that night. As I fell asleep, I actually thought about the project and planned ahead to working on it the next day, feeling energized. In fact, the next day my energy spilled over into getting things cleaned up and working on the laundry and the house.
It went so quickly and it was fun to do a little crochet for a change. In short, in a day-and-a-half, I had a new finished object, and I was well out of my funk.
I'm glad I took a break from my knitting and broke out of my usual patterns. It was worth it!
So, I dropped the kids off at the daycare for a couple of hours and ran a couple of errands before meeting with a friend. One of those errands landed me in Ben Franklin Crafts--which just happened to have Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn on sale. I'm happy to say I bought some, with the plan of making an Amigurumi bear from a book I bought on a lark.
The Rialto is a lovely, soft yarn. It inspired me. The pattern was adorable, I started working on it before I went to bed that night. As I fell asleep, I actually thought about the project and planned ahead to working on it the next day, feeling energized. In fact, the next day my energy spilled over into getting things cleaned up and working on the laundry and the house.
It went so quickly and it was fun to do a little crochet for a change. In short, in a day-and-a-half, I had a new finished object, and I was well out of my funk.
I'm glad I took a break from my knitting and broke out of my usual patterns. It was worth it!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Icosa Half-ball
I think I can formally say I'm half done!
There are ten triangles knit and joined here (yay) and hung over my daughter's beach ball, sitting in a small bowl to keep it from rolling away... the strange things we do to take pictures of WIPs.
I also have the pillow-form sewn out of some old burgandy material that I once used to make DH an over-vest for his Ren Faire costume. I've had yards and yards left over sitting in a box gathering dust for ages, so it's a good use for less than one yard of it, since it shouldn't even be seen once the project is done. The fabric was a bit heavier than I really wanted to use, but that will just make for a sturdier ball-form, right? Right.
Here's hoping I get done with the rest of it soon enough, and then graft shut all the holes...
There are ten triangles knit and joined here (yay) and hung over my daughter's beach ball, sitting in a small bowl to keep it from rolling away... the strange things we do to take pictures of WIPs.
I also have the pillow-form sewn out of some old burgandy material that I once used to make DH an over-vest for his Ren Faire costume. I've had yards and yards left over sitting in a box gathering dust for ages, so it's a good use for less than one yard of it, since it shouldn't even be seen once the project is done. The fabric was a bit heavier than I really wanted to use, but that will just make for a sturdier ball-form, right? Right.
Here's hoping I get done with the rest of it soon enough, and then graft shut all the holes...
Friday, March 21, 2008
25% done?
You'd think it would be easy to estimate how far along you are on a project that has 20 parts ... each part is an easy 5%, right? What about all the fiddly little finishing touches this project requires? Does 5% take into account seaming one part to the next? What about machine-sewing the pillow-form that goes inside, and stuffing it?
I'm approximately 25% done. That is, I've finished five triangles, and joined them together (using kitchener stitch--I'm getting MUCH better at this technique, and still only 26 more joins to go).
The Icosa Ball is fascinating on many levels. It's very mathematically minded, but at the same time you are constantly faced with aesthetic decisions, even on the repetitive triangles (how to get the increases to look nice, how to get the color joins even and smooth and deal with loose ends).
At the same time I like that it's so very modular, because I can set it down and slip another project in between doing triangles and get a break from doing the same thing over and over. I'm going to love getting this done, but I'm not sure I'll ever make another one... or if I do I might try and modify the pattern to be significantly smaller. I'm betting it would be just as cool without quite so many repeats in each triangle.
I'm approximately 25% done. That is, I've finished five triangles, and joined them together (using kitchener stitch--I'm getting MUCH better at this technique, and still only 26 more joins to go).
The Icosa Ball is fascinating on many levels. It's very mathematically minded, but at the same time you are constantly faced with aesthetic decisions, even on the repetitive triangles (how to get the increases to look nice, how to get the color joins even and smooth and deal with loose ends).
At the same time I like that it's so very modular, because I can set it down and slip another project in between doing triangles and get a break from doing the same thing over and over. I'm going to love getting this done, but I'm not sure I'll ever make another one... or if I do I might try and modify the pattern to be significantly smaller. I'm betting it would be just as cool without quite so many repeats in each triangle.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Baby Magic Slippers
I had to take a brief break from the Icosa Ball to work on a shower gift for a good friend. She's due very soon, and decided to not find out the gender of her baby.
These little booties were the perfect pattern. I went through my Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn stash; I have a whole bag of mill-ends. In there I found a lovely colorway with a soft rosy red and green, purples and blues. I think I'll put a bow across the top to tie the little things on so they're not always falling off as slippers are wont to do on tiny little feet.
They're so very small and darling!
These little booties were the perfect pattern. I went through my Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn stash; I have a whole bag of mill-ends. In there I found a lovely colorway with a soft rosy red and green, purples and blues. I think I'll put a bow across the top to tie the little things on so they're not always falling off as slippers are wont to do on tiny little feet.
They're so very small and darling!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Less than 5% done!
That's a daunting thought. I have one of 20 triangles done, plus all the joining that will need to be completed before this project is finished. Yikes!
I think I'm going to try and do one or two a week and just not worry about finishing it too fast. Then I'll be pleasantly surprised--I hope--with how fast it gets done!
I think I'm going to try and do one or two a week and just not worry about finishing it too fast. Then I'll be pleasantly surprised--I hope--with how fast it gets done!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Icosa Issues
I've started the Icosa Welt Ball five times now, knit a couple of gauge swatches, and tried a bunch of different increase-stitches as I'm working. I'm just not happy with how it's coming out. I borrowed a finished-product picture from one of the many gorgeous finished objects on Ravelry. I'll sub my own in once I get to the point I can take some pictures.
It could be the yarn. Shibui Sock seems lovely when you first pull it out. Nice colors. The texture is very squishy. But it stretches like crazy. I'm having the worst time getting a consistent gauge and a nice, tight cloth. Because this will be a pillow, I want the cloth to have a strong, firm texture, rather than a lovely, flowing drape.
I'm considering going down several needle sizes, but then my row gauge is very off. I could modify the number of rows, but then I worry about running out of yarn. I could modify the repeats of rows (more rows, fewer repeats) and keep the same total number, but then I'm worried about the overall appearance and joining the project. It's a big, complicated piecing project that could fall apart long before I get anywhere near the end and have any clue it's totally messed up.
I suppose I did want a challenge!
It could be the yarn. Shibui Sock seems lovely when you first pull it out. Nice colors. The texture is very squishy. But it stretches like crazy. I'm having the worst time getting a consistent gauge and a nice, tight cloth. Because this will be a pillow, I want the cloth to have a strong, firm texture, rather than a lovely, flowing drape.
I'm considering going down several needle sizes, but then my row gauge is very off. I could modify the number of rows, but then I worry about running out of yarn. I could modify the repeats of rows (more rows, fewer repeats) and keep the same total number, but then I'm worried about the overall appearance and joining the project. It's a big, complicated piecing project that could fall apart long before I get anywhere near the end and have any clue it's totally messed up.
I suppose I did want a challenge!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Little Red Rose
A small project, this was still one I really enjoyed making. The stem seems a bit too flimsy to me and I'm on the hunt for some pretty leaves to add to the back. When completely finished, it will be a lovely lapel-pin for my black wool coat.
The construction was pretty enjoyable. Each part knit up easily and fast. I enjoyed the trick of casting on. I didn't enjoy assembly, but I knew I wouldn't looking at the pattern ahead of time. It didn't help that I seemed to get tighter and tighter in my knitting as I went. If I'd relaxed a bit the whole thing would have slid together more easily--maybe. It's still a lot of little fiddly work.
The pattern came from cabledguy's blog. He was kind enough to post it to our sock club's blog as a use for left-over yarn from January's socks.
The construction was pretty enjoyable. Each part knit up easily and fast. I enjoyed the trick of casting on. I didn't enjoy assembly, but I knew I wouldn't looking at the pattern ahead of time. It didn't help that I seemed to get tighter and tighter in my knitting as I went. If I'd relaxed a bit the whole thing would have slid together more easily--maybe. It's still a lot of little fiddly work.
The pattern came from cabledguy's blog. He was kind enough to post it to our sock club's blog as a use for left-over yarn from January's socks.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Misty Night
I've had this idea to dye my own sock-block of yarn. So previously, I got a hobby knitting-machine. I chewed through almost 500 yards of yarn in an afternoon on the knitting machine, fashioning it into a two-stranded knitted block to dye. This method gives you two strands of yarn with exactly the same pattern of color on them, so the socks will match. Then I worked from a Knitty article on dying a gradient into yarn. Wilton's Royal Blue food coloring and some white and rice vinegar (I ran out of white--oops!) and I have a gorgeous block of yarn ready to go.
To try and get more variation, I dissolved my dye in only about 1/2 cup of water for each addition, and I carefully poured it down only one side of the pot. Diffusion still meant that dye spread out through all the water, but I definitely have areas of greater saturation throughout. The dye doesn't work evenly through the knitted yarn, either, so there are lighter flecks where each strand of yarn presses up against the next. I'm really excited to unravel the block and wind it into two balls of yarn to knit as socks.
Now I just need an appropriate pattern to knit!
To try and get more variation, I dissolved my dye in only about 1/2 cup of water for each addition, and I carefully poured it down only one side of the pot. Diffusion still meant that dye spread out through all the water, but I definitely have areas of greater saturation throughout. The dye doesn't work evenly through the knitted yarn, either, so there are lighter flecks where each strand of yarn presses up against the next. I'm really excited to unravel the block and wind it into two balls of yarn to knit as socks.
Now I just need an appropriate pattern to knit!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Odd Ideas
I really wanted to try dyeing my own yarn using some food coloring as the dye (I don't think acid dyes are a good thing to jump into with curious little ones in the house). I read everything I could get my hands on about dying wool with Kool-Aid, and Wilton's food coloring, and I found a great article on Knitty.com that inspired me. I decided I wanted to make socks with a gradient, white at the top and a dark color at the toe. But I want some variation on the way.. so maybe a side-to-side gradient as well to give it a ripply effect.
I figured the best way to get this (or maybe some other effect) was to go with a method some of the women in my knitting group had used, by creating a knitted "blank" of fabric. The blank is made with two strands of fingering weight yarn. You dye it however you want, and then unravel it and make two socks as you go. This makes two identical socks, with the same color patterns--pretty cool!
But that would require a blank. I blithely began to knit the yarn from both ends of the ball---lalalala..boooring. And how frustrating, to be knitting something once, to unravel and knit again. I struck upon the idea of machine-knitting it. But machines are cost-prohibitive.
I ended up getting a cheep hobby knitting machine and giving it a whirl. After several false starts, and about a foot of decidedly funky fabric, I finally got the swing of it. It knit FAST. It knits nice and even. I have a 5' by 9" strip of fabric ready to meet dye. I hope it works!
I figured the best way to get this (or maybe some other effect) was to go with a method some of the women in my knitting group had used, by creating a knitted "blank" of fabric. The blank is made with two strands of fingering weight yarn. You dye it however you want, and then unravel it and make two socks as you go. This makes two identical socks, with the same color patterns--pretty cool!
But that would require a blank. I blithely began to knit the yarn from both ends of the ball---lalalala..boooring. And how frustrating, to be knitting something once, to unravel and knit again. I struck upon the idea of machine-knitting it. But machines are cost-prohibitive.
I ended up getting a cheep hobby knitting machine and giving it a whirl. After several false starts, and about a foot of decidedly funky fabric, I finally got the swing of it. It knit FAST. It knits nice and even. I have a 5' by 9" strip of fabric ready to meet dye. I hope it works!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
They are done!
The Serendipity Socks are done! Yay! I lost track of how many times I pulled them back, but I got quite skilled at it. The first few times I used waste yarn to weave in a 'lifeline', but after that I simply pulled out a needle and wove it in on the strand I wanted to start from by picking up the front of each loop. Then I could rip back with impunity, stopping on the needle and starting up again. I'm rather proud of 'perfecting' that little skill.
The socks look great. The heels are a bit pointy, but I think they may block out very nicely on my feet. The yarn feels very nice slipping the socks on for the first time. We'll see how it wears!
I wish I had finished them for Valentine's Day, since I had that as a goal. The yarn kept reminding me of chocolate-covered-cherries. YUM. But we're not far off and I'm still going to love wearing them.
The socks look great. The heels are a bit pointy, but I think they may block out very nicely on my feet. The yarn feels very nice slipping the socks on for the first time. We'll see how it wears!
I wish I had finished them for Valentine's Day, since I had that as a goal. The yarn kept reminding me of chocolate-covered-cherries. YUM. But we're not far off and I'm still going to love wearing them.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Strobist Macro Studio
So I found this interesting article on the web about how to make your own macro studio on the cheep. It was on this great website (which you may have heard of) called Strobist. I went a little over his $10 boast, but I needed a couple of items not on his list.
I've been saving up materials for a while, trying to figure out when I'd have the time to do it, and a couple of hours finally presented themselves. The box is an old monitor box I've been saving for years to move our computer's monitor (which will probably be replaced soon with a flatscreen). The panels are standard tissue-paper, but I taped over the entire surface with clear packing tape to make it more sturdy since there are plenty of little people around the house that would easily put a hand or foot through the side in curious exploration.
As far as additional expenses go, I used about $3 in posterboard (needed two white sheets, and I have one black sheet cut to a 20x20" square that you can't see here). The biggest outlay in money was the $20 daylight-balanced bulb which I stuck in a $5 clip-on-lamp from the hardware store. I just don't have any other good source of light in the house (especially this time of year when it's grey and grim and natural light is hard to come by). I don't even have a removable flash, so some sort of light was necessary.
I've already started to use it and it's so much fun! I'm able to get some glamour shots of my yarn, and soon I'll be putting my finished projects in here to show them off. It was completely worth the effort!
I've been saving up materials for a while, trying to figure out when I'd have the time to do it, and a couple of hours finally presented themselves. The box is an old monitor box I've been saving for years to move our computer's monitor (which will probably be replaced soon with a flatscreen). The panels are standard tissue-paper, but I taped over the entire surface with clear packing tape to make it more sturdy since there are plenty of little people around the house that would easily put a hand or foot through the side in curious exploration.
As far as additional expenses go, I used about $3 in posterboard (needed two white sheets, and I have one black sheet cut to a 20x20" square that you can't see here). The biggest outlay in money was the $20 daylight-balanced bulb which I stuck in a $5 clip-on-lamp from the hardware store. I just don't have any other good source of light in the house (especially this time of year when it's grey and grim and natural light is hard to come by). I don't even have a removable flash, so some sort of light was necessary.
I've already started to use it and it's so much fun! I'm able to get some glamour shots of my yarn, and soon I'll be putting my finished projects in here to show them off. It was completely worth the effort!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Progress, at last!
The goal today is to finish the second leg. Tomorrow, heels!
And soon, hopefully, lovely pictures, as well. I finished putting together my macro-studio box. I need a little more white poster-board to cover the bottom and it should be good to go. And I have to figure out how to set up my daylight-balanced lamp.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Happy, for the moment!
I pulled the first one back to the ribbing. I pulled the second one back half way through the lace. I successfully re-knit them both today.. and they now match! My gauge is the same between the pair. They look lovely. I'm thrilled and hope that I'll keep it up for the rest of the sock.. because I don't want to rip them back again!!!
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