Esoteric Knitter

Fluffy softness. Yup, that’s what’s been captivating my interest. Here are some of my latest spins. These weren’t done on my drop spindle, but on my nifty new toy. The Little Meggie. It’s suppose to be a kick spindle, but I just put it on a table and spin with my hand.

To fuel my new obsession, I had a fun hand dyeing/painting session in my back yard. Here are my new lovely rovings.  The great part is that they’re superwash merino. YUM!!

Colorway: Favorite Color

Colorway: Tainted Love

Colorway: Autumn

Colorway: Sweet Berries

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Child’s Placket Sweater
Mary Jane booties
(no actual pattern for the hat, just a few rows of seed stitch and then stockinette) Oh and if ya’ll don’t already have a pompom maker, definitely give them a try. They make pompoms look so nice.

This was that project that took me forever. It really shouldn’t have. But I kept procrastinating. So when the baby shower was looming around,  I had to get my act together and finish the sweater, knit up the hat and baby booties in oh, say 3 days. lol. I’m super happy with the way the sweater turned out. My first sweater yay!! It’s now given me some courage to maybe think about knitting a sweater for myself.  We’ll see.

I’ve finished these socks for awhile now. The Spring Forward pattern is simple and not so boring. Oh and if anyone is thinking of using Easter egg dye or cool aid, if you set the colors, they really don’t fade as you would think. I’m really hard on my socks putting them through the washer and dryer, so yeah, the colors really hold up.

I know, another post so soon?!? This is just a shortie. I had a chance to dye my Knit Picks Bare sock yarn with easter egg dye yesterday and wow!!! Dyeing for the second time is so much easier when you know what to expect and what to do. I love how vibrant and bright the colors came out in my first skein. And I’m utterly digging my second skein because it feels so…I really can’t explain…its just…awesome. I randomly mixed what I had left after dying the bright colors to get the second look. I have so much appreciation for the indie dyers out there because it is a long and messy process. I only dyed two and it felt like forever.

So…Whada-ya think?

Happy Rainbow

Rustic Rose

8)

I had to see how my Kood Aid dyed sock yarn would turn out. And well… pretty darn fugly. LOL But they are mine so I’ll still love them. The only problem I have is that I was a bit off on my guage and they turned out a bit loose. That’s what I get for not properly swatching once again. I hope they’ll shrink a bit in the wash. We’ll see.

Pattern: Alternating 2×2 Rib From Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare
Colorway: Kool Aid Dyed
Start: 8/24/07
Finished: 8/28/07
Needle: 32” Knit Picks circs US2 (2.75mm)
CO: 56sts
Heel Flap: Eye of Partridge
Total Foot Length: ~8inches

I bet ya’ll are tired of me doing all these patterns form SKS, but gosh, they are super easy and quick. No worries, the next pattern isn’t from SKS. I’m about to start knitting up the Vintage Apron. And on that note, I’ll leave you with Dream in Color…

Yarn: Dream in Color: Smooshy Sock Yarn
Colorway: Ruby River
Info: 100% Australian merino superwash wool
Size: 450yds/4oz

The Footies are done . What do ya think? Crazy how a continuous hank/skein can produce such different results. I had posed a question or should I say made a remark on my Flickr photo about the debate I read somewhere about how dyers should dye up 100g skeins instead of having us get two 50g skeins since those would create somewhat different looking socks. Well as you can see and 100g skein can do the same thing too. Plus with two 50g skeins, I can wind them up and knit two socks at once instead of having to split up my big one.

Pattern: Plain Stockinette with a K1P1 mini cuff
Yarn: Fleece Artist Nova Sock
Colorway: Tiger
Start: 8/10/07
Finished: 8/22/07
Needle: Addi Turbo 32” Circ (2.5mm)
CO: 64sts
Heel Flap: Eye of Partridge
Total Foot Length: 10 inches, made to fit a US women’s 10 shoe

I’ve been having fun playing around with sock yarn and Kool Aid. I keep seeing such amazing creations out there and keep hearing about how fun it is. And it’s all true. This was really fun. I know my first dye job really isn’t that great, but I feel quite accomplished so I’m gonna share, lol.

I used the microwave method and just poured the colors on top of the yarn and soaked up all the excess water and what nots. There are a lot of tutorials out there. I used THIS ONE. Just three colors, black cherry, blue raspberry, and lemonade. The base yarn is Knit Picks Bare (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon). And here it is all wound up and ready to go…

Another yarn all wound up and ready to knit is the Madeline Tosh Vintage Apron. I just need to pick out a pattern and just go at it.

I also picked up two balls of sock yarn from Knit Picks. They had an Essential Special because these did not turn out as they had wanted. The company is test dying their Essentials line and considered these not as bright or deep enough. I kinda like them. Head on over and get yourself some.

That’s my novel for now, I hope to get back to ya’ll with some nifty new socks for show and tell.