Kool-Aid Dying Process Complete

E and I, as in S, had a great weekend this weekend. Between outlets, Ikea, and yarn dying, it was a lot of fun...although I could live without the cold I seem to have picked up over the weekend. So Sundaykool-aid dying took place and while yes, the previous picture makes the yarn look a bit like raw ground meat, the final product looks significantly un-meatlike. First pic is the yarn drying out in the sink, second shows the skein reskeined. Not the prettiest reskeining job, but I'm realizing that two swifts would have been helpful. E it'll be the weekend before it wings its way to NYC, and I may just wait until I have time to play with the second skein to play with. But not bad for a first attempt at dying. And I believe the tropical punch/black cherry aroma has finally dissipated from the house.

S

Koo-Aid Dyeing

I visited S this weekend between business trips and brough my dyeable yarn from knitpicks that I bought a while ago. We picked up several packs of kool-aid, but the were mostly versions of red colors. This morning we mixed 2 packets of balck cherry and 2 packets of tropical punch. When I left, we had microwaved, but it was still setting in the sink. If S finds her camera, maybe she'll take a picture before she sends it back to me. I left the second skein with her, so she can do another one if she wanted.

I'm attaching the pciture I took, it looks like ground meat. hehe.

- E

Finished Cowl

Well, I have to say that this was one of the faster knits that I have done and I enjoyed every second of it. This is my first cowl and it will be gifted this holiday season. I will have to wash it first as the dark dyes rub off when I'm knitting, so I don't want them to rub off when someone is wearing it. The pattern is the Pashmina Cowl from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I am currently modifying that pattern for another cowl, which should be done by week's end. I love the Tlingit colorway, from Socks that Rock, that I used and think that I will use my discount coupon code to grab another skein before the end of the year. DH was kind enough to take the pictures today as we finally had sun in our neck of the woods. I'll have some in progress pics of the other cowl later this week. We finally finished Felicity on DVD and have now moved into Scrubs. We decided that we needed a laugh out loud show after the last one languished. But, Gilmore Girls and Doctor Who have been added to the Netflix list for future viewing.

-B

Two Bibs and a Headband

Putting buttons on these bibs and my sister's Calorimetry was finally completed on election night. It's been super rainy and I've been working late, so I had to wait until today to get a decent picture. The bibs will be on their way to the Big Apple today. One of our friends had a baby boy in September, so these are the gift from us to them. The Calorimetry was made for my sister so she can keep her head warm when we run in the cold. I'm doing my first 5K on the 15th, so we've been out in the elements as of late and I figured that this would come in handy.

I'm 90% done with the first holiday cowl, and have the design for the next played out in my head. After visiting with another friend with a new baby boy (they are everywhere these days!), I'll map out the design on some graph paper and wrap up the first cowl. I've got my Knit Night tomorrow at my LYS, but am not sure what to take to work on. I think the crowd will be low because of Stitches East, so maybe working on my design is a valid project to bring. We'll see.

-B

Cowl Update

I hit my knitting groove yesterday as I sat down to start the Pashmina Cowl from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I rented the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, from On Demand and settled in for two hours. Before I knew it, I was three inches into this cowl. I know that Ms. Hoverson has gotten some flack for her estimated times on how long these gifts really do take, but she may be accurate on this one. I am loving it and am especially thrilled with how the colors in this yarn are playing out. I am using Tlingit from STR in Mediumweight and am thinking about ordering another skein in order to make myself some standard socks to see how these colors play out again. The subtleties of the purples, greys, greens and blacks and beautiful to see. Even DH commented on how cool they were. I'm about half way done this project and will be working on it some more this evening. I should have holiday gift #2 under my belt by mid-week. Then, it's on to trying my hand at designing my own cowl pattern. -B

WIPs for October

Well, I'm slowly feeling like I am getting the hang of my new job, so there was some knitting in the month of October. I currently have two baby bibs blocking and a Calorimetry awaiting a button. I also wound the yarn needed for my sister's Clapotis and started on a Pashmina Cowl (Raveled here) as another holiday gift. I'm using Socks that Rock in Tlingit. It took me awhile, but I was excited to find a fingering weight cowl pattern so that I could use some of my sock yarn in something other than socks. I'll either be making two of these cowls for gifts or I may even try my hand at designing my own cowl. I've been playing with ideas as I knit the first one. In the meantime, I realized that I have never posted the fabulous needle case that S made for me a ways back. I needed to go buy some new needles for the cowl, so I had the case out while I checked on my needle inventory and grabbed a photo.

Also, I am a huge proponent of Etsy and as I have been looking at fibers to order, I have come across some other little handmade gems. These earrings are made by Bek. She sells her wares under the store title of Clever Girl Industries. The acorns and leaves have added to my whimsical collection of nature based jewelry and I get a ton of compliments on them. I also love the way that she presents her items. The wrapping, cards, and free notecards immediately put a smile on my face.

Finally, DH and I have been using our Netflix account to catch up on shows that we either missed when they were on or of which we only saw one season or even one episode. It's how we got hooked on Battlestar Galactica and caught up on House. Recently, we have been watching Felicity. The first two seasons were fairly light hearted and followed everyone through the fun, and occasionally awkward college dating years. But, we're currently in season four and dragging ourselves through each episode. Did anyone else notice how depressing season four was? We're not surprised that it did not make it past said season. So, we've decided to choose a comedy for the next go-around. Some ideas are Arrested Development, Scrubs, 30 Rock or Gilmore Girls. Any suggestions or recommendations? We need some laughs!

-B

Falling Into a New Hobby

As you can see by my picture, I have taken a step into a new sector of the fiber arts. I took a spinning class this past August at my LYS and fell in love with it. Since the school year has started, I've tried to get back to buy a wheel each week, but didn't get there until last night. I walked in for the knitting group that they host once a month and asked to buy the Ashford Kiwi. I popped it into the car and hung out for the next 2 hours with the group. I haven't bought any roving for it yet, but am shopping around online for a bit that catches my eye. I've got plenty in my favorites over on Etsy, but will need to narrow it down. For tonight, I'll be working on a second Calorimetry while we cheer on the Phillies. I figure it's a good project to watch with in case something really good happens and I toss it into the air while clapping and cheering ensue. Then, again that also means that it can be tossed in disgust as well. Let's keep fingers crossed for cheering.

-B