Yarn Dyeing - So Much Fun!

Base yarns - some grey unknown from the op-shop, approximately 10g. Bendigo Woollen Mills 'Luxury' in cream, leftover from this project, about 30g (I think).

Colours - Wilton food paste colours in red, yellow, blue and green. I made up each of these colours and also orange and purple. I used vinegar as the acid for fixing (I was using lots of bits and pieces I had found when looking up information, but it was a few weeks ago, so I don't remember the specifics - please don't follow my approximations, best to go and research it properly).

To apply the colours, I lay some Gladwrap on the table, and then the wool. I just poured the colour where I wanted it and gently massaged it in.

Once I had applied it all, I wrapped it up in the Gladwrap and popped it into a pan of hot water.

I kept the water just simmering or thereabouts (I wasn't getting too technical this time around). Once all the extra colour that floating around in the Gladwrap turned clear, I took the wool out to cool. On rinsing there was no extra colour loss.

To be quite honest, I was really, really surprised at the depth and vibrancy of the colours that emerged.

I did a swatch with the original grey yarn, as I wasn't sure what ply it was, but I got a bit bored just doing plain stitches, so I did a few yarn overs and knit 2 togethers to see what it would look like. I have come to the conclusion that is about an 8ply.

As I had a little more time left after dyeing those, I decided to do some small samples using a bluey-green 100% wool, also from the op-shop with the same colours, and also put the grey in the yellow, orange & red. I am liking the results.

There will be more yarn dyeing in my future - it was fun and a great way to use yarn that I don't like the original colour of :)

Cheers!

Argh Me Hearties

I am very late in posting this project, but better late than never :)

In first term DD had a pirate dress up day at school. What a great reason to make her some new shorts and a t-shirt.

Both are from Ottobre. The shorts are Celine Knickerbockers #38 from 1/2008. Easy and straight forward apart from my mistake of putting the fly shield on the wrong side and making it so that the zip doesn't go all the way up. Whoops!

The top isTangerine #14 from 1/2011. I found this to be very short and lengthened it from a size 116 to 122. I would still prefer more length on it, but it is fine for a play top.

To make it a little more pirate-y I stenciled a girly skull onto the front of the top and added a pick ribbon - so cute!

Both projects were from the stash too - got to love that!

Cheers!

My Socks!!

Still on the knitting adventure I wanted to try some socks. So I did. I wasn't ready to tackle sock yarn yet and I didn't have any needles small enough, so I used some BWM Classic 8ply that I found at the op-shop for 75c. Score! There was 120g on the ball, which was enough for 2 socks.

This was a great easy pattern for a sock newbie like me.

Sock 2 is definitely neater and nicer than sock 1, but I won't discriminate and will wear both. I discovered how to get rid of the hole formed at the heel turn (I think that is what it is called?) when picking up the stitches after doing the heel flap. Sock 2 is on the left, sock 1 on the right.

The Kitchener stitch for the toe is certainly neater on sock 2 :) Sock 2 on top, sock 1 underneath.

There will definitely be more socks in my future!

Cheers!

A New Skill

At the start of the year I thought about writing a list of what I wanted to try/learn craft-wise this year. But I didn't. Write a list that is. As I really only had one thing I wanted to learn, and that was to knit. I thought it was beyond me. I tried and tried again on some cheap plastic needles and acrylic yarn (also cheap). It didn't matter how many stitches I cast on, I always ended up with more by the time I had reached the end of the row. I didn't know knit from purl and would just get frustrated.

For some reason, by the end of March I really felt I had to "get it"! So I headed to Spotlight and got good wool and a circular needle (I did have a pattern ready, so I knew roughly what to buy). Casting on and knitting on the circular needle seemed to make much more sense to me - don't ask me why, because it is nothing like crochet. Other than a few hiccups that turned out to be yarn overs (from holding the yarn in the wrong spot) when I swapped from knit to purl rows I successfully made a cowl.

It was about 34C when the photos were taken, not exactly cowl wearing weather, hence the short sleeve top.

It is super soft and squooshy, but I think my needle size was a bit large, so it doesn't seem like it sits close enough to my neck to keep it warm. I may pull it back and re-knit it as I love the wool.

My M1 stitches have visible holes so I am not sure if they were done correctly.

So this has started me on the adventure of knitting.

Soon after, a lovely lady on one of the craft forums I frequent, gifted me her KnitPicks interchangeable needles that she didn't use anymore. All I can say is WOW!! They are fantastic and I am forever grateful. Every time I use them think of her :)

My next project was a beanie. Mainly for the practice. I used some lovely 100% wool from Spotlight and this pattern. I didn't make it as slouchy as the pattern said (mainly because I got a bit bored with all that ribbing).

I also made a few changes (ah the joys of being a newbie, you just do things as you wish! Actually I find it the best way to learn.) At the top, instead of stopping when the pattern called for, and then threading the tail in to pull the circle closed, I kept decreasing until I only had a few stitches left. This has made the top look different, but I now know what the effect is.

In the first few rows I did the same as the cowl - yarn overs creating an extra stitch or two. So my ribs got all out of sync and I now have a funky border - if I hadn't told you, you would probably think it was intentional ;)

It is meant for me and DS kindly modeled it for me.

A nice easy 2nd project - I am hoping to get lots of wear out of it this winter.

Cheers!

There Is Now An 8 Year Old Living In My House

And he still loves his Mummy made presents best of all :)

Sewing clothes for him this year was a little more challenging, as he is tall and skinny, so I need to make sure that pants will fit. So once I had got to the waistband part of his pants I blindfolded him (he was very excited to do this lol) tried his pants on him, marked where to hem them and roughly how much I needed to gather the back of the pants with elastic. Which was a fair bit. He managed to get in and out with the blindfold on and not pin himself once. Then he went on his way without peeking.

A top and pants, both from Ottobre. The top is a size 140, and this should give him enough room for growth and to get him through to the start of the cooler weather next year as well. It is #37 from 4/2010 made in stella from Crafty Mamas.

Pants are #39 from 4/2009 in a size 134. I love the details on the pants - pin tucks in the back yoke, shaped back pocket flaps, and that fantastic shaped front of the pants. Love it! There is nothing boring about this boy sewing.

The other challenge was that this year our Easter holidays were quite late, and I misjudged how much time I would have to sew while the kids were at school. This meant I had to sew when they were at home, but without them seeing (night time is no good as I make too many mistakes). So when it was rest time, I shut the passage door and gave them strict instructions to knock before coming out. It worked wonders and I got everything finished in time.

 Melly & Me - I Come In Peace alien - he is the favourite present and totally loved.

A new camera case to go with his new camera - I used the Keyka Lou pattern again, but changed the straps to make it more boyish, and added velcro to the back pocket to prevent the spare batteries falling out.

And we can't forget the cake - he picked out an octopus as a number 8, from one of the Women's Weekly cake books - they are just wonderful for kids cakes.

Cheers!

Blocking. Did I Do It Right?

I am not sure. I think I did. I didn't ruin my shawl, so maybe I did :)

When I finished the shawl back in November, I didn't have a chance to block it before needing it. I also didn't know how to. After stumbling across a thread on Ravelry about how blocking can make your lace items truly stunning (and my luck is that I can't find that thread again), I decided to give it a go.

Here it is just on the floor before.

And on me before.

I soaked it for 15 minutes, rolled in a towel and laid it out flat on a blanket on the lounge room floor (one of the few benefits of having not got rid of the ugly carpet just yet - I can stick pins in it!)
There is a pin in each of the edging loops, down the middle line, and across the top sort of evenly. I tried to get it symmetrical, and left it overnight to dry.

I am not sure it made a huge amount of difference, but it is slightly bigger - both width and depth. It also feels softer and well, at least it has had a wash :)

So if you can point me to any great pages on blocking feel free to leave a comment.

Cheers!

Knipmode 101B March 2010 Top

Ever since I saw this pattern in the Knipmode special I have been wanting to try it. I finally got around to it a few weeks ago.

The fabric was a cotton interlock(??) with not much stretch - which is pretty much the only downfall of this top. It stretched out a bit when I had to unpick along the top front and didn't recover. But that is ok, because I still like to wear it (I might put some elastic there at some point if I can be bothered).

Things I changed - I shortened the elastic on the sleeve edges, and the bottom hem is different to the pattern, as it wasn't until I went to do the hem that I realised that I should've traced both parts for the length. Duh!! It would've made it much easier to hem had I done this.

Overall the top is comfortable and easy to wear. It is a good length for me and rather easy to sew once you work out exactly where you need to sew each bit and don't have to unpick it lol

Cheers!