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Posted on 11/09/2009 by Barb
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DIY, Dyeing, Finished Objects, Knitting, Tips
Over a year ago I dyed a hank of sock weight yarn using gel frosting dye. I didn’t really have anything in mind when I dyed the yarn. It was just experimental, I hadn’t used frosting dyes so it was just fun to play around. I posted about the experience and said I’d write up how we did it but I never actually got around to it and in fact didn’t do any more dying with frosting dye, in spite of the fact that I was pleased with the brightness of the color
My yarn:
My wrist warmers (do you call them wristers or wrist warmers?) with this yarn looked sort of … well, frankly, like 60s tie-dye. (I should have taken a photo of them before dying but I didn’t … you’d really see what I mean!)
So anyway, I decided to bring out my notes from the initial gel dying and over-dye the wristers.
Quick explanation of dying process:
Gather up:
The item(s) you want to dye
Bowl or bucket in which to presoak the item(s) you want to dye
White vinegar
Water (room temp is fine)
Gel frosting dye (Wiltons, available at Michael's)
Plastic wrap
Rubber gloves
Microwave safe dish or bowl
Microwave
Hanger or rack on which to hang item to dry
Soak the item you want to dye in a mixture of water and vinegar. Thoroughly mix the gel dye in plain ole the water. I made just a tiny batch because this was just a tiny project. I put the wrist warmers in the dye water, swished them around to make sure they got thoroughly and evenly saturated. I probably left them in the dye bath 5-10 minutes. Then I squeezed out the excess water, laid each on a piece of plastic wrap, folded the wrap around it to seal, rolled each up like a cinnamon roll, put them on a dish and microwaved (microwave for 2 minutes on high, leave in microwave for 2 minutes, then microwave on high for another two minutes, remove, let cool until you can handle them, then unwrap, and hang to dry).
For this, I used only about a quart of water and ¼ cup of white vinegar in a plastic ice cream bucket to soak the wrist warmers. Soaked them for a couple of hours. Then I used 12 ounces of tap water to which I added 1 tsp each of red and burgundy gel.
And here’s the final product:
I am actually okay with the result. I have a purple suede jacket that I love, and the purple on the wristers (which doesn't actually show up very well in the photo) is a nice match.
So … see? There’s hope for some of those “really, I thought that was a good idea????” projects.
Posted on 10/07/2009 by Barb
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Babies!, DIY, Finished Objects, Knitting, Tips
(That's a touch of local dialect ... and a very cute baby.)
This Whirligig Shrug is so cute. If you make it, you can very easily use the basics of the pattern to improvise a little matching hat.
I made the shrug using Merino 5 Superwash by Crystal Palace Yarns. I bought three 50-gram skeins (110 yds/skein) and had most of one left over so I was able to just use that. I used the same size needles I used for the shrug. And I chose to approach it as a top-down construction so the U-cable for the hatband wouldn’t be upside-down compared to the waistband of the shrug.
I started by casting on 7 stitches in a circle. (Tip: After a round or two you’ll want to place stitch markers to divide the piece into 7 sections. Then make your increases in the stitch before (or after) each stitch marker. Just be consistent in where you add them.) Working in stockinette stitch, I added 7 stitches per round until I had 28 stitches. Then I added 7 stitches every other round until I had 77 stitches. I worked those 77 in stockinette stitch to the length I wanted (about 3-1/2 to 4"). (I cook that way, too: "Oh, I don't know ... you just wanna add 'some'.")
Just before starting the U-cable section, I added 3 additional stitches to bring the count to 80. You bring the stitch count to 80 because you need multiples of 8 to duplicate in the hatband the U-cable stitch pattern of the shrug.
After finishing the U-cable “band”, I made a ruffly brim by adding stitches in the same manner as they were added to form the ruffle of the shrug. The brim is maybe 8 rows of seed stitch.
Voila! That’s all there is to it.
Posted on 05/08/2009 by Barb
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Babies!, DIY, Finished Objects, Free Patterns, Knitting
Well, I finally got the pattern for Eva’s Hat posted in our DIY section... and it’s also available through Ravelry. Here's Andrea, taking Eva for a walk, and baby's wearing the hat! (Don’t you just love it when you make things and they actually get used?)
And just as exciting … I have a Bella Lana gift certificate and used it to score some blocking wires. (How exciting is THAT?) I’m just finishing the circular shawl and am so excited to use for-real blocking wires to block it. I hear they're the real deal. I’ve always just used a b-jillion pins and patience, patience, patience, so this should be a real treat.
I’ll report back on how the blocking goes!
Posted on 03/14/2009 by Barb
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Babies!, DIY, Finished Objects, Free Patterns, Knitting
I have the hats finished but no babe. So here they are, being modeled by a balloon, balanced on top of a ceramic vase.
Sometimes you just have to make due with found objects! Stay tuned. Andrea is knitting the hat in size large, I’m knitting it in size small, and if all is well with the pattern, you will be able to download it from our DIY section or through Ravelry.
Posted on 09/16/2008 by Barb
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DIY, Free Patterns, Knitting
Well, I've finally finished the pattern for the vintage holiday stocking I first worked on back in March, then declared as a project for the Ravelympics and failed to complete at that time.
I said I'd share the pattern when I was finished, so here it is! There's a nip in the air, not too early to think about those Christmas projects.
When I'm sitting at the hospital over the next few days, I'll be working on the Leo ...
Who knows? Maybe it will be done by Christmas ... maybe not.
Posted on 03/07/2008 by Barb
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DIY, Finished Objects, Free Patterns, Knitting, Stash
It’s funny how something as insignificant as wrist warmers can affect your life. (Well, that might be an overstatement … your life.) Some areas of our office can feel chilly so I’ve been knitting wrist warmers to keep around for anyone who’s feeling the need for a little something cozy. They’re pretty quick and easy to do once you get the hang of entrelac, and they’re a great way to use up scraps of odds and ends of yarn. They’ve become quite the rage around the office! (Well, that might be an overstatement, too!)
Posted on 02/19/2008 by Barb
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DIY, Food, Knitting
It was a great day for just hanging out with Andrea, balmy almost. We've had a pretty cold winter here (it was -5 degrees this morning, brrrr). But Saturday it actually got above freezing!! We (and I hardly dare whisper it) left our coats in the car while we shopped!
First, we went yarn shopping at Double Ewe, a yarn store near where Andrea lives that I had never been to. The owner, Kelly is very sweet and helpful. It’s a smaller shop but nice – go there if you get a chance.
This is the yarn I bought from Kelly. Today we have our after-work sit n’ knit, and I’m going to work on this. I love the colors, and the cleverness of the stow-away pocket design.
After Double Ewe, we headed for Mall of America – the 2008 Knit-Out was there last weekend. We watched a round of the speed knitting competition. The fastest person there did (I hope I’m remembering this correctly) 170 (stockinette??) stitches in 3 minutes. Andrea said the winner is someone famous ...?? Andrea (or someone), help me out here, please, who is she?
On the subject of speed knitting competitions, I saw in the August 2007 issue of Knit ‘n Style (given away at the Event) that Lisa Gentry completed 209 stockinette stitches in some competition, and does 2 stitches a second in garter stitch. That’s 120 stitches a minute ... 360 stitches in 3 minutes! That’s flyin’! I see she also broke the Guinness World Record “Fastest Crocheter” in 2005 … now, that’s being an over-achiever! She was apparently at the Knit-Out event but I didn’t see her.
And while at MOA we bought a little something for Steph ... I can't talk about that, though, in case she reads this post. So even though she's way out in Boston, we were hanging out with her, too, in spirit if not in fact!
Finally, we ended up over at my house cooking Andrea's vegetarian chili, which has now become my favorite chili recipe.
It was a really fine, fine day.
Posted on 01/10/2008 by Barb
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DIY, Finished Objects, Free Patterns, Knitting
When we first started this blog, I thought, "Gee, wouldn't it be cool if we could post a pattern for pink argyle socks knitted in the round ... I've never seen hand-knitted argyle socks that didn't have a seam up the back." (Well, there might be a reason for that.)
Anyway, off I go! I think, "maybe Fair Isle ... maybe intarsia." I set out to do it Fair Isle. It didn't take long to conclude that I couldn't keep the carried-along yarn loose enough to get the sock over my heel.
To make a long story short, we now have a pattern in our DIY section for pink argyle wrist warmers, modeled here by my niece's son who used them as boxing gloves when he wasn't being annoying with the remote. (Okay, it's important not to take oneself too seriously, right?) But I do (seriously) love how they turned out. It was a fun little challenge so I thought I'd share the pattern. Make 'em, wear 'em, and you're guaranteed to get some comments!
Posted on 11/21/2007 by Andrea
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DIY, Free Patterns
Originally uploaded by AMK
We decided to put up a new
DIY section to collect patterns we've written, recipes we've invented, or any other instructions for how to make things.
Because it seemed so timely, I decided to start with this pattern for making
mini mitten ornaments. I came up with this several years ago, and knitted these ones for a Christmas gift for my Grandma.
These are so quick to knit, once your fingers get used to the awkwardness of knitting 18 stitches on size 1 DPNs. And they're a great way to get some use out of all that leftover sock yarn threatening to take over your house (or is that just me?)
