Knitting Dragonflies

While going through my stash in my stash busting mode, I came across my first hand dyed, hand spun. Three bulky bright orange skeins of merino yarn (12 oz). It is still in there despite my many attempts to incorporate this yarn into, well, anything. I was reading Claudia’s blog; The Knitting Blog by Mr. Puffy the Dog ,  and she had an idea to make a shawl for visitors in her home. Our house is always on the chilly side, and I thought that was a excellent idea. Adding a bright wrap for visitors would be a welcome item indeed! Before dye                                       After dye post, see post here I finally decided that a big pop of color in the Baktus scarf would be pretty, whether under a coat, or over a summer top to keep the chill off, a super bright touch of orange would be p...

Once upon a time there was a woman, a knitter of course, that dreamed of learning to spin.  She knitting and bought spinning books and magazines and read all of the articles. OOOO, Ahhhhh…. Then she met a fellow knitter, who was spinning on a spindle. Knitted Gems , who is a great knitter who is also a knitting designer . Her blog posts and photos about her beginning spinning gave me courage to try it. So in fits and starts I started. Then I met another blogger, Spin, Knit and Life , who sells luscious batts and spun fibers at her Etsy shop . She encouraged me and give me little tips, well maybe big tips. She walked me through buying a wheel, my first, now I’m thinking about another, and through her I became interested in dyeing. The first thing I dyed (with Kool Aid) was some of the first fiber that was spun from my wheel.   Some lovely soft hand spun , that I’m now incorporating into a sweater. By now I’m seriously into the dyeing addiction. The latest I made is a s...

I saw this sweater on this front of Knitscene Fall 2009 and decided to make it, but  with a twist of colors, minus the belt (why place a belt over your pattern area?). Deciding on blue I picked out some Blueberry Kool aid, then offset it with Lime Kool Aid. I did this in a three step solar dyeing process. For more info on my solar dyeing see this post . (more dyeing how to info links here ) Wet your yarn (natural fibers take up dye better), thoroughly, soak at least 15 min in warm water. While you are waiting for the soaking. Dissolve your Kool Aid packets in warm water (or the same temp. as the water you are soaking your yarn or fiber in), standard amount is 1 package of Kool aid per oz of fiber or yarn. Less Kool aid=lighter color, more kool aid=vibrant. 1-Solar dye my yarn with the Blueberry Kool Aid, I used 5 packets per 4 oz of yarn, dissolved in 4 cups of water. (I use a sun tea jar, I know many people use canning jars) After this is dissolved, gently place your ya...

I started out with my first handspun, and decided to make a plain little knitted in the round bag to store my Tarot cards. It was my first attempt at spinning on a spindle, so it was pretty wonky. Thick and thin, so the square gathered up as the gauge changed. Just a row of ktog, yo, knit 2, repeat for the drawstring, and I’m ready to sew it up. Then I decided that I didn’t like the plain beige. Being in the middle of a Kool Aid Dyeing frenzy , I decided to give it some color. A little microwave dyeing , and then decided to felt it , because the shape was irregular enough that I couldn’t think of how it could be used.  Well, felting is unpredictable, sometimes too small, or too fat. But like life, if given lemons, lemonade it is. And so my tarot bag became a make up bag. Which even works out  better. Due to the triangle shape, everything fits it in perfectly. Great, a cute little bag and it holds just enough to make a girl pretty, and fit in my purse! May...

While trying to destash, I ran across some nice yarn, but the color way was outdated, or I was tired of them….So…..why not try overdyeing? (I know I’m really suppose to be destashing and decluttering my house, and I end up making a bigger mess) Over dyeing begins…why not…can it look worse? Yuck. Blue/yellow/red before.   Before and after, this is with 5 packages of grape Kool Aid, and microwave dyed . It took the harshness away. My husband doesn’t see much difference, but he IS a man. Here we are all dry and ready to go, now I would knit something with this yarn. Inspired by my success, I decided to try more yarn. I found this blue/orange/burgundy/green color way. ugh… More yarn…and this time I tried solar dyeing, I found out that WalMart had their sun tea jars (glass) on sale for $1 each. I used this method . This yarn reminds me of the 70’s, and then some grape and  cherry kool aid (sorry I know it’s generic, but that’s half the price) Sun tea jars...

I have a new wheel, a Lendrum folding wheel from Paradise Fibers, I love it, of course it’s the only wheel I know or how really used so I’m biased. I started with roving to play with, then I had purchased about 12 or so oz of white merino at a fiber fair. I decided I would spin all of this and ply it. My logic was after that I would have a good idea of what I was doing. Which I think worked fairly well. Some snaggles at first. My first three skein of plied handspun. Woot…. Well I’m not sure what I had planned for this, but I just fondled them for a while, they were so soft and squishy, and made me smile. Some where along the line I decided they needed color. (I know some of these photos I have blogged before but I am so enamored by Kool Aid dyeing that they are having a encore presentation) Numerous online bloggers recommended Kool Aid for my first foray into dyeing. Even so, I was a bit uncertain as I started, after all this was my first, plyed handspun yarn. Off ...

Spring quickly turns into summer.  We have had so much rain here, I feel like I am living in a rain forest, upside to that is lush growth of the garden and flowers. The air is heavy, even at 80 you perspire, and, as my friend pointed out, everything you stick in your pockets come out damp. This spring I began with my first felted purse, I am still carrying it and love it. This quickly turned into an obsession. Fast forward to now, and I have numerous skeins of yarn, patterns and friends that I have drug along in my felt mania. I’m going to try to arrange a “felting party”, some friends, (yes all of my friends have had knitting needles thrust at them), some wine, snacks and a Saturday on the deck. Knitting and felting a purse is a great project for a beginner knitter. No matter what style of purse you prefer there is a pattern out there, or you can tweak one. Pick your color, or colors and your off. Mistakes disappear, a way too big knitted sack appears and the fun really...

Kool aid dyeing looked so fun. And me with three skeins of handspun. This is the first attempt at spinning and plying on my first wheel, a Lendrum. This was some merino that I purchased at a fiber festival. I bought about 16 oz. my plan was to use this to practice with on my first wheel.  I had no live person to teach me, but many online people , in addition to You Tube. Usually when I have a day off from work I have a long to-do list. Well I still have that list, but decided that today was going to be a fibery day!  After reading some on the internet and asking for some advice, I was off to buy some Kool Aid. I thought I wanted yellow but decided on orange. Right now, I am cooling the water, but I am anxiously waiting to see how it looks! Technorati Tags: Kool Aid Dyeing , Handspun yarn , knit , spin