A project comes together at last

Some time ago, I bought this really cheap cone of mohair yarn.  It was really cheap because it was a hideous mustard yellow color.  The-70's-called-and-they-want-their-yarn-back kind of mustard yellow.  And I was thought, "I can totally dye this another color and it will be awesome."  I threw some green dye on it, and well...the results were not pretty.  It looked like dead grass.  So, it sat in my yarn stash for a while, mocking me.  Then I thought, "Maybe it will looks less hideous once it is knit."  For future reference, if you find yourself saying this, your project is probably not off to a good start.  Then I knit this hood.  And it was still awful.  So back into the dye pot it went, this time, with copious amounts of dye, way more than I thought it needed.  And lo and behold, it actually came out pretty cool.  I am a sucker for a happy ending.

You want mittens? I got mittens.

I go through phases of making a lot of a specific item, so the last time I was in a fingerless mitten frenzy, I ended up making two or three (or a dozen or so) pairs.

Beachy - hand knit in self striping acrylic blend yarn

Cabled steel - crocheted, cabled mittens in acrylic yarn

Chain Mail - crocheted in wool/acrylic blend yarn

Dawn - crocheted in self-striping acrylic yarn

Evergreen - crocheted in wool yarn

Last Midnight - crocheted in wool/acrylic blend yarn with sequins.

Orchid - hand knit in wool yarn

Snow Fort - crocheted in wool/acrylic blend yarn with sparkles

Starlight - Crocheted in self striping wool/acrylic blend yarn with sparkles

Sunset - hand knit in a subtly self-striping acrylic yarn

Swamp Thing - crocheted in a bulky acrylic yarn

Syrah - Crocheted in self-striping, wool/acrylic blend yarn with subtle sparkles

Turquoise flowers - crocheted in a wool/silk blend yarn

Twilight - crocheted in a chunky acrylic yarn

Check out which ones are still for sale in my etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/inlerah?section_id=10575420

Hand dyed sock yarn

I miss dyeing yarn. There's something to be said for playing with color, and seeing how things turn out.   So here's a few of my experiments:

Autumn.  I like the mixture of autumnal colors, with the bit of slate blue.  I haven't had a chance to knit anything up with this one, but should be pretty.

First Light.  Bright turquoise really stands out against the lavender, steel blue and chestnut.

Peppermint. Mostly red, with patches of creamy natural white.

Seascape. Pretty oceanic colorway.

Christmas baking is on

I made these pumpkin spice cookies with a light orange icing today. I didn't make enough icing though. They're pretty good, even if they do look like they were decorated by the 2 year old. (They weren't. That's all me, baby.)

Craft fair aftermath

Today is for cleaning up and reorganizing after the craft fair this weekend. Then I need to work on finishing my Christmas presents.

My First Canned Applesauce

A few weeks ago, we went apple picking. At the entrance, you buy a bag, in your choice of the sizes. My companions asked what size we should get, and I said, "medium," figuring that would give us enough to make a pie or two,  maybe a little applesauce and eat a few.

I was distracted by something for a moment and when I turned around,  we had purchased 2 medium bags.

Here we are, three weeks later, with most of a bag of apples nearing the end of their natural lifespan. So I made my first ever attempt at canning, and have 3 jars of sauce cooling on the counter. Yum!

Consistency is a curse

Note to self: re-learn how to spin worsted weight yarn. Feel like I will never finish plying.

Can we fix it?

I've started cross stitching again, and what better way to return to the craft than by charting and stitching a snarky sampler for a friend? Weirdly, tiny hammers were easier to find than tiny liquor bottles, so I had to make do with martini stickers, but I'm pleased with the overall look.

Organizing my space

Now I have room for dyeing and the drum carder has a home. Already working on overdyeing some less than exciting yarns and fibers. Feeling productive this morning.

Spinning BFL / mulberry silk

Some more singles that I finished recently.   This fiber was hand-dyed by me and is probably one of my favorite blends to spin. It's so soft and shiny.

Spinning

I was very productive yesterday.  Spun singles from 8 ounces of fiber in two colors.

First up is targhee in the Blackberry colorway from Abstract Fibers

Next is some BFL in the Twilight colorway, also from Abstract Fibers. 

Companions x- stitch

Working on this little cross stitch piece. All done except for the back stitching. Gah! Back stitching is such a pain.

Handspun yarn

Did a little spinning this week. The green one is cormo with some BFL corespun randomly through it. A bit of an experiment for me, which mostly worked.  The other is merino, cashmere and mulberry silk in the Cathedral colorway from Frabjous Fibers. Yum!

Color Affection

So, summer has barely begun, but I am looking forward to the fall, so I can wear my Color Affection Shawl.
I knit this in Lotus Forest Dew, an angora, merino, tencel and cashmere blend yarn, which was so wonderful to knit, and I did something that fell between the laceweight and fingering weight version to get the size I wanted.
I definitely understand why people are in love with this pattern, it is both simple and beautiful and has a ton of possibilities.  I may even knit another one.

Mindless knitting

Finished my color affection shawl, which is blocking right now and in the meantime an working in a nice and simple striped scarf. I love these colors!

Cabled baby vests

Knitting baby things is so much fun.
Here are a few new items. The first one is definitely inspired by Gryffindor colors.

Baby hat extravaganza

One of my co-workers is having a baby girl. She's due on July 6th. I made her a few hats. Making baby things is addictive.

A work in progress - Spectra

Originally saw a sample of the Spectra pattern while shopping at The Woolpack a few months ago and fell in love. I knew immediately that I wanted to do a rainbow colored self striping yarn with black contrast yarn, so when I found myself at Webs a short time after that I picked up the perfect yarn. By the way, this may be one of the only times I have ever bought yarn with a pattern already in mind. :)

After a few tests of the pattern, I decided to go with more of a capelet style, rather than a scarf, and this is what I have so far:



As I started to see how the striping pattern was working up, I thought it would pretty for the color changes to be mirrored on each side, but now I am thinking that I am going to run out of black yarn before I get back to the color I started with. Not sure yet whether I will buy more yarn, or just leave it mismatched. I guess I will see how it looks as I get closer to the end.

Home from seeing the Nutcracker.  It's been years since I have seen it and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. First, there is something charming about seeing ballet performed in a small space. I feel like I was better able to appreciate the intricacies of movement.  The choreography was lovely, the children playing the mice were just about the cutest things you ever saw, and couple playing the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier were beautiful dancers.  Also, the guys had really nice butts.  Well, I mean, really...I know you all expect me to notice these sorts of things.  Also, I had forgotten how much I really like the music.  Not surprisingly perhaps, I find the Trepak/Russian dance particularly appealing and will likely be humming that to myself for a bit, which may make it difficult to go to sleep tonight.

I can take a hint

A few weeks ago, I got a text message from my niece which said something to the effect of, "I just bought this dress for the baby. It looks like it would be easy to make. Don't you think it would look cute in candy cane stripes for Christmas?"

HINT HINT HINT

I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, and after playing around for a little while, I eventually came up with this:



New skill learned: pleats.  I couldn't find any patterns for making pleats on a top down garment, so I figured it out myself.  I think I will make them more pronounced next time, but I am still proud of myself.  Overall, I like the way this came out and can't wait to see my great-niece in it.