Frogging Happy

I truly love bulky yarn and have had a wonderful time dyeing and then knitting and crocheting two projects out of some super bulky yarn that I purchased from Heelside Farms in Four Oaks, NC. The first project was my second knitted hat in the Collapsible Cloche pattern which can be seen on my Ravelry projects page. This was supposed to be for me and ended up being for Gary because it fits and is convenient to grab and wear on cold winter mornings out taking care of critters. Since I had plenty of yarn left for another hat this seemed like it would work out just fine. Having decided I wanted a crocheted tam, I found a pattern that seemed ideal - Super Bulky Tam by Candice Veazey. The only thing I didn't reckon on was that the size of yarn differed somewhat from the pattern which I faithfully followed to produce the first tam pictured.

After three different people remarked that I would really need dreadlocks to look my best in this hat. I decided that I had to reduce its size - which of course meant that I had to pull out some of what I had done (5 rows in fact) and then redo the brim. After a bit of help finding my ends and carefully pulling out the 5 unneeded rows, I was able to redo the brim/band to produce a much better sized hat. I'm usually pretty resistant to pulling out what I've done so this is a step forward.

Hat & Scarf Combo

This will be the year of hats on circular needles. This one was started on straight needles, transferred to circulars and then finally finished on double point needles. The pattern is called "Collapsible Cloche" and I found it at the back of a novel. The yarn is WoolEase and I got it at the annual February Fiber Swap and Bring a Friend month event at Hot Wheels Handspinning Guild. This pattern is actually intended to be felted and shrunk somewhat, but WoolEase is only 30% wool so it didn't felt or shrink as I had hoped. The hat still came out looking quite nice, especially with the matching scarf. This is another one that is destined for donation to one of the local groups that gathers warm winter wearables.

Scarf Irony

I am awash in yarn. One might even call me "yarn-rich" - how's that for a cool new word. What it means is that I am well stocked with yarns for every conceivable purpose, fiber and source - from handspun luxury to mill spun from the fibers of my own critters to a few stray skeins of bulky synthetic for knitting charity hats and scarves. So why would I ever go out and buy yarn? The answer is simple - because I wanted it and this is certainly not a yarn I can imagine producing via hand spinning. The yarn is called Flick-Flak and it came from Twisted Knitter in Mebane, NC. It is one of those new (at least to me) novelty yarns, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. So far I've knit two scarves - one I call the summer scarf (pictured left)

and the other one I call the autumn scarf (pictured right)

. These were Christmas gifts for my mom and SIL. I'm hoping to start a new one in a different yarn called Tricor that will be for me.

Multi-Strand Knitted Scarf

This is my latest way to diversify my knitting without the necessity of doing things like following a pattern or learning new stitches. The scarf pictured was knit with a total of 4 strands of yarn on size 17 needles: 3 strands of handspun (medium blue, dark blue and natural black Shetland wool) plus a strand of Sari silk yarn. I really like the look of Sari silk yarn, which is hard to work with by itself (perhaps the lack of elasticity). However if combined with wool in multi-strand knitting, it really looks pretty and is much easier to manage.

Dyeing with Mushrooms - motivational fungi

Okay, so given the unexciting results of my previous attempts at dyeing with mushrooms - various shades of tan, why would I do it again? The answer is of course - a truly stunning and beautiful mushroom like the one pictured below. I've never seen one like this so just had to try it.

I followed the same procedure outlined in previous posts. The results were pretty much the same as before - more tan wool. I think I am headed back to my indigo pots.

What A Difference A Dye Makes

This is a tale of 5 skeins of 90/10 mohair/wool yarn that were dyed in a varigated colorway that no one seemed to want to buy. To be honest, I did not like it much either. Pale red and bright yellow blending into oranges, just really are not my colors.

I was debating whether to simply offer these skeins up at our guild Christmas swap, when a friend suggested that I over-dye them. We debated on colors and I ended up going with a bright turquoise (Jacquard).

And Wow! - what a difference. I may even keep these for me if I can find a pattern that suits them.

Dyeing with mushrooms ... first fruits

To start the process, I just emptied the gallon jug with the mushroom liquid into the dyepot, added another gallon of water, heated it up and added some wool roving, a skein of yarn and some cotton. Nothing seemed to be happening in terms of color strike and it smelled strongly of ammonia. Remembering that one usually dyes protein fibers with acid dye and ignoring the fact that I had stuck some cotton in there as well, I acidified the bath with vinegar until I couldn't smell the ammonia any longer - not precise, but it seemed to work because the fiber and yarn did visibly begin to take up color. I kept the temperature of the bath below boiling, but steaming and let it stay heated for about 45 minutes. Then I let it cool in the pot overnight and rinsed and washed it out the next day. The color is a light tan.