Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Working With Yarn

My First Balls of Goddess YarnWhat a long hard day! I spent most of it organizing shelf after shelf of beautiful yarns into nice color-coordinated stacks. I really dig Cashsoft and Kidsilk Haze, but I'm going to wait after my trial period, when I can get my employee discount. At first, I feared of having an uncontrollable stashing frenzy while working here, but actually I'm feeling quite the opposite. Being surrounded by amazing yarn all day long totally replaces my desire to stash. I've only aquired 4 balls in 3 days - this for a felted bag...


The Lucky Sock Yarn...and this sock yarn that started it all. When I came home today, I cradled it setimentally, and actually thanked it. Hopefully that will be the last time I talk to yarn. Now I just can't part with these. I think I'll knit myself a lucky pair of socks instead, and make my sock pal something else equally nice...


Yummy Sherbet Hand-Dyed Sock Yarn...like a yummy pair with this KnitPicks merino I dyed last night with Kool-Aid. If I did it correctly, this should stripe. But personally, I think handwashing socks is a little fussy. And this soft merino doesn't seem like it's tough enough to withstand all the pressure of being underfoot. So what else could I make with this sherbet-colored yarn? Maybe some fun felted mittens for DD? Yeah!


Yummy Sherbet Hand-Dyed Sock Yarn This is my original sock pal design, but I'm afraid they might be too big. I didn't consider that the eyelets would change the gauge so much. If they don't shrink a bit after washing, I may just have to keep these for my own wide feet. I really like this eyelet lace ribbing. It functionally hugs the foot, and this particular lace pattern is really easy and fun to knit.

After my sock phase, I'll jump on the Summer of Lace bandwagon and make something fabulous with Goddess Yarns, especially since I now help represent this company. All of the lines are nice, but since it's blazing hot outside, I'm really attracted to Mia (cotton/linen) or Hayden (cotton/silk). I'm thinking about a nice top with lace edgings that I can wear to work, and impress my boss. For a shawl, I think Julia would be perfect - it's super soft, slighty hazy, 100% animal fiber, and is DK weight, so it won't take forever to make a big beautiful fall shawl.

8 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 21, 2005 7:54 AM

    so what lace pattern is that on the socks?

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  2. WandaWomanJuly 21, 2005 9:15 AM

    I agree that handwashing socks is fussy. I just don't care to do that at all. That's why all my socks are superwash so they can go in the washer. I think the sherbet-colored yarn looks fabulous and felted mittens for your daughter would be so much fun.

    Hey, maybe you can make your honey that Colinette sweater after all? With your discount and all? hehe

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 22, 2005 1:33 PM

    This is my first visit to your blog... i just love teh yarn you have posted on this entry!! I am waiting for my soack yarn to arrive from knit picks and I am going to try my first attempt at Kool-aid dying. Your pink and orange version is so pretty! I love the pattern on your socks too. Had fun looking around.

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  4. VickiJuly 23, 2005 7:46 PM

    You did a great job on the dying. I LOVE those colors. I'm new to your blog too, it's so nice! How did you get the drop downs on your sidebar? I'd love to know how to do that. Well, I'll be baa-aack :)

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  5. Mei TravisJuly 23, 2005 9:47 PM

    To make the yarn, I set 2 chair backs 8 feet apart, to wrap the hank, which I loosely tied in several places, then soaked the yarn for a few minutes in a cup of vinegar and enough water to cover. I put 2 bowls, each with 2 packs of Kool-Aid and a cup of water, side-by-side. I pulled the hank out of the vinegar, letting most of the liquid drip off, then put the half of the wet hank in the strawberry bowl, the other half in orange. Then I covered both bowls with 1 big piece of plastic wrap, and put them both in the microwave for 3 minutes. Let it cool completely (about 2 hours) then rinse carefully in cool water, and hang dry in the shade.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mei TravisJuly 23, 2005 9:54 PM

    The lace stitch is really easy. It's K5-P2 ribbing. Every 4th row, K2-tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, P2.

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  7. AnonymousJuly 27, 2005 9:17 AM

    I love the colors of the dyed yarn--I've got some koolaid sitting out to dye something similar later this week. And your sockpal socks look great--I like the vine-y-ness (that's a word, right?) of the lace pattern.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Stitchin' SheepJuly 28, 2005 4:01 PM

    I love that stitch pattern.

    ReplyDelete

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