Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Fun Dyeing and some FO’s

Love the pun on that word, especially if it’s not spelled correctly. LOL.

So I have a skein of LB Fisherman’s Wool. It’s white. I thought it would be fun to dye. But I can’t stand re-skeining, tying it off, etc. I’m lazy. So I went ahead and made the stuff (plus I didn’t have the kool aide yet) and decided to dye it after the fact. Also, I don’t have  a scale to weigh out my yarn. I’m not all that technical. I hate to dye up enough for my project, have some left over but not enough…then it’s like wasted yarn. I suppose I could get all creative and save it to make something later with all the bits and bobs of yarn leftovers…but again, I’m lazy. Then I’d have to remember fiber content and stuff. Lazy. 

Here is the before of a cute hat:

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I just knitted a tube, kitchenered the top, and added tassels. I used Berry Blast Kool aide to make it appropriate for my almost 2 yr old (Please forgive the snotty nose and focus on the hat. I know I’m drawing attention to it by even mentioning it, but it does bother me, and it’s very  hard to get the kids to participate when I want to take knitting pics)

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And I made myself a warm pair of mittens. I needed them badly the other night when I went to my first knitting group here. I didn’t even have Fingerless Gloves!

Before:

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I used this pattern. Very nice, and for lots of sizes, to boot. Best yet, it’s free!

And After. I used Strawberry to dye these.

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They are not this red. More pale and orangey. What are those weird creases, you ask? I laid them on the radiator to dry. Nothing beats a hot radiator for drying clothes. Really. You  can dry jeans in a few hours if you keep turning them over. These mittens would probably have taken days to dry without the radiator.

I think my dyeing experience turned out pretty good. I like the way the colors came out. I was very worried about accidentally felting them, though. I do have another ball of white wool that I plan on dyeing soon. I need to find green first.

I have a few more FO’s to show. It’s been awhile, I know. Seriously, try and take a picture of your own head with a hat on. It’s a lot harder than it looks! And I keep forgetting to get my kids to model for me.

These are Susie’s Reading Mitts. A very popular pattern on Ravelry. They knit up very quick and are fun. I used Cascade 220 in a nice blue color.  I would have worn them, but then the pic wouldn’t have turned out. It’s even harder to get pics of your own hands than your head, believe me.

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I made a smaller pair of mittens from the same pattern above for one of my kids. I used a Hobby Lobby yarn that is wool. Very nice and warm.  You can also get the pattern from Ravelry as a download.

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I made a few hats. Here are the ones I have pics of.

The first is Riply (Rav link), by Ysolda Teague. She is very talented and I love her designs. So simple, yet elegant. I made the longer version without the picot edge. I used Cascade 220 in a nice buttery yellow. It fits snug and I like the pleats on it.

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I also made another skull hat. I had some pink and white wool laying around. The first one I made was way to big. This fits nice, though it’s big too. I decided again on the roll brim instead of knitting a band on the inside.

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And the last hat I made using inspiration from two patterns, I love pom poms and Susie’s Reading Mitts. I like the long band from the first pattern and I just incorporated the lace pattern from Susie’s Reading mitts. I used some Simply Soft and just knitted and knitted.

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It’s hard to see the detail with it on (again, the whole camera and head thing) but you get the idea. It’s perfect for bad hair days!

So, as you can see I’ve been busy. I’ll update you on my more recent adventures very soon. Hopefully with a nice stash enhancement since my birthday is this weekend. yay!

3 comments:

Beth said...

That's a really good dyeing job. The color is so even! I've never been able to get evenly colored stuff when I dye (die?). Bravo!

woolspinner said...

Wow! You have been busy!! I love the beautiful, even knitting on your projects and the lovely dye job. The colors came out even and attractive. It's nice to see all these great projects!

hakucho said...

Lots of cute hats :)