Happy Halloween!(turn your sound on after you click "done"...)
Off to finish homework, then knitknitknitknitknitknit..
NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow-oh goody!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
I Should Be Knitting Right Now...
But I can't.As you can see, I'm getting along with my sock. Not as far as I'd like, but I'm getting there.
"Why aren't you knitting right now, then?" you might ask. Well, it's because of this:
A) Get more dpn, or
B) Find the lost dpn
Unfortunatly, Option B isn't possible, as I lost the needle at school, somewhere. Guess it's a trip to Michaels for me!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
End Of (UF)October Rush
I only just realized yesterday that the end of October is in a week-and I don't have my socks done yet!
(That would be my second sock-cast on this morning!)
So I'll be knitting like crazy to try and get one more WIP in the FO pile before this cool game called UFOctober is over.
I am also working on my exception for UFOcober, my blanket. This is how far I am on spinning the first third of my roving:
The color is a bit brighter than that...but you get the idea.
I'm hoping to get all of the spinning for my project done by the end of this year, then actually do the knitting bit next year-think I can make it?
The really observant of you readers can see I have a new button on my sidebar for some strange thing called NaNoWriMo. November is National Novel Writing Month. The challenge? Try to write a 50,000 word novel just in the month of November-no later, and no earlier. The cool people over there have this website where you can keep track of the number of words you have done, meet other people who are working under the same self-imposed stress as you are. I'm gonna try and do it, so if my posts get more erratic and less often than they usually are, that's why.
I have been planning my story (which is allowed before November starts, thank goodness), and it's turning out pretty good. I can't wait for October to end so I can start it for real!
But first, I should really get that sock done.....
(That would be my second sock-cast on this morning!)So I'll be knitting like crazy to try and get one more WIP in the FO pile before this cool game called UFOctober is over.
I am also working on my exception for UFOcober, my blanket. This is how far I am on spinning the first third of my roving:
The color is a bit brighter than that...but you get the idea.I'm hoping to get all of the spinning for my project done by the end of this year, then actually do the knitting bit next year-think I can make it?
The really observant of you readers can see I have a new button on my sidebar for some strange thing called NaNoWriMo. November is National Novel Writing Month. The challenge? Try to write a 50,000 word novel just in the month of November-no later, and no earlier. The cool people over there have this website where you can keep track of the number of words you have done, meet other people who are working under the same self-imposed stress as you are. I'm gonna try and do it, so if my posts get more erratic and less often than they usually are, that's why.
I have been planning my story (which is allowed before November starts, thank goodness), and it's turning out pretty good. I can't wait for October to end so I can start it for real!
But first, I should really get that sock done.....
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Yes, I Am Alive (Part 2)
WARNING: VERY LONG POST!!
Hello, everyone. I couldn't find the cable that lets the camera talk to the computer-turns out it was on a shelf, right where it is supposed to be when it's not in use. Who'da thunk that?
A library friend of mine asked me to do a review for her blog, and I agreed. You can peek over there and say hello, if you want.
Today, we'll discuss my dyeing venture-I used McCormic blue food coloring, but didn't quite keep track of how many drops I put in-I do have a general recipe I tried to go by, though. (Inspiration from Knitty's Color To Dye For by Julie Theaker--I didn't completely follow her instructions) The wool is superwash from The Fold.
I first divided the 1lb roving into 5 1/3 skeins.
For the first third, I let it soak for about 15 minutes in water and 1/3 cup of vinegar. I then transferred it to an aluminum pot, covered it almost completely in water, and put the heat on the stove at medium. I then mixed my dye.
Dye Recipe:
1) In a plastic cup, pour 2/3 cup of water
2) Put 8 drops of food coloring into the cup
3) Microwave for about 15 seconds, or until the temperature of the dye is around 120 degrees
I then poured the heated mixture over the heating roving, trying to be relatively even. I used around 4 of these mixtures, moving the roving around with the end of a cooking thermometer to make sure I didn't miss any parts.
However, I ended up with deep blue spots (below), which isn't necessarily bad, just not what I expected.
I let it "cook" for about an hour, then let it cool till it I could hold it.
After squeezing out all of the water, rinsing the extra dye out, and hanging it up to dry for a night , I had a blue speckled roving!
The fiber had kinda matted together, so I predrafted it before I began to spin it.
For the second third, I let it soak like before, but without the vinegar, and just for 10 minutes or so. I also added 4 or 5 drops of food coloring to the water before I put the roving in the soak. I then let it cook for longer than an hour, and with only 2-3 helpings of the poured dye. The roving was so hot, I let it cool overnight, then squeezed out all of the water, rinsing the extra dye out, and hung it up to dry the next night. The result?
A 100% pale blue roving! The roving is more the color of the above photo than the below.
When it came to the matting factor, I had the same problem with the second roving as the first. There is an obvious difference between the dried just-out-of-the-dye roving (right part of your screen) and its predrafted counterpart (left).
Well, I'm done rambling for now.
¡Buenas noches y hasta luego!
Hello, everyone. I couldn't find the cable that lets the camera talk to the computer-turns out it was on a shelf, right where it is supposed to be when it's not in use. Who'da thunk that?
A library friend of mine asked me to do a review for her blog, and I agreed. You can peek over there and say hello, if you want.
Today, we'll discuss my dyeing venture-I used McCormic blue food coloring, but didn't quite keep track of how many drops I put in-I do have a general recipe I tried to go by, though. (Inspiration from Knitty's Color To Dye For by Julie Theaker--I didn't completely follow her instructions) The wool is superwash from The Fold.
I first divided the 1lb roving into 5 1/3 skeins.For the first third, I let it soak for about 15 minutes in water and 1/3 cup of vinegar. I then transferred it to an aluminum pot, covered it almost completely in water, and put the heat on the stove at medium. I then mixed my dye.
Dye Recipe:
1) In a plastic cup, pour 2/3 cup of water
2) Put 8 drops of food coloring into the cup
3) Microwave for about 15 seconds, or until the temperature of the dye is around 120 degrees
I then poured the heated mixture over the heating roving, trying to be relatively even. I used around 4 of these mixtures, moving the roving around with the end of a cooking thermometer to make sure I didn't miss any parts.
However, I ended up with deep blue spots (below), which isn't necessarily bad, just not what I expected.
I let it "cook" for about an hour, then let it cool till it I could hold it.After squeezing out all of the water, rinsing the extra dye out, and hanging it up to dry for a night , I had a blue speckled roving!
The fiber had kinda matted together, so I predrafted it before I began to spin it.
For the second third, I let it soak like before, but without the vinegar, and just for 10 minutes or so. I also added 4 or 5 drops of food coloring to the water before I put the roving in the soak. I then let it cook for longer than an hour, and with only 2-3 helpings of the poured dye. The roving was so hot, I let it cool overnight, then squeezed out all of the water, rinsing the extra dye out, and hung it up to dry the next night. The result?
A 100% pale blue roving! The roving is more the color of the above photo than the below.
When it came to the matting factor, I had the same problem with the second roving as the first. There is an obvious difference between the dried just-out-of-the-dye roving (right part of your screen) and its predrafted counterpart (left).Well, I'm done rambling for now.
¡Buenas noches y hasta luego!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Tries and Retries
I got a pound of superwash which I am planning on dyeing for my blanket/shawl thingy! Unfortunately, Blogger isn't happy with me right now, so you'll just have to imagine a picture of a pound of white superwash roving, divided into thirds.
(Yes, we got to the fiber store on Saturday, this isn't some part of my stash I haven't told you about...) I'm planning on dyeing it with food coloring today and tomorrow, and spin some of it on Saturday at my 4-H meeting. We're going to have an hour to work on our projects for next year-whew! We barely have time for breath in between years!
Now, before everyone starts wagging fingers at me for starting a project when it's supposed to be UFOctober and all, this is going to be my ONLY exception. I want a little break from my *wonderful* super-secret presents.
I did finish the second super-secret present, but through some freak of nature, one half of the present (which is supposed to look exactly like the other half) is significantly smaller. Why I didn't notice this as I was knitting it, don't ask me. I think it might have had something to do with the fact that I tried to take some twist out of the yarn before I knitted the second half, thereby making that half thinner and shorter. Whoops!
Well, perhaps Blogger will let me post some pictures of my dyeing tomorrow!
(Yes, we got to the fiber store on Saturday, this isn't some part of my stash I haven't told you about...) I'm planning on dyeing it with food coloring today and tomorrow, and spin some of it on Saturday at my 4-H meeting. We're going to have an hour to work on our projects for next year-whew! We barely have time for breath in between years!
Now, before everyone starts wagging fingers at me for starting a project when it's supposed to be UFOctober and all, this is going to be my ONLY exception. I want a little break from my *wonderful* super-secret presents.
I did finish the second super-secret present, but through some freak of nature, one half of the present (which is supposed to look exactly like the other half) is significantly smaller. Why I didn't notice this as I was knitting it, don't ask me. I think it might have had something to do with the fact that I tried to take some twist out of the yarn before I knitted the second half, thereby making that half thinner and shorter. Whoops!
Well, perhaps Blogger will let me post some pictures of my dyeing tomorrow!
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