A dyeing experiment

Yesterday I tried out some of my dyes by dyeing a scarf I made a few years ago that I never wore because the color didn't really go with my skin. The scarf is "Dew" from Rowan magazine 26, one of my old favorites (I also made the sweater to match but felted it by mistake!). The scarf was done in Rowan's DK Soft, a yarn that's been discontinued now but it was very nice to work with. Here's the color mine was:


And here it is in the murky dye bath:


And now it looks like this:


I'm happy with the color, even though I didn't measure anything or really have any idea how I wanted it to look. I guess I didn't want it to be a dull gray, and it's not that! The dye kit I have is from Sheep Hollow in Oregon, and it's their new Lanaset dye colors (or they were new when I bought them). Here are the colors in my kit. Each will dye a pound of yarn to that strength, or more if the color isn't as strong.


I'm amazed at the dyeing process, how one can put wool in a pot and bring it almost to the boil and not have it felt. It's fun to watch as the water gradually becomes clear by the uptake of the dye into the fiber.

Clemence

I finally finished a handknitted garment! Hooray for me. This sweater is Clemence, from Louisa Harding's book Nouveau. I love all her books, and this one has lots of pretty things for spring. My sweater is made with Blue Sky Alpacas 100% alpaca sport weight, so it can be worn in other seasons. It's warm and cozy.

The original model looks like this and is made with Merletto, a linen blend that looks light and delicate:


I decided to leave off the intarsia and do the eyelet pattern throughout. I would have wanted to do the contrast band, but I had already started this sweater as something else. I was able to switch it to this cardigan easily and keep my 1 x 1 ribbing. Here's the back view:



I like the sweater and think I'll probably wear it a lot. It looks fancier in the book, but jeans usually figure into my daily wardrobe, so that's how mine will be worn. It could be dressed up with gray pants or a skirt and a scarf, though.

Here are the blasted buttons that took me forever to get just right. I love cardigans but forget about all the extra finishing they require. I'm quite proud of my efforts, though, even if I did the math wrong and ended up with one less button than stated in the pattern.


And now for the most exciting part: the next project! I've got ideas, but that's for another post.

Katzen and dogzen

Still at work on Nuke (new kitty) over here, in fact, Nuke version 2.0. I was getting frustrated with the watercolor, so I started over in colored pencil, a less wieldy medium for me. Also made it a bit bigger. I had an idea for a gold colored mat for the one on the right and this was a tester. Since Nuke is no longer with us, I had thought to do a night sky with stars above him, and have him sitting on his cushion. But I don't know if I'll still do that with my drawing or opt for something simpler. His dark eyes are quite frustrating, as this cat has kind of an "out of it" look to him, but I suppose I'll know when I've got it just right. However, I do enjoy working on him and really want to try to capture him in this drawing.


In other news, we saw a bobcat at the bus stop today! The bus had already picked up the kids and gone when it moseyed across the street right in front of us, headed for a wooded trail. It was the largest bobcat I've seen, so large that I looked up lynxes when I got home to see if it could be a lynx (no, lynxes don't like the suburbs). This photo isn't our bobcat, by the way--I didn't have my camera with me. It was a very cool creature to see here in the Pacific NW.


My neighbor just got a field spaniel puppy yesterday that looks quite a bit like this one, except theirs is black. So adorable. I love their little domed heads. I may have to add her to my list to do a drawing of some day.

Reknit, reuse, recycle

As an experiment, I thought it would be fun to recycle yarn from a thrift store sweater. Recycling yarn is popular these days and I've seen some really neat stuff made with what began life as an awful sweater, or perhaps became one after the styles changed. First, I read up on what others had done. Then I had to find the sweater, so I paid a visit to the Seattle Goodwill, which is a big establishment with lots of turnover in stock. Looked in the men's department because the yardage is better and I thought it likely that some of those sweaters had seen little wear. Men can be picky about their sweaters! Found a plain gray stockinette sweater in a brand I like and brought it home, where I put it in a tub of warm water and Eucalan to soak.


After it was dry 2 days later, I began to deconstruct it. I have to say it's time consuming and took the better part of Saturday morning. I also made a real mess, with threads and bits of yarn all over. It took me a while to figure out where the seam threads were, and turns out the seams on mine were sewn with a finer thread. In fact, my yarn turned out to be 5 thinner threads loosely plied together.


I'm glad I called this an experiment, because that's what it was. I have many many little balls where, from incompetence or lack of patience, I missed cutting the seaming thread and cut some of the main sweater yarn instead. But when it was all done, I had a bag full of yarn, and best I can tell from weighing and measuring, there's at least 1,200 yds of yarn.


Now, I did try the sweater on before unraveling it and found that it was quite scratchy, which may explain why it was living at the Goodwill. Old J. Crew didn't use the best yarn on this one! The other reason is that it had a hole in the front I hadn't noticed before, so I really didn't feel bad about recycling it. Anyway, I was thinking of an outerwear garment. After much time poring over patterns (word to the wise: skip this step until you've completed next step), I started swatching, and did not like the resulting fabric at all.

So I decided it would make a wonderful bag of some kind, and found this one I liked that my son would also really like. He's only six, and he loves any kind of loot bag or treasure bag, because he collects treasure wherever he goes--rocks, buttons, twine, shells, etc. The bag is from the book Greetings from Knit Cafe.


And depending on how old he is when I finish it, ha ha!, he can use it for his iPod, too.


I think recycling Goodwill sweaters is a useful occupation. At $7.99, had the yarn been of a better quality, it would have been a gem of a find. As it is, it will make something neat and useful in its second life.

Which ewe are you?

Take the quiz.

I guess I'm a Perendale: "This longwool knows that taking it easy isn't just a good idea -- it's a great one. With an open-mind and dependable attitude. Perendales always make the best of any situation. Flexible and adaptable, they are great negotiators and compromisors, as well."

New kitty

Meet Nuke, or "New Kitty," his name originally was. If all goes well, this watercolor will be a gift for a family friend in remembrance of Nuke, who recently died at the old age of 17. He was a funny cat, very friendly, who was well known in his condominium complex because he liked to visit all the neighbors. As he got sick, he became very thin, thus his face is even more narrow than usual for a Siamese. And he was a bit crosseyed. Here's the original photo.


For my watercolor, I wanted to try a miniature, and while it's not truly "miniature," it is a small painting at about 3.5" x 4" (but will probably be about 4" x 6" when done). I figure people might like a smaller painting they could have on their desk, as opposed to a big 8" x 12" that would take up quite a bit of wall space. I just got going on it, there's lots more to do yet.

Knitting update: I'm still knitting away on my Clemence sweater, but it's not too exciting to show--I'll finish the front today and move on to the sleeves. Or maybe I'll seam what I've got so far and see how it looks. But now I'm off to take the boy to the dentist for his check up, so I won't have time till this evening. Have a great day, everyone!

A white sweater

One of my bigger crafting goals this year was to spin enough fiber to knit a sweater from the book A Fine Fleece. I can say I'm a little behind on my project, because here it is September and I've spun only about 15% of the yarn I'll need. My fleece is a white fleece that is a cross of some good kinds of sheep, such as Corriedale and Romney. I have the exact kind written down somewhere, but it's a pretty basic white fleece. It's easy to spin as roving, and the two-ply yarn, as I've spun it, is soft and kind of fluffy.


I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, but I can't decide on a sweater from the book to knit. There are many great designs, but I'm having trouble visualizing myself in them in a natural colored yarn. Dyeing would add a whole other layer of difficulty to this already lengthy project, so I'm not thinking of that. The mosaic above (click to view larger) shows some things I'm considering, and only two of them are from the book. The rest I've gleaned from vintage publications, Rowan magazines, Sirdar publications, etc. I haven't even narrowed it down to a pullover vs. cardigan.





I like vintage patterns because they come in sizes that are closer to mine. Many of the sweaters in A Fine Fleece are 40" around for the smallest size, which I think is more knitting than required!

Simple would be good:


But wouldn't these be nice, too?



I'll have lots of time to consider my options as I spin, but if anyone has a suggestion or advice on patterns for handspun, your comments would be appreciated!