Dyeing for Some Sanity

It's been a tough couple of months for the KarKnitz household.  I won't bore you with the details, but one of the recent hits we've taken is the loss of my beloved laptop.  I booted it up one morning and saw the telltale signs of a dying graphics card.  My poor little Macbook is done.  Finito.  No funds to replace it and none on the horizon.  I'm heartbroken.  The one positive thing is that the Spousal Unit was able to save most of the data - what a guy!   Of course this means that I now have limited computer access, but what's a girl to do.

So, I'm dyeing a bit of yarn because delving into a bit of fiber related fun helps distract me from the fact that we're circling the drain right now.

I have lots of ideas for colorways in my head, but am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now and unsure of my ability to execute those ideas.  I really need to find a way to get myself over it.  All that being said, I'm pleased with my last couple of adventures with the dye pot.  These were done with food colors on Serenity Sock from Premier Yarns.  I love that I'm reminded of Firefly whenever I use this yarn!

This was kettle dyed.  I call it Gaugin's Sunset:

This was done using the hot pour method.  It's a colorway I've done before; I call it Lily Pond:

I have two more kettle dyed skeins cooling on the stove now, which I'll post when they're dry if I'm happy with the results.

Last Weekend's Dyeing Project

I had a skein of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool that I divided into three smaller hanks so I could play with some icing color.

I intended to do a gradient dye with this one, but my blue broke on one end, giving me a spot of pink/purple (damn you, Red #3).  When my husband saw the skein, he said, "It would look cool if you could get some more of those purple bits on it."  So, I twisted the skein to preserve some of the lighter areas of blue and immersed the skein in a new dye bath. 

The next two skeins I did in the crock pot and poured color on.  I think I may run the last one through another dye bath to deepen the color a bit.

HGA Convergence

Yesterday was the last day of the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence at the Long Beach Convention Center and we made it there in time for the last two hours of the conference.  There were some interesting garments on view in the exhibition hall, but no photography was allowed in there so I have none to share.

We did have plenty of time to stroll through the marketplace, where there were all sorts of fiber related items available, from looms and spinning wheels to roving and yarn.  Apologies for the blurry photo, but I had to include a shot of these beautiful colorways:

Hello, Malabrigo!

I even got a couple of gorgeous skeins of Malabrigo Rios.  The colorway is Piedras.  Thanks to my lovely mom for the second skein.  I absolutely love Malabrigo yarns.  Their colors are so rich and have such depth.  This is my first batch of Rios; I look forward to working with it.

After the Convergence we headed over to Shoreline Village in search of refreshment.

Wine, beer, and appetizers at Parkers' Lighthouse -- a perfect way to end the afternoon!

What I Dyed Yesterday

I had so much fun dyeing with food colors yesterday. I used a skein of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool, which I divided into 3 skeins of about 155 yards each, reserving the rest for mini skeins.

The first reminded me of a nebula and since I'm a "Cancer," I'm calling it Crab Nebula. I used Wilton'sWilton’s icing color in Royal Blue and Aster Mauve, Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid, and a mystery green that was a mixture of Kool-Aid and food color drops.



This one was done with Magenta Wilton’s gel and Wilton’s icing color on Royal Blue and Aster Mauve.



The third, Lily Pond, used Wilton’s Buttercup Yellow and Royal Blue, and green food color drops. I originally intended to overdye the twisted skein with a darker green but I really like the way the blue broke and gave me hints of purple and pink so I’m leaving it as is.



I'm heading out to the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence shortly so no time to dye more yarn today.

More Fun with Food Color

I took a day off work so I decided to play with yarn and food coloring.  Currently, there is a skein of yarn in my crock pot and another soaking in a bath of Eucalan before I hang it to dry.  Pictures of those later.

First, I experimented with a couple of micro skeins.  Each is only about 10-15 yards.  I used a combination of Wilton's icing colors and gels and Kool-Aid on these.  Both were painted then steamed.  The blue-green was painted with Buttercup Yellow and Royal Blue Wilton's and Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid, steamed and cooled.  Then I twisted the skein, dipped it in a jar of mystery green,  and steamed it.

I'm not too sure how I feel about the yellow-pink-purple one.  I've decided to call it Tears of a Clown because I think it looks like Circus Circus exploded.

After drying and re-skeining my color experiments I'm very happy with the blue-green, which I'm calling Mossy.  The Tears of a Clown is growing on me.

Swatching

Yes, I am one of those legions of knitters who hates swatching.  However, I do realize that sometimes it is necessary, butIwannastartknittingrightawaydammit!

I've been wanting to knit Carina Spencer's Catkin but didn't have yarn that suited the project.  Although the madelinetosh Prairie in my stash looks nice together, I think it might be too fine even if doubled.  My wonderful, generous mom came to the rescue when she got me some beautiful Tosh Merino Light for my birthday.  I absolutely love the colors: Cousteau and Moss.  It's one of the yarns suggested for the project so I knitted up a swatch to see how the colors work together.

Yes, I think this will do just fine...

Museum Day

I've always loved museums; it's an appreciation that was instilled in me by my parents.  They used to take my brother and me to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from the time we were very young  so I've always had an emotional connection to the place.

LACMA recently did a summer promotion where if you bought a ticket before June 30 you can visit the museum as often as you like for 3 months.  My dear friend and favorite  museum buddy treated me to a ticket for my birthday so we met up on Sunday to hang out and to check out the much-anticipated and often derided Levitated Mass by Michael Heizer.  I think it is a delightful addition to the LACMA campus.  They have really transformed the space outside the galleries into a perfect free gathering spot in the middle Miracle Mile.  Levitated Mass also, to my mind, works as a great companion piece to Richard Serra's Band, on view in the Broad building.  Both bring the feeling of the natural world into an urban space.  The Serra installation evokes rocky canyons, its steel walls, covered in a patina of rust,  rise up like canyon walls have the look and feel of rock formations.

The highlight of the day was finally experiencing Chris Burden's Metropolis II.  It's like the play set you fantasized about when you were a kid.  Like the ultimate Hot Wheels track with trains, buildings made of Lego, Lincoln Logs and every other material imaginable.  I loved that the crowd gathered around in anticipation of the control boxes being turned on, and, when the first train started to move, people started cheering and clapping - the adults enjoying it as much as the kids.

I loved this building with its arched windows and little window boxes.

How would you like to be the person standing in the midst of these tracks making sure everything is running smoothly?

Birthday Yarn!

My mom and I celebrated (or tried to ignore) birthdays last week and on Saturday we headed to Abuelita's.  Mom got me this beautiful Madelinetosh Merino Light as a birthday gift. 

This one is Cousteau.  I absolutely adore this color way and would have gotten two of these if there'd been another skein:

This is the Moss color way.  The green is actually a more subdued olive (closer to the top photo).  Madelinetosh yarns have such beautiful colors.  I just want them all!

Fun with Kool-Aid

I decided to do a bit of Kool-Aid dyeing today.  This is some Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool.  I used Black Cherry Kool-Aid with a couple of drops of blue food coloring for the main bit and a mix of Cherry, Grape and Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade for the purple.  After nuking that for a bit I poured some pink lemonade to tone down the orange in the Black Cherry.

Here's some that I did yesterday.  The red/purple is some Paton's Kroy Sock yarn that I've had in my stash for a while.  I did a similar blend as for the Fishermen's wool, although the first dye bath didn't saturate the yarn fully so I had to re-dye it.  Unfortunately, my ties weren't secure so when I went to pick up the hank it fell apart and I had a nasty pile of yarn barf.  About an hour and a half later I had it reskeined and ready to dye again.  I'm really happy with how it came out.

This is some Stitch Nation Full o' Sheep.  I used Pina Pineapple and Lemonade for the yellow, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade for the aqua and the green was a 2:1 mix of Lemon-Lime and Orange.  I'm torn between leaving this as is or over dyeing it to get a bit more saturation.  Think I'll live with it for a week and then decide what to do.

 Finally finished my Color Affection shawl (well, almost - I still need to block it) so I cast on my Bigger on the Inside shawl.

I don't think it will be quite as long as I prefer, so I plan to add more lace repeats.  Will probably add increase/decrease repeats so that the shawl is a bit wider as well.  In order to keep the edges nice and neat I'm slipping the first stitch of each row purl wise.  On the right side rows I'm slipping with the yarn in back and on the wrong side am slipping with the yarn in front.  I think this will make it easier to pick up stitches for the TARDIS section and will make for a more attractive top edge as I don't like the look of garter stitch edging.

TARDIS Love

I've been wanting to cast on Kate Atherly's Bigger on the Inside shawl since it was published on Knitty recently; it went to the top of my queue immediately.  So, although I really shouldn't be spending money on yarn right now, I treated myself to some Stroll from Knit Picks, which arrived today.  Yay!  The color way is Sapphire Heather.  It's a bit more teal than true blue, but I think it'll work anyway.  I like the depth of color the heathering lends to the yarn.

Now I just have to finish my damn Color Affection shawl.  It's a simple pattern but for some reason I have had nothing but trouble with it.  I actually had to frog it once because it was puckering in the three color section.  It seems that no matter how loose I make the edges it still wants to pucker a bit.  Hopefully it aggressive blocking with take care of it.  There are only 2.5 three color repeats to complete and then I'm on to the final section.  Can't wait to be done so I can move on.

Silk Scarf Dyeing Project

I spent the day with my mom and friends dyeing silk scarves with Lanaset dyes.  I always have so much fun during our dyeing sessions.  Often I'll have an idea of colors I want to work with but usually end up doing something completely different.

I ove the bamboo scarf my mom painted - it's the second from the left in the first photo.  I did the one on the far left and the green one, second from the right.

These came out looking so beautiful.  My mom's is on the right, mine's on the left.  The floral pattern is rayon, so it doesn't take up the dye like the silk.  Love the effect.

Lots of pretty colors on the line.

Happy Mother's Day!

I finished my mom's Jeweled Cowl just in time.  Washed and blocked it yesterday and will give it to her this afternoon.  I love this pattern - it's so simple to make yet it looks so elegant.

I know I've mentioned repeatedly how much I adore Malabrigo Lace yarn, but here I go again...
This yarn is so soft and the subtle color variations are sublime.  Can't get enough of this stuff!

Neither of these photos reproduces the color accurately; it's actually somewhere between the two.  The second photo shows off the variegation nicely, though.

Hope mom likes it!

Handspun Hat Update

It's been a busy time at work lately, so I never got around to posting a photo of the finished hat.  I ended up changing the pattern to the Lock & Key Dreadlock Tam.

I really liked the cabled rib brim.  Wish I could have been there when it was given to the recipient so I could've gotten some photos of him wearing it.  Oh well!

Hand Spun Hat

I volunteered (or was I conscripted?) to knit a hat for a family friend using this beautiful hand spun Finn wool.

This yarn is so wonderfully soft I can't stop petting it.  I haven't decided whether to do a striped hat, maybe something like Amy Andersen's Oliver Jogless Stripes Beanie or Jared Flood's Turn a Square hat or perhaps something with slipped stitches or a fair isle pattern.  Any suggestions?

This Week's Canning Project

I finished up a batch of about 16 cups of grapefruit marmalade this weekend.

My mom's grapefruit tree has been excessively prolific this year so marmalade seemed a great way to use some of them.  Actually, this was more of a recanning process as I had made and canned it about a month ago but it didn't set up.  So, I opened up all the jars and added some pectin.  Success!  Perfectly set and delicious.

Mom gave me another couple of bags of fruit on Friday so today I'm making a batch of grapefruit-ginger granita.

What's your favorite grapefruit recipe?

Jeweled Again

I've started another Jeweled Cowl. 

This one is for my boss.  She loved the one I made for myself and since her birthday is next month I thought this would be the perfect gift.  I wanted to use Malabrigo Lace again and wanted to make it in red because that's her color.  Abuelita's just what I needed - Malabrigo Lace in Ravelry Red.  Perfect!

The beads are from Fusion Beads.  They're size 8 Japanese seed beads.  I like the play of the light amber beads against the red; it makes me think of a Bollywood production.  Hope she likes it!

Canning Day

Sterilized jars ready to be filled with Grandpa's barbecue sauce

When I was little there were only two occasions where I recall my paternal grandfather would spend any time in the kitchen (other than to get a can of Hamm's out of the fridge when my grandmother wasn't around to get it for him).  One was when he would make a pot of chili beans and the other was when he made barbecue sauce.  He wouldn't let anyone else in the kitchen when he was cooking up a batch of sauce and he wouldn't share his "recipe" with anyone.  Except his daughter-in-law - my mom.

My mom and I recently started making grandpa's sauce again.  Every few months we whip up a batch or two, can it, and share it with family.  I love spending time in the kitchen with my mom.  She's always been a great cook and, thanks to her, my brothers and I have always enjoyed cooking.

Mmmm...saucy

I enjoy the process of canning.  There's something so satisfying about hearing the "pop!" as the jars cool and the vacuum seal forms, and I love seeing the filled jars on the shelf ready for whenever I need them.  Most of all, I love that my grandfather's tradition lives on.

Gadgets

I'm not usually a fan of kitchen gadgets that are only designed for one purpose or gimmicky items that purport to make a job easier.  Really, Slap Chop?  I can wash my chef's knife in far less time than it must take to clean you with all your fiddly bits.

One exception, though is my metal lime juicer.  It gets the job done, keeps the pips out and is easy to wash up.  Occasionally my local produce market has them in stock for far less than they run in the chain retail stores.  I think I paid about $3.99 for mine.  The only problem is that my lime juicer is good for just that - limes.  So I was thrilled when my mom presented me with two more juicers in larger sizes (she shops at the same market).

I love that they're color coded for limes, lemons and oranges.  Now these are some single use tools I can appreciate!

Score!

Picked up some yarn yesterday for $2 a skein at Abuelita's sidewalk sale.

I got 3 skeins of Fiesta Yarns La Luz.  It's 100% silk, which I've not worked with before.  I had second thoughts after getting home with this one because I failed to note the "dry clean only" instructions on the band before buying it, but I think it might make a nice shawl.  I also bought 7 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light and 6 skeins of Classic Elite Inca Marl.  

While I was there, I checked to see if they had any Malabrigo Lace in stock because I want to make a couple of Jeweled Cowls as gifts.  I hoped to find some red - and lo and behold they had Ravelry Red in stock!  I also got a skein in the Paris Night colorway.  I apologize for the bad photos but my camera sucks.

My mom, ever the sneaky one, also bought my some gorgeous Prairie by Madelinetosh.  840 yards of lacy goodness.  The colorway is called Grellow, which describes it perfectly.

I don't know whether I'll use it on its own or with my other skein of Prairie in Byzantine.

Think I'll have to go on a yarn diet for a while.