FO: Indigo Sailor Top

I'm the worst about getting pictures of my finished garments. Take the Sailor Top (by Fancy Tiger), for instance. I just finished my fourth version, and I've never shared any of them here. Here's the third one, and I'll work on getting pictures of the first two soon. In the meantime, my latest was cut from the Cotton & Steel print I dyed in Wisconsin.

I love the indigo look and I'm so pleased with the fit. I'm still working on getting a smooth gather, but the neckline is so flattering. The Sailor Top is such a great garment and I'm planning to make my next one in one of Jeni's knit prints.

Since blue is my most stashed color of fabric, I definitely have a lot of blue garments. I should work on that. But, indigo!

Again with the indigo

I just got back from Wisconsin, where I was able to join some good friends for a sewing weekend in the country. This is my third year to participate, and it's always a very happy time. I don't think I shared it last year, but here's my post from our first year, if you'd like to know more.

One of my favorite parts of this retreat is the dyeing. Each year, we've done fabric and yarn dyeing. We were hoping to try dyeing with logwood this year, but I didn't research enough to prepare ahead of time, so we omitted it. But, indigo! It's always fun, and one of the simplest natural dyeing processes.

I used rubber bands to resist this piece of fabric.

Additionally, I overdyed a large cut of the Cotton and Steel x print for a garment, and redyed some pieces from last year (which really, just took the dye in an even way, covering up my previous resists. Oh well. Lesson learned on that!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of our entire group of fabrics, but we used two entire indigo baths! And here is the group photo from our first year.

Jeni had to mail a box home to me, so I'll share my other dyed fabric and yarn very soon!

FO: Technicolor Shawl

My Kool-Aid shawl was finished nearly three weeks ago. After not being completely satisfied with the pictures I took, Houston was hit with nearly two weeks of rain (not entirely uncommon here), but I finally took some additional pictures this week.

As mentioned here, where I was referring to the shawl as "Fruition", the pattern is Waves of Leaves, a free pattern from Malcolm and Marcus. There are only 119 projects on Ravelry, which is surprising to me. The pattern is straightforward and is a great choice for highly variegated yarn.

I used a size 4 circular needle and the full skein of my hand-painted Kool-Aid yarn, approximately 460 yards. When I started the pattern, I inadvertently assumed the \ decrease to be SSK (slip slip Knit), so I continued this decrease in the same manner for the remainder, to keep things uniform. I'm not sure it made much of a difference, but that was my only (accidental) modification.

No, scratch that. I lied. Like an idiot, I kept knitting five rows too long on the third repeat of the main chart. After finishing that row, row 16, I switched to the border lace, and it didn't seem to matter. It's nice when a pattern helps out with my inattention!

Speaking of the lace edging, it's my favorite part.

This is my fourth shawl of 2010. I'm still working on my Swallowtail, #5, but I haven't touched it in over a week.

I'm honestly not sure I will complete the 10 shawls in 2010 challenge, but I'm okay with that. Frankly, there's a ton of patterns in my queue, items I'll actually wear with frequency, and I may take a breather from all of the shawls. We'll see.

Either way , I'm pleased to have this shawl complete, and to have used my beloved hand-painted yarn.

Progress: Fruition

Shawl progress shots always look a little blobby to me. Unblocked lace scrunches together, so that you can just barely make out the pattern. This is especially true when using a handpainted or highly variegated yarn.

My Fruition shawl (Waves of Leaves pattern) is about halfway done. I'm really enjoying the knitting, as I'm always excited to see the next color. I've got five hanks of undyed worsted yarn in my closet, and I keep seeing a color and thinking, "ooh. That's what color I'll dye the worsted."

It will probably be a while before I do more dyeing, but if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it. It's messy and fun. Plus, your yarn smells sweet (even two years after dyeing, mine has a faint smell!).

I've been sewing the past few evenings, in preparation for a quick trip Jill and I are taking. I'll have three to five sewing FOs to show you, on the double!

Fruits of my labor

Sarah and I had an amazing dyeing weekend. Seriously. It did not disappoint, and I'm pretty sure we're both addicted. We each dyed two hanks of superwash sock yarn (purchased from Knitpicks), using two different methods and about 30 packets of koolaid.

We tried the jar striping method first. Here's my attempt. We wound the yarn into long hanks (using two chairs), tied in three spots (Sarah in four) and then dyed each section a different color. When Sarah dyed hers after mine, she was sure to move the undyed sections quickly, as the dye was absorbed more quickly than we expected. Hence the white spots near the top of the jars. I'm still not sure about this, and I may over-dye or pour some dye on these areas, but in the hank, it looks quite nice!

I'm calling this hank Secondary Spaghetti. Dean actually came up with the name. While the yarn was in the sink soaking, he said it looked like spaghetti, and mine is dyed with secondary colors, so there you go!
Sarah and I learned another important lesson with this method. Tie your yarn in many places, or else you will spend an hour and a half re-hanking it. Trust me on this.
For our second hanks, we went on another koolaid run, and decided to try hand-painting. We bought disposable containers, sat down at the table and went to town. After a few tries with a small paintbrush, I decided I wanted more coverage with each color, and started pouring away.

Here's the second batch soaking. Mmm. So many colors. I dubbed this skein "Don't drink the koolaid" for obvious reasons.

I'm very curious to see how it knits up.
She hasn't posted her results yet, but check Sarah's blog for more pictures soon.
In other fiber news, I'm about three inches into my Frock Camisole, and I started a pair of socks yesterday.

The yarn is Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Socka Mexiko Color Weekend Colors in Ireland, and the pattern is the Slipped Stitch Rib Sock from Sensational Knitted Socks on size 1 needles.

Time to dye

Words cannot express my excitement. Sarah and I are finally dyeing yarn this weekend. We've been talking about it for months, but wanted to do it together, and we haven't been able to hang out since our New Mexico trip. She and Austin are coming down this weekend, and there will be dyeing. There will also be knitting, possible yarn shopping, eating, drinking, game playing and movie watching.
I have some lovely new stash enhancements to share:


I got two skeins of Malabrigo, in Peach Tree and Purple Mystery. Yarnzilla is having a fantastic sale on Malabrigo. I ALMOST bought enough for a sweater, but restrained myself.

I also bought this lace for a wedding shawl I'm making for Angela. We talked patterns, and I think she's settled on Juno Regina. Her wedding is in November, so it should be a lovely choice to keep her warm.
I also got a KnitPicks order in this week, and I've made a bit of progress on Something Red (and Yellow). I bound off the body, but I can't start on the sleeves without the proper needles. I decided to do them in either size 5 or 4 dpns, and Sarah is bringing me some this weekend, so I can at least start on them.
In the meantime, I started a new project, the Frock Camisole from Interweave, Spring 2008. It's my first Interweave project, and I'm knitting it in the suggested yarn, Cinnabar, which I bought at Yarntopia, an LYS, about a month ago.

I'm loving the yarn, and I'm hoping the stockinette goes quickly.
That's all for now. After my yarny weekend, I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about.

Christmas Goodies

Well, for starters, I gave Jan her hat, and she LOVED it. She almost cried, and said she was so flattered. :D Success. That feels good. It motivates me to make other knitted gifts.
Sarah gave me an awesome gift, including some bare Knitpicks yarn, several packs of assorted koolaid, and instructions on how to dye yarn! She also included Sensational Knitted Socks, which I've been wanting, since learning to make socks is one of my new year's resolutions. What a great present. Thanks, Sarah!
I also got some great yarn from Jan: Malabrigo Worsted and Sockotta. Woo!
Additionally, I got two other knitting books: Cables Untangled and Fitted Knits. What a great way to start post-holiday knitting!
Currently, I'm working on the pillow for my bedroom and a hat for Jill, since the one I made her is too small. That will teach me to check gauge (maybe).
While I was at my grandmother's this past weekend, she gave me several embroidery patterns that she's had for years, some thread, and a hoop, so that I can try my hand at it. I think I'll really enjoy it, and it seems like yet another crafty activity I can amuse myself with.