Ready, set....

My yarn is wound, my notions and needles are gathered, my pattern is marked.  Let's do this thing. (On Friday, of course)

P.S. The yarn is from Black Trillium Fibres, and is a gradient set in the "Ice" colorway.

Knitting Goals for the New Year

This post is rather delayed (but really, what do you expect from the girl who takes 5 months to knit a pair of socks?), but I was catching up on listening to the Just One More Row podcast and came to a couple of decisions regarding my knitting (and spinning) that I thought I would share!  Brittany and Dana were discussing their own goals for the year, as well as a couple of events they have going on, that really helped light a fire under me.

First, they're hosting a "Clean Slate Challenge" which involves using yarn/fiber (or working on WIPs) over three months old.  Most of my stash qualifies for this, so I decided that my first knitting goal for this year is to:
   
     1. Use as much old stash yarn as possible (anything pre-2013).

Most of these qualify (and this isn't my entire stash)

This doesn't mean I can't BUY new yarn (because, come on), but it does mean that I should try to use the older stuff on projects I want to complete rather than going out and buying new stuff.  Obviously my Ravellenics project won't qualify for this particular goal (oops), but happily it does qualify for another goal I have for myself, which is to:

    2.  Participate in as many KALs as possible.

Despite the fact I totally fell off the wagon with my Trillian last year, doing a KAL does seem to help my motivation.  The Clean Slate Challenge will be particularly good for me, I think.

My other goals for this year relate to my other fiber-related shenanigans:

     3.  Dye and/or use my own dyed yarn(s) for a project.

and

    4. Spin at least 8 oz of fiber

Sam is teaching me to spin, and I am not only painfully slow at it, but also not very good at it yet.  I figure 8 oz is two of those giant braids, and that will take me plenty of time.  If I'm feeling particularly spiffy, maybe I'll even add a goal to KNIT the handspun stuff!

I'll post updates in a page I can go back to and edit (under the About Me page), and then I'll check back in with myself near the end of the year to see where these goals stand.  Should be interesting!  I'm excited.

Ravellenic Games 2014

I'm biting the bullet and have decided to participate in the Ravellenic Games.  Much of this decision was the result of persuasion from my dear friend Sam, who had me looking at yarn and patterns all last week.  There's nothing like yarn shopping that gets the ball rolling, let me tell you.  I'm still a little worried about finishing (I've talked about my hesitation about the games before--in short, I think I lack the knitting chops, but this year we'll see!).

Originally, I had thought about finishing up one of my languishing UFOs, but when I originally checked the events list (in its preliminary stages) I didn't see a WIP event (I could also have been blind, because there's totally one now).  So I decided, yay new project!

I'm going to breakdown and knit the Peacock Shawlette by Kitman Figuerora, which has been in my queue since 2011 (slacker, much?)  I plan on doing a gradient effect with some yarn I found on Etsy (the yarn search for this shawl was an odyssey but I think I was finally successful).  Also, if by some crazy miracle I actually finish a lace shawl in 16 days, I might try to finish a WIP for that event as well (maybe the Raphaelite socks??)

Because I'm such a podcast fan, I figured it would be easiest to join Team Sasquatch.  I'm trying to get organized, and luckily the Knitmore Girls have been doing "training" in these last few weeks leading up to the Olympics.  So far it has been:

Week 1: Pick your project.
Week 2: Get your materials (yarn, needles, notions, etc.)
Week 3: Wind your yarn.
Week 4: Hunt for errata.
Week 5: Read directions, and mark your size! (Also, make sure you're on your team roster, if applicable)

I have Week 1, and mostly Week 2 under control (I ordered the yarn, at any rate), but since I don't have it in my possession yet, I can't wind it.  I could probably finish Week 4 though.

Is anyone else participating?  What will you create??

Surprise FO

I couldn't talk about this one when I actually finished it, since it was a gift for my friend Sam, who is one of the three people who actually read this blog.

This is The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief by Orange Flower Yarns (I blocked it to be more wingy and less triangular because I have no blocking wires). 

I used yarn from the Mean Girls Yarn Club inspired by Scar from the Lion King (colorway name: Pussyfootin') because the colors are just the ones Sam loves; plus I thought the "rusty" nature of them suited the pattern name.  My picture above sadly does this colorway little justice--it is SO pretty (and I'm not usually into warm colors!)  I also adored this pattern--it was easy but interesting, and using a DK weight and size 8 needles made it a breeze!  I will be making another for myself.

A long overdue FO

I forgot to mention that at the beginning of the month I finally finished my Trillian.

I was supposed to finish this for a KAL back in August...oops.

Adventures in Dyeing Takes 3 and 4

As mentioned in my previous post, I spent a whole day last weekend messing around with different Kool Aid/food coloring dyeing techniques.  My two more successful skeins resulted from trying two different things.

For the first skein, I wanted to create a turquoise gradient because I was inspired by my recent trip to the Caribbean and the beautiful water there.  To do this, I followed the tutorial for the Dip Dye method described in an article on Knitty.

I mixed up McCormick food coloring again, this time Neon Blue and Neon Green, which was supposed to create a turquoise (at least, according to McCormick's mixing guide for icing).  However, my final color ended up being much more of a green-teal, possibly because my yarn wasn't pure white (I used Knit Picks Bare in fingering weight, which is slightly off-white).  Still pretty though!

Here are some "action" shots of the Dip Dyeing method, for which I used my crock pot:

Slowly yet surely...

Hanging to dry

The final skein!  Not the color I was aiming for, but I love it anyway.

My only problem with this skein is that it won't stop bleeding.  I'd rinse it and the water would run clear and I'd leave it hanging, only to come back later and give it a squeeze and it would be bleeding again.  I think I need to heat it up in some water/vinegar to really set it.

The last method I played with was the Hot Pour method, which is described in that same Knitty article.  I hadn't exhausted my teal bath at the end of the gradient experiment, so I saved some of that to use, as well as mixing up a reddish orange and a purple to contrast.

Looks a little muddy here, but it actually turned out okay!

Tada!

I like this one, but I do wish there was less white...wondering if I could overdye it a smidge just to get rid of the white areas, but no idea what color would work.  Maybe a pinky-purple? (I have a thing for purple, I can't help it!)

I'd definitely like to play with these methods again--maybe do a light immersion dye before the hot pour next time?  I also have to try the Cold Pour method described in that Knitty article, too!  So many things I want to try, so little time...

Adventures in Dyeing, Take 2: The Fail (?)

Last weekend I played around with food color/Kool Aid dyeing again.  I actually tried three different things, but I'll discuss the other two later since they turned out far better than the first experiment did.

I decided to trying over-dyeing a skein of yarn again, since I had a flavor I was pretty sure I wouldn't use for another project.  The skein in question was Knit Picks Stroll in the colorway Cartoons, which is a very bright rainbow colorway.  (I used some of it for my knitted monster because I thought it was a very kid-friendly colorway, but beyond that it was a little TOO bright for my tastes).

The original rainbow craziness.

I decided to try to use actual Kool Aid this time, and to over-dye the skein green.  I used the immersion dyeing method (basically, heat up the color in water and vinegar, blopped the skein in until the dyebath cleared, done).

My first attempt was not super successful:

Barely colored at all! Boo.

So, I prepared a new dye bath using McCormick food coloring (green with a dash of blue), and re-did the skein again using the same method.  It came out a little darker, but not nearly as dark as I wanted.

The second attempt turned out little better.

Strangely, I don't totally hate it.  However, I'm thinking I should have over-dyed it blue rather than green; the red areas would have turned purple, the yellows to greens, etc.  Oh well, you live you learn, right?  I may play with it some more, but we shall see.