FOs! knitting and weaving

Yes, really! I finished multiple items!

First up, socks that I started back in March 2011!

I finally pulled these out this past Sunday (they looked just as they did in this post) and started working on them, finishing them up this morning. =) LOVE them!

(more pics, yarn and pattern details on Ravelry)

I also tried out my new loom kit!

I set this up as roughly an 11.5" x 18" rectangle and got to work. I followed the instructions in the included booklet and while this process was okay, I'll do things a bit differently next time and probably be happier with the results. I'd intended to make two of these and send them to my mother to be used as place mats, but I think this is a little loose for that and I'm not loving the edge. The drapiness of this fabric makes it a good towel though so I added a loop to hang to dry and it's now living in my kitchen with my sheep towel.

I doubled this yarn up, but I think a thicker yarn would make a nice fabric using this method. I will place the pegs on the right side as I go next time rather than setting it all up beforehand. There just isn't much space between pegs for the tool to pull the yarn through with them in place.

(process pics and yarn info on Ravelry)

While winding the linen for the towel, I also wound a skein of my hand-dyed self-striping yarn for my next knitting project... =) 

socks! and baking

Well, sock and a half... almost. =)

After I posted Sunday, I finally pulled out the sock that's been hibernating for well over a year (since mid-April 2011!) and started working on it! 2 days and I'm to the heel. =) Should have that finished tonight and then it's the home stretch! Woo! Still a super easy pattern to memorize (Ravelry link) so it's pretty brainless which is good since it's still pushing 100 degrees here every day.

What else have I been up to in this unwanted heat? Baking. No, not me thankfully. My new-to-me a/c is keeping me almost comfortable, but weirdly I've been itching to bake. Could be the three eps of Cupcake Wars I watched yesterday. lol Anyhoo, as long as I bake early in the morning, it's not a big deal. So, this morning, I made up some bread dough and while that was rising, I made up a batch of cupcakes!

These are the "Chlostess" Creme-Filled Cupcakes from Chloe's Kitchen:

Next time, I'll thin my creme filling out a bit more, but these are yummy as is!

That bread dough?

That became cinnamon swirl bread! This one's a bit more wonky than usual, but tastes just as good. =)

FOs, 50% off and dyeing

 I finally used some more of my hand-dyed yarn!

I used about half of the gradient purple/teal yarn on a knitted cat toy and I wanted to use up the last half skein of Noro from my stash so I crocheted up a couple more toys with it. I ran out on the second so I finished it off with some of my hand-dyed yarn (the one with the bright green). Felting was a pain. My washer is a top-loader, but it's less than a year old so apparently much more gentle than my old machine. lol I ran these through 3 times in hot water, then popped them each in mason jars with a bit of dish soap and shook away, alternating with cold rinses. I finally got tired of shaking and decided they were felted enough. The cats won't mind. =^..^=

Michaels had a 50% off coupon this weekend. I went shopping...

I sold my kitchen table and chairs earlier in the day and had cash in hand. First, I hit Michaels and picked up a set of Clover interchangeable circular needles. I've been thinking about sorting through and purging some of my knitting needles. Now, I have to! lol Well, I don't have to, but I'm going to now that I have an interchangeable set. =) I have too many straight needles leftover from my early knitting days, back when I actually used straights. I can't even remember the last time I used a straight needle for anything. I don't even really use the dpns anymore, opting instead for circs in nearly every situation. I prefer wooden needles, so most of my metal ones should go to someone who will use them. That's a good project for these hot days! I'd printed two coupons for Michaels so I took the 2nd to Jo Ann's and finally picked up the loom kit I've been wanting for a long time. I have linen yarn in my stash purchased with the intent of knitting dish towels for my kitchen. Now, I'm thinking of weaving some up instead. =)

I did tackle that ball of strawberry yarn in the pic. I found it in the clearance bin and hadn't yet tried dyeing superwash yet. I hanked this and gave it a soak, then put it in a shallow dish with a little water and mixed up a strong blue Kool-Aid (2 packets mixed berry and about 1/2 c water) and squirted across the skein. After nuking to set, I mixed up a weaker solution (1 packet mixed berry) and squirted some of that around after shifting the skeins around a bit.

Not sure exactly what I'll use this for, but nice that it's washable! =)

fail... or happy accident?

After I frogged that thrift store sweater, I decided to try one of mine I'd decided not to keep. This one is 100% lambswool:

I took it apart and tried to frog it and ran into issues. The yarn is thin and kept breaking. So... I tossed the pieces into a lingerie bag and threw them in the washer to felt a bit. After, I cut them up and dyed the pieces with Kool-Aid.

The small pieces from the yoke are destined to become catnip kitty toys.

The one on the right was left in the original color.

Not sure what the lower sleeves will end up becoming.

I had fun playing around with different techniques dyeing all of these though!

The upper sleeves were fun too.

I especially like how this one turned out.

It almost looks like graffiti.

The body of the sweater will most likely become a bag of some sort.

into the frog pond

After I dropped off an entire Jeep full of stuff at Goodwill today, I went inside to have a look around. I've been having fun dyeing, but am nearly out of white yarn to dye and thought maybe I could find a sweater to frog. I didn't find any sweaters made from animal fibers that were in good condition. The only possibility in the right fiber/color was slightly felted. 

I did find something else though:

A loooong sweater in 60% cotton/40% acrylic in a really nice, deep, chocolate brown.

It had a white tag (50% off this week!), was really soft and still had the tag from TJ Maxx ($50!?) so it was in perfect condition. Well, other than one of the ties being torn off and taped to the Goodwill tag. I checked the seams to be sure frogging would go smoothly - pieces knit individually not cut from larger pieces. The yarn reminds me of Lion Brand Cotton Ease, but a little thinner.

I got to work on it right away:

Reilly tried to help. =)

Frogging was quick and easy with the help of my ball winder.

Not the best pics, but the weather's been crazy here today, quickly flipping from brief sunny moments to pouring rain with thunder and lightning and I didn't want to wait to deconstruct this sweater. Even though the sweater was a size small, it was about 45" long and I ended up with 810g of DK weight yarn - plenty for just about anything I'd want to make with it - all for only $7 including tax. =)

new kitten

I apparently didn't think there were enough kitties around this house:

Yep, two FOs in one week! Yeah, yeah, they're both super quick, but I hadn't finished anything since March so it counts. =)

The new kitty is very well-trained and already on the cat tree:

 

and playing with the other kitties:

though things do get a little rough at times with Xander:

Thankfully, Baxter has allowed the new kitten to take refuge on the kitty tree with him:

actual knitting!

With all this newly dyed yarn around, I finally found a little knitting inspiration!

I was tipped off by a friend to the 3-hr cowl pattern and decided to give it a go with the hank I dyed Saturday. What do you think?

I think the stitch pattern worked okay with the dye job. I did get quite a bit of pooling, but it doesn't bother me.

I'm not a fast knitter and bigger projects seem to suck the knitting mojo out of me. lol I have an alpaca blanket that may never get finished. I love what's done, but it's reeeeeeally slow going. And I have a pair of socks languishing in their bag. I also still have a crochet bag that's just a bottom at this point. None of these are calling my name. I suppose I just need instant gratification. =)