Well, I’ve been squeezing in knitting while I’ve had time off from school. I got a few great books over break and made some cute little things out of them.

Side Slip Cloche

This is the Side Slip Cloche from Boutique Knits. It was sort of a test-run, so I used some Knit Picks Wool of the Andes that I had laying around. I steam-blocked the brim and it got all floppy and weird … it’s still not quite right. I cast on for another one today using some of the yarn I dyed red. My housemate really liked the look of this one and wants one of her own.

Flapper Headband

And this is a not very flattering picture (not like the first one was either) of the Flapper Headband from Knit One, Embellish Too. I made it from SWTC Karaoke, which is a wool/soy blend. The yarn isn’t very stretchy, so I had to make the biggest size and block it. It’s a tad big but it has almost no give. This was my first experience embroidering on a knit object and I think it went well. Once again I thought I had that button centered but afterwards I realized that I was mistaken. I need to brush up on my sewing skills apparently.

I also re-dyed that yellow yarn, something I mentioned that I planned to do.

yellow hand dyed yarn

So much better! I used 5 teaspoons of turmeric and half a cup of vinegar. Viola! Yellow yarn. Washing out the turmeric has been a big pain, though, let me tell you. I’ve rinsed the yarn twice and it still smells like turmeric. I might wash it again. Or I might just knit it up and hope that blocking the finished product will take care of it. We’ll see!

I’ve decided to dabble in dyeing (not dying). I had one of those giant skeins of Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool and decided to screw around with it. Here’s what I got:

yellow hand dyed wool

The above is approximately 110 yards dyed with two packets of lemonade Kool-Aid in the microwave. I decided I don’t like the microwave method very much. More on that in a moment.

creamy/tan hand dyed wool

This is another 100 yards or so of the wool dyed in a pot with some tea. The color could have been better, but I didn’t pre-soak the yarn. I know better now.

red hand dyed wool

This one turned out absolute fantastic! I pre-soaked the wool, about 220 yards worth, in lukewarm water and some Eucalan no rinse delicate wash. Then I stuck it in a pot of almost-boiled water with 10 packets of black cherry Kool-Aid and let it chill overnight. The color turned out really vibrant and I can’t wait to do something with this!

I definitely like the stove-top method. I’m about to re-dye that yellow yarn with some turmeric and vinegar. I’m excited to see how this turns out!