Big Post Today

Ooo boy are you folks in for a picture treat today. I've been busy since my last post.

On the knitting front, I did finish the collar for my sweater, but it's too big. By a lot. So I've decided that I'm going to figure out how I need to make it smaller, frog it, and reknit it to the proper size. Damson is out of hibernation, and I have counted, tinked, counted, tinked, and counted it back to the correct number of stitches and am successfully working through the stocking stitch border. It looks like a scrunched mess right now, but I'm confident that it will be completed before the end of the month.

I tried some more natural dyeing this past week using purple cabbage. I went from this:


to this:



And then, after over 24 hours in the dye (plus 6 hours in the mordant bath) and several heatings, I ended up with two skeins of this:


Yep, the yarn took up none of the dye. I was assured by a book that this would work. The two skeins are currently dripping in my shower, and I'll dye them over in the future, probably with Wilton's.

Yesterday I almost died in the wilderness. Ok, so that's an exaggeration, but there was quite a bit of back and foot pain involved when I went for a hike. I did get some lovely photos, though.




Tonight's sunset was also the subject of some photos.



I'm hoping to take some of my photographs and translating them into paintings. I've recently rekindled my interest in the Impressionist period, specifically in Vincent van Gogh, who is my favorite painter of all. I went a little crazy at the library today, getting books and DVDs on Impressionists and how-to paint. I'm going to do some more reading before I jump in, but I've already picked up my basic supplies so that when I do go to start, I don't have to postpone anymore.


And finally, my little local yarn store has started carrying Malabrigo. I got bitten by the Malabrigo Bug years ago, but kept it under control through distance. I stopped by today to see what she'd gotten in, and two skeins followed me home.


The color way of this yarn is "Hummingbird" and it reminds me of van Gogh's night time works (there was some worked up at the shop).

I've decided to save the pictures of my finished items from my January challenge until the end of the month. I think it will be a nice way to wrap up my personal challenge.

That's all until next time.

Twice in One Month!

I finally finished one of my projects left over from 2010!! Last night I bound off for my Valium Bandit. I don't have pictures yet, though, because I need to block it, which requires a soak in the washer, which is tied at the moment. I'll post pictures of that once it's dry.

I've also made progress on two of my sewing projects. First my coat, which now needs only the sleeves hemmed and the buttons sewn on, and second my brown and teal dress, which only needs the arm hole finishing.

My NaKniSweMo sweater is next, assuming I can find the !!!!!! two balls of yarn that I bought extra to finish it off. Luckily I know where they aren't, due to an ill conceived notion to air out my stash.


I think I've decided that this is roughly 2/3 of my stash, but there is a distinct possibility that it's more like 1/2. Also, it's very hard to get my whole bed in the frame due to lack of space issues in here.

For this pictures, I cleared out my storage ottoman. But if you ask Westley, I cleaned it out for a different reason.



And finally, I learned a new technique at my ASG meeting on the 8th: sashiko (a style of Japanese embroider). It was even a hands on meeting.


I did that during the meeting. I usually hate hand sewing, but this was lots of fun. So much so that I got a book from the library and have traced out my next design.


Cause I needed another hobby.

I've even worked on my thesis, and have more work scheduled. So far 2011 is off to a positive start. Until next time be safe, keep warm, and stay tuned.

Taking Stock

It's my first post of 2011.

I'm not a huge believer in new year's resolutions. I don't sit down and make a list with "lose 20 pounds" or "get organized" or "knit the great american sweater." Those are vague and set up for almost immediate failure. However, I am a big believer in starting as you wish to go on, and so I try to spend each January breaking bad habits from the year before. By baddest habit from 2010 was eating out too much (especially across the street at the Mexican restaurant) because I never went shopping with a list, and therefore never procured any food fit for lunch or dinner for more than one night. So this year I'm breaking that habit and replacing it with meal planning, grocery lists, and home cooked meals complete with sides. My grandmother gave me her old miniature food processor, complete with the shredder/slicer blade, and I've used it 3 times already this year.

The second bad habit I'm working to break is inactivity. Towards this end I'm enrolled this quarter in Taiji (more commonly but incorrectly, it turns out, known as Tai Chi) and Ballroom Dance I. For one hour each day, four days a week, I will be engaged in some sort of physical activity. I'm especially excited about the Taiji. It's very centering, the way Aikido used to be for me, and is going to be great for toning my lower body.

Another thing I'm keen on in January is finishing up any projects left over from the year previous. Procrastination is something I've worked against my whole life, and I'll leave a project left undone forever if I don't make an effort to get it done. 2010 seems to have left more projects unfinished than years previous. Currently there is:

Damson (counting issues, garter section done, needs border)
Valium Bandit (working on edge chart)
NaKniSweMo sweater (collar needs frogging and re-knitting, 2 seams)
Percy (stalled in second repeat of chart B)
Knitter's Carry-All Bag (needs handles, pocket lining, interfacing, and putting together)
Plaid Coat (sleeves hemmed, buttons and button holes)
Brown and Teal Sundress (hem at bottom and arm holes)
Maroon Sweatshirt (front facings, sleeve treatment, button, snaps, neck treatment)
Thesis (redo data analysis, write last 2 chapters, revise, revise, revise, defend).

That's 5 knitting, 4 sewing (the bag gets counted as both), and one thesis. I'll feel very accomplished if I finish all but Percy and my thesis (I'm not really aiming to be done with my thesis by the end of January, but I will hopefully be in the "revise revise revise" stage). I also have a TSP (top secret project) that I started on the 31st. I wasn't going to start anything new, but NOTHING on that list is appropriate for bus/travel knitting.

Now, on to some pictures. First, pictures from my trip to Texas. Mom and I spent my last day there (the 30th) at two of the university's art museums. One had an exhibit "Turner to Monet" and the other was "The Language of Photography." Pictures were allowed at neither exhibit. However, in the first museum pictures were OK outside of the traveling exhibit, and downtown Austin has some magnificent architecture.





Both Westley and I traveled to Texas for 10 days (+2 for travel). He had lots of fun once we managed to get down there. The windows were particularly fun.



My parents have a cat, Betty Boop, who is much shyer than my big pirate. She wasn't too thrilled about having her house commandeered.





I also finally got my package from the Buffy Swap I participated in back in October.






The last picture is for the witch PEZ dispenser that I forgot to put in the full picture. And yes, Angel's nose comes off (with velcro).

That's all I've got for this post. I'm also working on breaking my bad habit of not posting for long stretches. We'll see how that goes.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

So I told you last night that it was snowing. A little while after that post I took the following picture.


Those thin white streaks against the darkness are more snowflakes falling. When I got up this morning, the same view from my front door yielded this:



It's not even Thanksgiving and already it's a winter wonderland out there. So I decided that we'd celebrate it. After a 9am conference call in my pajamas and a very warm shower, I hooked the Dread Pirate Roberts up to his leash and carried him outside.





We were only outside for about five minutes. I could tell Westley was cold, but he didn't want to go back inside. *Sigh* sometimes it's so hard to be a little kitty.

With all this snowing it's nice to have something(s) wool on the needles. I'm sort of still working on my Valium Bandit (so named because I started it when I had a pinched nerve/muscle spasm in my neck that required a short ER visit and a prescriptions for Valium).

This is being made out of Cascade Pastaza (50 wool/50 llama) that I got at Goodwill (3 skeins for $5).

The other big project I've got going is my NaKniSweMo Challenge. That's National Knit a Sweater in a Month. I'm knitting Debbie Bliss' Shawl Collared Jacket (aka Alex) in Peruvian Highland Chunky from Elann.com.


So far I've done both sleeves, the back, and the left front (in that order). The right front has been cast on. I might make it.

And finally, at the special request of my mom, a final picture of the snow, Westley, and me. Sorry it looks a little odd, I had to tweak in in photoshop. Because of all the white, and the glare, and the timer, the photo was a little over exposed and washed out, but it was actively snowing and Westley wasn't up for multiple tries. But hey, I got him to look at the camera, so I count it as a win.

It's Snowing

If it keeps up and sticks overnight I'll take pictures. For now I'm going to turn off the security light. The snow triggers it.

And The Beat Goes On

I'm back to finish up my lengthy update. I don't have pictures of the sewing or spinning that I mentioned earlier, but I do have pictures of the dyeing. The following skeins are all Knit Picks bare, 100% merino fingering. I recently ordered 17 skeins to take advantage of a really good sale. It was quite impressive to open the box.


For the first skein I dyed, I used three colors of Wilton's food coloring (brown, teal, and delphinium blue) and mason jars. I baked the whole shebang in the oven. For my first time using this method I think it turned out rather well. I haven't named this color yet. Anyone have suggestions?


The second Wilton's skein was done with a mix of the leftover teal from above and a whopping dose of royal blue, which apparently didn't dissolve all the way, which led to some very pretty results. I can't get the camera to pick up on the full range of colors. :-(


Within the dark blue spots there's actually some very pretty dark purple. It really is quite stunning in person, and I can't wait to knit something lovely with it.

Finally, I've begun experimenting with natural dyes, using only food safe mordants and dyes. I decided to start easy with onion skins.


I brought the skins and water up to a simmer, then covered it, turned off the heat, and let it steep overnight. I mordanted the yarn with 10g pickling alum and 7g cream of tartar, also overnight. The steeped skins produced the most gorgeous amber colored liquid.


I exhausted dyed this yarn (as I do with most all my dyes) and the resulting skein is beautiful.


It came out with fantastic depth of color. It's not a color I can wear, but I'm sure I can find someone who wants it.

That's all I've got for today. I'm going to keep dyeing (there's no shortage of yarn here), and my goal is to get all of the pieces for my tote blocked out so I can start the sewing process. I'm also going to work on my sewing project and get some photos of it, so keep watching.

I've Been Busy

I don't know where to start with this post, I've got so much to put in it. I've been knitting, sewing, dyeing, spinning, and Westley's right in the middle of all of it.

My knitted tote is almost done (well, with the knitting, then there's the sewing). I was working diligently on it, which apparently Westley took exception to. I obviously wasn't paying the appropriate amount of attention to him, so he took matters into his own paws.


I've also been working diligently on my Percy shawl, but I've hit (another) snag. 17 more rows of chart B and I should be in the clear to finish it up.

Of course, all of this got put on hold for swap knitting. I'm participating in a Buffy the Vampire themed swap on Ravelry, and now that my swapee has received her package I can post about it here.

First, I designed and knit a fancy pair of fingerless mitts inspired by Drusilla.


The colorwork (my first ever stranded work) is supposed to represent blood dripping, and the fancy cast on gives them the frilly Drusilla vibe. These were done in Cascade 200 Sport on US 3 needles. I learned the cast on from Lucy Neatby's Knitting Gems 4 DVD.

My second contribution to the box was some custom dyed roving. My partner put in her questionnaire that she is itching to learn how to spin, so I picked up 4 ounces of undyed Polwarth at the yarn shop and used Kool-Aid to turn it into this:


I used a combination of cherry and black cherry to get the color I wanted, and I named it "Blood of the Innocent" (inspired by something Buffy said to Spike in Season 4, "Something Blue").

I wanted to add one more handmade thing to the box, so I went back to the yarn shop and picked up a ball of cream colored DK weight superwash, sat down (with my US3s again) and designed the following on the fly.


That's right, I knit Spike. His clothes are the same Cascade 200 Sport as the mitts. His clothes are removable.



The biggest challenge was figuring out how do put on his hair. In the show, he's got platinum hair that is wavy but slicked back. It's pretty much the same color as his skin, too (the whole no sunbathing thing). I spent hours thinking about it, and finally came up with the solution. Crochet.


I picked up a loop of yarn through his head, and did a chain one, single crochet repeat down the back on his head. I repeated this across to create his hair. I felt right clever about it, too.

To round of the swap box I sent, I added a drop spindle (came with my wheel, I wasn't using it), a Buffy book with 3 short stories, a bar of Dagobah organic dark chocolate with sunflower and hemp seeds in it, 2 skeins of Knit Picks Shine Sport in "Hearts Blood" (they call it "Holoyberry on the site), a ball of Kathmandu tweed, and a Brittany Birch shawl stick (for vampire protection). My swapee loved what she got. I'm still waiting to get my box (not coming from who I sent mine to). I'll post pictures of what I get when I get it.

Westley says it's lunch time, so I'll complete my update in the next post. See you then.