The Dye Runneth Over

I like to recycle things, and recycling yarn is really great.

A friend gave me a partially completed sweater that didn't have the pattern. The cotton wasn't very nice, especially for a garment, so I threw away the unfinished pieces (yes, I regret that now that I know you can re-condition yarn), and kept the rest.

The yarn made an appearance on the blog when I used it to learn the basket weave pattern for the Hanami stole. So I decided to knit another side and make it into a market bag.

Cute, huh?



All went well 'til the blocking, when this seemingly undyed cotton showed that the dye had not set at all. Really. The dye kept coming out. I tried adding vinegar, but it didn't really help all that much. You can see the dye running on the handle.




I am glad that this won't need to be washed very often!

Lace Edges - cool!

I decided to teach a class about lace edging. This was a bit of hubris, because I hadn't knit anything but bottom up lace edgings like this:



So, I've had a lot of fun learning the principles of perpendicular knitted lace edges. Great for baby blankets:




And equally terrific for bamboo and silk scarves:



We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

In other news, I submitted two items to the Marin County Fair -- one is the Hanami stole, the other is an item that I designed, and since I'm still thinking of submitting it for publication, I cannot blog about it. :(

Remember, WWKIP is tomorrow. I'll be at Marin Fiber Arts (where the scaffolding in front of the store might actually be a helpful thing finally) Find a public place and knit!

All About the Beads

Back when I did the Hanami stole, it was my first foray into bead knitting. I realize that starting to use beads on lace yarn like this is not the usual way to do it, but that's me. Fortunately, it wasn't a lot of beads!

Then, when I was listening to Ivy's Knit Spirit podcast, I noticed that Earthfaire was a sponsor.

So I checked out the website, and couldn't resist buying this kit -- I find that kits are really, really helpful when I'm learning something new. This kit, shown here:




is very complete, has very lovely crystal beads, all the materials (except the size 0 needles), and even came with a sterling silver clasp for the bracelet!



So, given that there is a bead store a block away from Marin Fiber Arts, I think I may be doing some more bead knitting!

Rocking the Socks

I've been knitting socks for about 6 years. As with a lot of people, I was always intimidated by the tiny needles (although my first sweater was on size 1 and 2 needles!), the double points (I didn't know about bamboo and wood) and the term "turning the heel." In my mind, I imagined that knitting gymnastics were required, and decided that they were not for me.

The first ones I knit were actually baby booties in some DK weight. Then at Stitches I bought "The Purl Stitch" by Sally Melville which had a simple sock pattern and I stumbled into a booth with Mountain Colors and knit some great socks, although on too large needles. and they were easy, so then I branched out and got Folk Socks by Nancy Bush, and Cool Socks, Warm Feet by Lucy Neatby. Warren at Marin Fiber Arts has a great selection of sock yarn, including the amazing Pagewood Farm yarns.

But until a month ago, I had not used Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Socks That Rock." When visiting my friend Liz, we went to Purlescence Yarns, and I bought a skein in "Pebble Beach" which really does look like that beautiful part of the Monterey peninsula.

I knit. Yes, it was verrry, nice. I love the twist, the squishiness, the way it makes my knitting look great without any tugging. So here they are:



and a lovely turned heel:



I am happy sock person!