Fun with dyeing

I was a little scared when I dyed my first roving but......not too bad. I did two 4 oz rovings and some sock yarn in "glitter" as well as a sock blank from knit picks

One side turned out perfect, the other not as much but either way I'm hoping that it will look good on the sock itself. I also think that I have found a new use for my knitting machine, after all the yarn to make the sock blank costs 5.99. The sock blank cost 11.99. It would take me about 10 minutes to knit it up on the knitting machine, so I think I will do that from now on. I really like the dye effects that you can get out of the blank though.

Off to do some work now....

Handmade Redefined

Apparently deconstructed is a look that has gone past ripped jeans and into everything else. I like boho, but I'm not too sure about hobo. A few months ago I saw an episode of Knitty Gritty (AlterKNITive) where safety pins were a sudden fashion statement and the rest of the patterns looked like they had been knit by my 3 year old daughter. My appologies to the designers, but c'mon, seriously.... There really is a difference between punk, deconstructed, homemade; and just plain ugly. I did find this picture the other day....

in one of my fave catologs and of course it is obviously handmade. I think that is what I like about it though. So I started thinking about how most people dislike the look of something handmade. I think that it's because most handmade items look a little sloppy. This shirt looks handmade, but at the same time, the stitches are uniform and what little bit of lace you can see is also very even. What makes a shirt like this look nice? Could it be the drop dead gorgeous brazillian model wearing it? Prabably, but I still like it. I would like to start a new pattern series emphasizing how hand made can still look classy. I have already finished my first project! Check it out.

Thick and Thin

I've been wondering what to do with this yarn for a while

It's my first hand spun silk and my first hand dyed yarn. How much more homemade can you get. When it comes to spinning silk I'm not so good yet so it came out as a thick n' thin yarn.

And this is what I came up with

The pattern is really easy, just a standard raglan T. The neckline isn't knit the whole way up to give it a boat neck.

I also finished my socks made out of the blue and yellow sock yarn. Not anything exciting, but kind of cute

I also have been working on a lace pattern with this yarn

Pretty...

I finished the tank and it would be really cute if I had used only the silk and not the alpaca, which is why designing is a process. I will post pictures soon as I can with the pattern which I have written for a size medium, but am still getting worked out for other sizes. I'm feeling a little fat, so I might have to starve for a few days to pose in it. I also realized that I cannot wear the alpaca against my skin so I will have to line it if I want to wear it.


I have been noticing a lot of unbridled materialism and selfishness in the world around me lately and I am feeling the need to do something good for someone else. I really would like to knit for charity and since cancer has been something that has really had an impact on me in the last few years I think I want to help out with that. I was thinking about knitting up falsies for women who have had mastectomies and was wondering if anyone had any info on an established charity for this, patterns or starting up another group. If anyone has any other ideas or knows of any other cancer related knitting charities please let me know.

Other than that, I've been working on a simple pair of socks out of the "French Country" sock yarn that I dyed the other day. They are just kind of so-so, but I think it helps to knit with my hand dyed so I learn which color combos really work with each other and which ones just look good on the skein or in my head :). Lastly, I will take some picks and post the pattern of that tank top on here, and after that it's getting torn apart and I'm going to buy some more of that silk to finish it. I thought that it would be cool to use up some of my yarn but the best of intentions..... well you know.