She Knits and Dyes

Testing, testing...1-2

2010-11-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

Holy neglected blog knitgirl!

Wow...it's been entirely too long, but alas I was not knitting for a good long while...thus felt no need to bore the bejesus out of you with random nonsense in the form of blog rambling.

But here I am, at the start of the cold season, needles in hand (okay, not in hand as I type but nearby nonetheless) and ready to start a little woolly blogging once again! A few projects finished, a couple on the needles (one a tester for a pattern soon to be posted here, inspired by a hat I knit recently...yeah, yeah pics coming soon too) and so many more on the to do list it's way past Halloween scary!

It's all good though, being as I just got in some yummy scrumminess from a Mosaic Moon co-op that I can pet and squish along with the rest of the stash (which continues to grow despite my extreme distance from my fave dyers).

I suppose all this randomness is to say...I have not forgotten thee!

Color choices...

2010-06-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

since I've been sitting on this lovely superwash BFL for way over a month and I already have plans for it...I guess I better get to dyeing. Ah, but colors are elusive!

Since I want to make a specific shawl for me (I'll link it when I'm actually ready to start it) that can be worn in all manner of ways that will assist in keeping me warm during the soon to be here cold mountain winters (yes, it's closer than you think), I have to be a little particular. My favorite colors go wonderfully together, the trick is getting them all placed just right so they blend beautifully with the pattern instead of overpowering it.

Decisions, decisions...plus how many ways can one throw red, brown, black and white together without having a muddy mess!?!

Breaking out the Dyes!!

2010-02-23T15:17:00.001-08:00

They've been packed away for months...unused and unloved. But tonight, oh yes, tonight...they dyes will be coming back out for a short time.

BBR, beautiful wonderful BBR...you shall soon have color! Blues and greens only maybe...but color! Result to pop up in a few days or so. The boys need new hats and mittens/gloves before moving overseas. I've got about a month, I think I can totally do it. Well, the hats at the very least.

Sigh...

2010-01-24T22:16:00.000-08:00

I'm only about halfway through the helmet liner for Sweetie...too much going on with packing and such for me to knit right now. Hopefully I'll find the energy to get back on it. You would think that by getting rid of stuff I would manage to get rid of some of the yarn stash...not so.

The stash is as full as ever and not likely to change anytime soon. I can't make myself sell any of it because I know I will use it...eventually. It's the eventually that is a little elusive right now. Same goes for new patterns. Several new hat patterns are scrawled across notebook paper, but not yet commited to pdf. Eventually.

For my Love(r)...

2010-01-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

Doesn't a sweet, good-looking guy like this deserve a little something warm and hand-knit by the love of his life? Of course he does! After dropping Sweetie off at the airport this a.m. the littles and myself stopped off at JoAnn's and picked up some good ol' Patons Classic Wool to make him a couple of helmet liners. Pattern from Twinset Designs...the Gussetted Helmet Liner.

Cast on today...we'll see how long it takes me to go insane with the super repeats of K2P2, lol.

Whatever happened to...

2009-12-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

those poor, shrunken, abused woolies?

This happened:

Little pieces of my kiddos childhood (memories handmade by mommy) hung on the Christmas tree.

Now that the Worst has Passed...

2009-11-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

I can talk about it. I can now talk about how I handed down all of our beloved wool to my sister for my nephew to use. I can talk about how I lovingly washed each pair, lay them out to dry and shaved them...knowing I wouldn't see them again for a very long time or until I had another babe of my own to wear them. I can talk about how I wrote out directions, told over the phone several times and showed her how to care for them as lovingly as I had...I can talk about how I specifically detailed they were NOT to be put in the washer or dryer.

I sent this:

I got back this:

Why, yes...that is a 7" DPN next to that pair of shorties...see trauma. I no longer knit anything remotely wool for my sister.

The sad part is...this wasn't even the worst of it. I have 6 pairs of felted beyond belief wool shorties sitting on my table right now...sigh. Alas, poor woolies...I knew them well. To deal with this horrid crime against my woolies, I am turning them into ornaments...works of art to hang on my tree once a year so that I can pet them and smile at the fond memories of my boy romping in the grass.

For what it's worth, I've learned one critical thing...Blackberry Ridge merino is damn near wool-idiot proof. The two things I sent to KY made from BBR came back only slightly felted with plenty of stretch still and the stitches are completely definable. I've even run them through a couple of hot wash and dry cycles to try to felt them further...isn't gonna happen. I love BBR!

All Free, All the Time...

2009-11-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

on MC&M patterns...yep, bit the bullet and figured what the heck. I don't have the stamina to crank out patterns and worry about pricing and all that stuff, so anything I pop up is a total freebie.

You'll still have to click the links provided (it's too much trouble to type it up both in .pdf and on the blog) to get to them via Ravelry, but they're free and generally tested once there.

Oh and project count buttons coming soon!!

Another pair...

2009-08-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

of Simple Sevens.

For me, naturally, to go along with a Calorimetry I knit up last winter. Figured it was past time for me to have a matching set of something.

This set is with a secondary option that I'm adding to the original download. Which is $2 by the way...forgot to add that, lol.

Simple Sevens Gauntlets

2009-07-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

Finally a pattern for sale...I know, I know...you like the freebies. Still there has to be some sort of balance, right?

Here's the finished product:

This is an incredibly quick and simple knit. Perfect one skein project with (depending on the yarn type and yardage you use) should leave plenty of yarn leftover for a skinny scarf or a Caliometry. You can get the pattern at Ravelry via the little button over there under Patterns for $$.

I actually designed these for my aborted hike in Washington this past spring. Nice tight fit around the forearm with a longer finger area to keep them from slipping and still protect my fingers and palm from the rocks and ropes. Enjoy!

Pattern Testing...

2009-07-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is my most favorite part of the design process...the testing stage. I'm doing something new this go around though. I've taken on testers at Ravelry...brave women who are willing to torture themselves into learning a new knitting technique in order to take a stab at a brand new pattern.

I bow down to them...they're doing it for the fun of it...I did it because I absolutely just HAD to conquer Tunisian knitting and HAD to design a pattern to show off that perfect weave. HAD TO, I tell ya!

Of course, it's not as if the pattern is way hard. Really simple actually, it's designed to highlight the actual knitting...which is what I love about Tunisian. You can help but want to show that off.

At any rate, I am now driving several other women crazy with this pattern. Hopefully not too crazy though!

Oh My...

2009-07-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

as if a rambling survival style blog and a hiking blog are not enough, I've gone and restarted a knitting/dyeing/designing blog. Mercy, I'm crazy!!

Alas, this is where you'll find the goods from my fiber arts adventures. Free patterns, paid patterns, yarn pictures and FO's (which are few and far between right now).

This won't be a crazy daily update kinda blog, just so you know...it'll be more of a just when I have something good to share. Yeah, let's just say that.

Welcome all to my world of fiber art insanity!