Knitting at the Beach

Well, we just got back from OC and here I am knitting in the few minutes of sun we had before it started to pour again. But I was happy I cast on Bridget's clapotis down at the beach like I wanted. I even made it into the increase section.


The yarn Heather made is gorgeous! I love working with it because it knits up so nice. The colors totally express the weekend we had. After this picture was taken it started to rain. And the water from the sea and the sky was ice cold. So we did the only thing that made sense and went ice skating. :)

It wasn't a bad trip. I enjoyed being with my family and spending time with my sis. We actually had a lot of fun but the weather wasn't playing nice. As we checked out it became the perfect day and the sun was shining and I think I might have braved the water with the sun out. But we needed to get on the road and I'm glad we did 'cuz 50 was flooded out already from the storms that were heading our way.

Oh, on Friday morning after staying up all night knitting on the Laurene Shawl and feeling pretty good about the whole thing *insert Jaws music here* I left my knitting on the bed and the maid carelessly tossed it to the couch thus dropping a stitch which unraveled 26 rows...I cried and called my LYS and the owner helped calm me down...needless to say, I couldn't work on the shawl the rest of the trip...but doesn't what I have done, look nice?

Happy crafting,

Ruinwen
:)

Kool Aid Dyeing Tutorial

My wonderful sister was nice enough to let me take pictures of the dyeing process so here we go...First off the things we needed were: A bowl to soak the yarn in, a Pyrex dish that fit in my microwave, yarn and 12 packs of no sugar added Kool Aid. Not shown are the 12 little Dixie cups we used to mix up the dye in.





Soak the yarn in COLD water. Hot water could encourage the yarn to felt and felting in this project is BAD. While your yarn is soaking fill the Dixie cups with one dye packet each. My sister has a nice little system going as you can see.





Now fill the cups with about two tablespoons of water each and stir.


Take your yarn out of the soaking bowl and wring it carefully. Then lay it in the Pyrex pan and now the fun starts!






Now gently pour or liberally dump as your design demands. My sister had an idea in mind and didn't want any white showing so she carefully laid down each color and smooshed it with her fingers to ensure the dye made it all the way through. (Next time rubber gloves might be in order.)





Here is the yarn all ready to be nuked. Isn't it lovely? And look sis has fingers to match her yarn! :)






Here is the yarn in the microwave. You want to nuke it for two minutes at a time. You don't want the yarn to boil yet you need the yarn hot enough to absorb all the dye.






You are looking for this cloudy stuff. The water never really runs clear because of all the powder. It will look like this. Now let your yarn cool. It is very hot so use GREAT caution when checking it.





Now that it is completely cooled the yarn goes back in a cold water bath.





More gentle smooshing to get all the powder out. The water should run clear and not be cloudy when you are done.





Isn't it beautiful! :)





Here she is all wound up and ready to be made into something lovely! My sis had fun making her and I hope you enjoy your Kool Aid dyeing too!

Happy crafting,

Ruinwen

Salmon Ribbon Stole Has Left the Building!

Yeah! I started it in January and vowed to finish it this week...and the salmon ribbon stole is done! I finished it yesterday after picking up my son and boy was I tired....but determined! I love it! It has a wonderful drape and goes from pink to salmon.





I cut my butt out of the picture so my DH was disappointed you don't see the lovely drape the way he intended. I think the stole is still really lovely. It now goes to live at the shop to encourage people to experiment with ribbon yarn. :)

Thank you for all your lovely meme comments...you really have me smiling! :)

Happy crafting,

Ruinwen
:)

One-Word Meme

I've been posting one-word comments so I thought I should put this up too.

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me. It can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

Happy crafting,

Ruinwen
:)

Progress Made :)

The feather and fan blanket is done! I really like the colors. I was disappointed with the quality of the Red Heart yarn. I think their yarn has really changed and I am hesitant to buy any more. :(





So, here is my yarn fresh out of the microwave. The purple is really dark but I loved the blue and green. So right now it is a steaming mess but I'm actually really happy with it. :)

We'll see what it looks like wound up when it is cooled and dried. I want to take some of the motifs from the lace shawl and make a scarf. I think it will look nice.

Well, that is all for now. I've been working like mad on the salmon stole too but it just doesn't seem like it. Oh, well!

Happy crafting,

Ruinwen
:)

Hope for the WIPS

"Activity is not an achievement. It is not enough to rush about beginning a lot of things and keeping busy. A well-spent life is one that rounds out what it has begun."

-- Eknath Easwaran

"Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them."

-- Joseph Joubert

"Good to begin well, better to end well."

-- English proverb

So my beloved little boy is off with his Nana and Pop Pop for a week at the beach and I am left with all this extra time. I tried to clean and wash and do all that time-consuming stuff yesterday so I would have time to dedicate to my WIPS.

I have picked the three oldest projects to work on and I am determined to finish at least one of them. I have been resisting the lure of making another little bag…this time for myself. I think it would be fabulous in some hand-painted merino that I’ve been saving.

I need to be strong. Until something comes off the “On My Needles Section” I will not begin something new. Or rather this week I will not begin something new because I will finish one of these chosen projects:

Teal Baby Sweater in King Cole
Multi blue/green baby blanket
Salmon stole 4 different yarns

I talked to my DH and asked what was important to get done while our son was away and his goal is to do as many cooperative missions in Perfect Dark as possible. So, I figure I can knit for an hour each night and then play and at least definite progress should occur.

Plus I will bring the stole to the shop which means I should be able to get something done. The blanket comes with me to work and I should get at least an inch done at lunch every day.

So that is my plan and my focus for this week.

Today is the only day that I have where I get to go home right after work and be alone and I am going to call my Mom and Kool-Aide dye some yarn in green and yellow. I’ve never done this before but I wanted to do it when I had a block of time and this will be my only opportunity so wish me luck!

Happy Crafting,

Ruinwen
:)

Birthday Bag

Okay, so after my last post I cast-on this bag yesterday when I saw it in Creative Knitting. It is made up in Cascade cotton and Berroco Runway.

My hands hurt so bad knitting the Berroco and the Cascade together! But I am really happy that it turned out so nice.

I was hoping to make something a little girl could keep a few treasures in and I think (*hope*) I succeeded.

I even learned a new skill. Can you believe I had never made an I-Cord before? Wow, it was so simple and it looks great IMHO.

I'm feeling stoked enough to try and finish something else before the sun sets!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Ruinwen, who promises not to cast on anything else before at least finishing one project
:)

I Have to Stop Casting On

I have no pictures because everything lately is new and only has a few inches to show for all my efforts. I promise pictures soon. :) really

Lately all I do besides spend time with family and friends and ignore the house work is knit and think about ways to design, spin, dye or knit.

I totally lost my focus on my projects... :( really I tried. But the fact is when I dedicated myself to making stuff for the LYS and teaching then that took the front seat to all my knitting. I have to have examples ready for classes and when it is a two part class I need to be finished to the point I expect my students to be...you understand don't you?

I casted on the Fab Classic and I'm almost ready to join the two shoulders together. That Wendy is amazing in her designs! I'm really enjoying watching this come together!

I also casted on Easy Lace Poncho in some lovely cotton/wool from cascade. I know...I know...but I love the feather and fan pattern...so you poncho haters will have to forgive me.

Still working on the happy sweater. I have a sleeve and a half to go.

I ordered some natural indigo to try my hand at dyeing.

I'm going to hopefully be taking a summer dyeing and spinning camp class soon!

And I've been thinking about spending more days at the LYS. Yesterday I had two students come in and one finished her scarf! YEAH!!! I'm so proud of all of them! But I was fixing a blanket where the nice lady had dropped a stitch while showing someone how to cast on while *deep breath* talking another nice lady through picking up stitches and it dawned on me...this is why the owner never finishes anything!

So, I guess I will give up my "me" time and give it back to the community. I love helping out so it is all good! :)

Well, that is my little update. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have pictures of one of the projects for you!

Happy crafting,

Ruinwen
:)