Newfie Mitts

I felt like dyeing yarn. Or maybe it was my daughter who wanted to dye yarn. I knit up a "blank" on my knitting machine and we spread it out on the table. She wanted turquoise stripes but we had a hard time getting it right--the top end of the blank

We were using some Easter egg dyes, and I had some Procion MX dyes. I discovered the Sky Blue was what she was really looking for, so she had fun at the other end. I used a full skein of Rowan Superwash Worsted. The mittens ended up taking most of the section she dyed. I have about 65gr left, which means if I knit mittens, each would be different. I'm tempted, but it is March 15  and surely winter has to be over soon! It doesn't look like it this week! A hat might be interesting.

I used the Newfie Mitts pattern again. As I wrote about the first pair, I made some changes to the pattern, regarding the thumb. I made the opening for the thumb where I'd normally separate the thumb gusset and the hand. This time, I picked up all around the opening, and one extra at each edge. Then I short rowed across the outer half of the thumb stitches, leaving one more stitch out of work each row, until I had just the middle stitch in work. Then I worked across all stitches. I wanted to get some extra length on the outer part of the thumb to be like a thumb gusset.

I realized after I had done it that I should have started with the middle stitch and worked outwards. I did that on the next pair.
Megan says she wishes the tops were all in the turquoise. They look a little fuzzy because she had already been wearing them before I got a picture. She says she really likes them, though she got a new coat during all this and now they totally don't match. So she wears them when she helps the new skaters at CanSkate.

Yarn In:  1542gr
Yarn Out: 83gr + 1291g = 1374gr
Balance: 168gr more bought than used
Costs:  $37.91/74days = $0.51 per day

Sun and Sea and Sand

Way back in the spring, when I was on the short row scarve/shawl kick, I knit up a skein of yarn I had bought at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitters Fair a few years ago.  It was a greyish pink, with bits of grey/blue-black.  The tag said "Isis" and 100% rayon.  However, when I washed it, the colour all washed out!  It was left with a slight pink tint, with faint blue bits.

 

 I finally decided it was time to re-dye it.  I threw it in with the load of laundry I was doing, and it seemed even paler.  I had some Rit dyes, but no colours I liked.  I have some Procion MX dyes, but only 3 colours.  One of those was turquoise, and I love turquoise.  I mixed it up and set it up to dye ombre, starting with the tip being in the dye and gradually lowering it into the dye bath, 5 minutes at a time.

 I didn't see a huge difference between the dark tip and the light points, but when you place the shoulder points on the lower tip, you can see the difference.

 I was hoping for a darker colour, but I forgot how much the shawl weighed, and only measured out enough dye for 50gr.  The dye bath seemed pretty intense, so I threw in a few dishcloths that needed freshening up (dye will not magically erase stains though--I see this thinking on re-fashioning blogs all the time.  It might blend the stain a bit, but it's still there!).

When I was knitting this, I couldn't remember exactly how to do the increases/decreases.  One of the long sides is different from the other because of this.  I tried to even it out when I blocked it, but it is still noticeable.

Ack, look at how frizzy my hair is!  The shawl looks great with this dress, though my other dress is more of a teal colour :(  But it'll also look nice with solid coloured clothes.
We went to the West Bowmanville beach last night, and were totally shocked at how cold it was this time.  So calm, but freezing.  Is summer over?  It was only a couple days ago we were easily swimming in Lake Ontario, further east!

Yarn In:  14 828gr
Yarn Out:  12 317 + 100gr =  12 417gr
Balance:  2411gr more In than Out
Cost:  $317.59/251 days = $1.27/day

Just In Time!

So, I had made Hugh two pairs of blue mittens, neither of which he was really excited about, although he wore the blue Kroy (doubled mitts) the most. I knew I could do better, and that my kids deserve better, especially since it took me awhile to convince them that wool mittens are so great! I had extinguished all options for bright blue wool in my stash. That meant one thing...dyeing some of the wool I bought a few years ago to dye for making mittens (would have been January 2009, when I made some for Lucy's grade 1 class!). It's elann.com Superwash Merino. They give the gauge as 19st on 4.5mm needles I think...but if you read the comments on Ravelry.com you can see that I'm not the only one who thought it was much thinner. It's very similar to the "mercerized merino" I bought at Wal-Mart for Lucy's teacher's mitts (the bright green ones). That yarn also gave a much looser gauge. I was pretty certain I could knit it up on my standard gauge, but I figured I could still use the LK150 if I needed to. But first, it had to become blue:
I wound it into a cake, and stuck it into a measuring cup with some Wilton's food dye in Sky Blue. That's the turquoise part on the bottom. I did it in the microwave, about 45 seconds at a time, let it cool, then repeat.
Then, I remembered that I had bought some Jacquard dyes in the summer! Indeed, one was labelled Sky Blue, so I decided I'd dip the other end in it....it's the dark Royal blue. What's the colour of your sky? The bright blue reminds me of Caribbean oceans....sigh...I was too impatient to wait for it to dry before re-winding it (how long would that take?!), so I put it in the oven on the lowest setting, and gradually unwound a bit at a time. Then, when I got to a portion that hadn't got much dye, I repeated the dyeing...with the darker, re-wound part hanging out of the microwave, LOL. I really liked the speckled look of the yarn, although it wasn't until it was knit that I could see just how much variation in intensity there was.
I traced Hugh's hand, and made a pattern for the Knit Contour. I knit the inside mitt, using the Kroy 3 ply, then switched to the merino, which I had gotten 24st/4" at T10. I got the first mitt done, and was loving it (had done the thumb gussets using my new 7 prong tool!), but as the second one was coming along, I began to feel the "there's no enough yarn" doubt....big time. Indeed, there was not enough of the dyed yarn!!!

I decided to do a pattern, with another ball of the undyed white. We looked at my patterns (I just got a bunch of new punch card patterns, but they have to be punched out!), and the only ones he wanted were 24 st repeats, and he needed at most, 40st, so they wouldn't center, nor match up at the sides. He liked a 12 st pattern from the manual, so I went with that, using 38 sts (36 +2 to seam). It went okay, but once done, I was pretty certain it was too narrow. My Knit Contour told me I needed 40sts as I was now getting 25st/4" in the pattern. I said, to heck with the seam matching, and re-did it with 42 sts.


But now, my machine was mad at me or something. Nothing went right. I won't bore you with the details, but if you've ever machine knitted with a ribber, a punch card, and a knit contour, while trying to simultaneously care for 3 kids and a old puppy.....even the knit contour acted up and one mitten came out way too long. The other was too short. The inside mitts were two different lengths. Argh. I finished off the tops in the solid blue, by hand....I found out I could have done more on the machine but I wasn't about to tempt things anymore. I undid seams, reknit one inside mitt top, or was it both....

On Monday night I still had the outer thumbs to do. I figured I could do them easily on the machine. But after two tries, I kept coming to the end of the gusset area on one edge, but not the other edge. I decided to do the thumbs the same way, but by hand, so I could see it and fiddle with it easier. Got it right the first try. I also had to reknit the inside thumbs...

Even though it took me at least 2 days longer than expected, I LOVE these mitts! I want my own! I think it's really interesting how the one mitt pooled the more intense colours, but the other one is much paler. Wish I had realized this was happening, I would have stopped it. What I find fascinating is the punch card. It looks nothing like this. I did it as a slip stitch pattern (which unfortunately doesn't create floats for extra thickness), but the same punch card will give a totally different pattern if done in Fair Isle. How does that happen?

Soaked

I was doing so great at finishing up projects, new and old, until we got a puppy, in April. Suddenly, my great run of machine knitting ended as I couldn't go down there for more than a few minutes. Puppy couldn't come into the TV room either unless directly supervised and it's hard to knit while stopping a puppy from eating everything. But, he's calming down, and has a pretty predictable routine, so I'm getting back on track too.

Back at the May meeting of my local handknitting guild, someone was showing a baby outfit, and someone else mentioned that new moms today probably don't even know what a soaker is. I suppose I'm not a 'new' mom, but I didn't get the chance to insert my experience in the conversation. I haven't really written much about soakers here either, so I thought I'd do a post.

I'm not sure when I first learned about wool soakers. I had old knitting books, with baby "panties" and "soakers", but they went up to a 12 month size only. When Huey was born (he turned 10 last week!!), I looked into cloth diapers ("CD"), but we couldn't put out the money for the start up cost. And yes, I'm still kicking myself about that. I don't think I knew about soakers then though. When Meg was turning 2 (Nov 2007), I decided to ask on Freecycle for some cloth diapers and that was really the start of a new friendship with someone I had met in a parenting group but then connected with on Freecycle. Hi Sarah!! She told me that it was super easy to sew diapers. Oh my. She didn't tell me that it was addicting too. It's a whole new world of sewing. Specialty fabrics, notions, techniques...I'm not the best sewer (I'm impatient and don't always care about little details like matching thread), but I threw myself into it. I joined a Yahoo CD sewing group. There, many moms used "PUL covers" (like plastic pants, but it's a clear film bonded to fabric, often really cool, themed/licensed fabric). That's what I started with. Many moms though, were hooked on wool covers. Now, I'm a knitter, LOL, and knit socks, and know the many benefits of wool. But a wool diaper cover? I just couldn't quite get into it.

Eventually though, I wasn't impressed with PUL, esp. for at night. Many moms told me I HAD to try wool, esp. since I could knit. But instead, I got some old sweaters and tried sewn wool covers. I couldn't get the fit right for Meg--I think because she was already bigger than most patterns out there!

Finally, I decided to get some Peace Fleece wool as it was recommended and I could get it locally. I also had some plain blue yarn that seemed to be wool. I opted to do these longies (wool diaper covers that double as pants) on the knitting machine, and although they took awhile to get the sizing right, it was still fast. They were made in two pieces, with a seam at the center front and center bum. I added short rows to allow room for the diaper and bring the back rise up to prevent diaper crack, LOL.Rob thinks the striped longies look like hockey pants!

(Unfortunately, these longies had an accident--I was at my parents and they needed to be lanolized. To dry them faster I hung them over/next to the woodstove after a fire had been put out. The stove itself was pretty cool, but the metal trim stayed hot and burned the pants. I unravelled the leg to the burn spot, and re-knit using the rest of the yarn after cutting off the burned section. Then I unravelled the other leg to match the new shorter one).I had some yarn left over, so I tried the Curly Purly handknit soaker pattern. I wasn't thrilled with the fit, again cause Meg was bigger than the pattern (and built differently). Then I handknit the "Spare Ribs Shoaker" (not a typo) pattern, which caused a bit of headache to enlarge it. I liked that one, but the yarn I used felted very easily, so the benefit of the ribbing was lost. After that, I stuck to refining a machine knit longie.This bright orange one was Briggs & Little wool which we dyed orange. I think that was one whole skein of either Heritage or Regal. It faded quite a bit, but we still use it. I think I showed pictures before of a dusty rose longie I made, with cables up the sides, also in B&L. It's not the softest wool, but it's very affordable, esp. when bought at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair.I decided to 'splurge' again on two skeins of Peace Fleece. I did them on the machine, but did hand manipulated ribbing up the center front/back. I love Peace Fleece so much, I splurged and bought some to make me a sweater!This pair is one skein of Lionbrand Fisherman's Wool, dyed with Kool Aid and Wilton's icing dyes. The rise looks really long, but over a nighttime diaper, it's actually not too high. Because of Meg's belly shape, everything tends to slip down really low, unless made extra tall. Plus, she often doesn't wear 'real' pajamas, so the longer body here helps for warmth. They come down to just above her knees.

During all this knitting, I realized, a few pairs back, that I could knit them in one piece. I could put the seam up the center front, or the center back (along with leg seams on the inside). I decided to do the seam at the center front for two reasons. This allowed me to work short rows across the back side, and not have to try to remember what I did on one side to match the second side. I could work back and forth across the entire backside. Also, I could leave the casing open at the center front to tie a drawstring.

I didn't get the crotch gusset quite like a handknit longie, but it's still good. Tomorrow, I'll post more details on how I actually made the one piece longies. It won't be an actual 'pattern' as I'm sure there's not many people out there that need a pattern for a 63lb 4 year old's longies, LOL, but it'll be a recipe instead.

One other piece of the puzzle that 'new' moms know about that 'older' moms don't, is lanolizing. None of my old patterns mention it at all. This is probably for a couple reasons. Moms probably had more soakers than we use so they were in less rotation, and they probably got washed more frequently. The wool also was less processed and probably had more lanolin left in it. As well, diapers were changed very frequently, instead of the 'how long can we get' mentality that disposables have created. Lanolizing though, is the little secret that make wool soakers the ideal night time diaper cover!

W

Remember this, from two years ago? Go back and read the full story please. I really like the design of this tank, although I still question the use of a bulky yarn (wool). Bulky, textured yarn, and garter stitch all add up to unflattering addition to my girth, LOL. I don't think I ever wore it in public. I kept saying I'll get around to dyeing it again. I really wanted it to be shades of brown like I had intended. I got some brown dye, but it really didn't make a difference (think I had too little dye for the amount of fabric; I was also dyeing pants).

So I bit the bullet and tried some green dye.

The feel of the yarn is a little funny now (wasn't great to begin with). It's better, for sure, but I don't have anything to wear it with, and a heavy, knitted top doesn't seem right in the summer, even if it is part rayon and a tank top. And I don't care for it over a shirt (did that 25 years ago, don't need to do it again). So, it's still sitting in my closet, LOL. I did get some info on how to re-work the pattern with lighter yarn though!

Green is the New Brown

Uh huh. Did you know that? Combining colours is not my fav thing to do, but I thought I could read at least.

It seems that if I find a pattern I like, I don't have the yarn. When I finally get new yarn, I can't find/remember/don't fit the patterns I wanted. One tank I have wanted to make for awhile is the 'W' tank from http://www.knitty.com/ (look it up in the archives heading, choose 'tanks' from the drop down menu). It's really clever, sideways, short-rows, garter st vs stockinette st. Not something that would be easily altered, at least not without knitting it the way it should be first. The yarn is 16st/4" and the one listed is 100% wool, handpainted, exclusive type yarn. Now, I know the nomads wear wool, but I don't think I want a chunky gauge tank top in 100% wool. Cotton would be okay (because of the stretch of garter st), but chunky weight cotton? It'd weigh a ton. A blend would be nice. But I can't find anything I like/afford/can buy here.

But I was dropping into Wal-Mart the other night, and can't not stop by the yarn row. I found ONE bag of three 100g balls of a yarn by some unknown Canadian company.

It's slightly textured, cream strand and a beige strand with a binder strand. A little boring, especially since the sideways nature of the W tank would be lost. It's cotton/viscose with about 15% acrylic. Perfect for dyeing with RIT type dyes!

So I drag the kids to the mall, to see if Zellers happened to have this yarn too (they had just re-arranged the store, not got rid of the yarn!). No, so off to the other end to the dollar store where they sell fabric dye. Tintex. That's a name brand, right? They had "Brown" which, although a little boring, was the best option. I bought another colour too that I thought might add some splashes of colour.

First thing, set up the giant skeins. A thing to do during Megan's nap time. Unfortunately she is sick and not sleeping much (day or night).

Obviously, I was not about to start dyeing until ALL the kids were in bed (and it took forever and some Motrin to get Megan asleep). I open the box, read the instructions. It says for colours like brown to use two boxes (doesn't say that on the OUTSIDE of the box). One box normally for 1lb (454g) of fiber, my yarn was 300g but I was only dyeing portions of it, so I figured I was safe. I tear open the packet and pour GREEN crystals into the pot. It's okay; brown is a mixture of many colours, maybe it's like blonde hair dye that goes on purple. Just to be certain, I hang a strand of white, 100% cotton over the edge. After awhile, it could pass for brown, but it shows green where it seeped up the yarn strand. The paper towel I rest it on turns green. I put the bits of yarn in. (Kind of looks like two long ponytails hanging over the edge, doesn't it?)

They turn green. I leave it, come back and stir now and then. Where it seeps up the wet yarn, it shows almost blue. After awhile I decide it's rinse time. Looked pretty green to me. But it's still wet, so what do I know. The box says 'Brown'.

I arrange the yarn again for a second dip in different spots. I leave it in extra long. It's getting late. Finally take it out, rinse out green water, and leave it draped over the divider in the sink and go to bed.

The dark green areas are from the first dip.Here, you can see a slight variation in colour/sheen between the cotton and viscose portions (I'm assuming the acrylic is the binder thread, but the yarn feels a little acrylicky). Hopefully a few more rinses and that'll show better.

I'm going to knit it up anyway. The garter stitch nature of the pattern will change how you feel about any yarn. However, I don't think even garter stitch will be able to make green turn brown. If I don't like it after knitted, I can re-dye the whole thing in the other colour I bought. What colour could that be?

Green.

And Crochet Too!

I am not a good crocheter. Although it turns out even and even nice looking, I have a hard time with directions, and a harder time with gauge. But I do like crocheting summer hats with mercerized cotton!

First I made this one:

Which was supposed to be for Lucy. I worked alot on it on a sunny Sunday and got it done about 20 minutes past my bedtime. It fit Lucy, but fits Megan better. So I started another one for Lucy, and it took me over a week! I kept adding a couple rows, taking out a row, getting hooked up to IVs, etc. It ended up a little big on Lucy. Mostly, it's too tall; this picture really exaggerates it!

I used Cantata DK cotton in two different purples, and Butterfly Super 10 for the pink. There wasn't much left of either purple, but I did crochet up a flower for each one, to hold the brim up a little. Very cute. I'll get pictures of them on later. I managed to get the stitch gauge, but my row gauge was way off.

I'm working on a little crochet baby bonnet right now. I know my yarn is a little thicker than the pattern calls for, but I'm hoping that remedies my too tight crocheting, LOL. I find crochet patterns very inconsistent. The bonnet is done in a two row pattern, the second row is double crochet. At the start of the book, in the instructions for dc it says the ch3 turning chain counts as a stitch. In the bonnet pattern, they don't tell you otherwise, but the turning chain does NOT count as a stitch. I had to start it several times, but it's going good now. I have to ribbon shop, and then attach the ribbon. Argh. I hate doing that. Any advice?

On another topic....would anybody be interested in a yarn dyeing day? Maybe bring your kids, bathing suits, yarn.....I've done some dyeing before and really enjoyed it, but just can't seem to find the time now. I've used Kool-Aid, Easter egg dyes, cake decorating dyes, and food colouring. Everything BUT 'real' yarn dyes, LOL. I'm thinking of ordering the dye sample pack from Knitpicks and some sock yarn (I do have some lace yarn already). Maybe others would like to order too and we can combine an order to save on shipping? Let me know!

Oh, Z....I have a question about 'Krista' that I'm sure you can guess but I don't want to ask here so I'll email you :)

They're Dyeing in There

On Saturday I took Megan to the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair. She went last year too, but didn't see anything :)
Met up with Sandra (www.curlerchik.blogspot.com) and Susan (www.luckyknits.blogspot.com) and shopped till Megan got fussy, then her and I went outside. Note to self (and others). If you get into the backseat of your vehicle...make sure the child locks are off before you close the door. And if you park next to me so closely that I can't open my door to get in (and I'm not huge), or get my baby in, you will get a nasty note on your windshield.

After lunch Megan fell asleep so I decided to go to the seminar about dyeing with Wilton dyes (which I had actually done, but I wanted to find out the 'right' way to do it, LOL). Megan woke up as soon as everyone clapped during the introduction. I was sitting next to the door incase we needed a quick exit, and I overhead from the hallway "They're dyeing in there". LOL. It was certainly hot enough I felt like I might pass out!
I bought Interweave Knits Fall 2006 issue for Lace Pt. 2...however it's a little late to help me out with the baby blanket. I'm not as thrilled with the patterns as with the previous two issues. Oh well, I don't exactly need new patterns anyway. I bought a short kaliedescope for the kids, and a tall one for me, two balls of sock yarn (haven't used last year's sock yarn), and ordered a wire blocking kit...hopefully it will come right when I'm done the baby blanket, LOL. I really want to start knitting socks again (how many times did I say that Susan?). With a slightly thicker sock yarn (don't like heavier than DK), I can do them on my LK150. So that might help.

But I've got LOTS to finish up before then! And Thursday is the Georgetown guild's first night--I'm skipping out early on my kid's new school's Meet the Teacher BBQ!!