Monsters!!!

I know I haven't posted in awhile. I've been busy writing a hundred page thesis so I know you'll forget me :) Despite not posting, I have still been knitting! My current obsession is knitted toys and monsters.

Back in September I ordered 5 patters from DangerCraft. Wow talk about addictive. I'm so addicted I ordered her Big Book of Knitted Monsters with my Christmas money!

First I knit a monster chunk:

Then I knit a little boucle monster that hubby named Mortimer:

Then I knit Sammie the sock monster, complete with his own little socks:

Then I knit two little monkeys for my niece and nephew for Christmas. I put little magnets in their hands and I'm told my niece wears her monkey around her neck! Adorable!

Then this week I decided to cast on Penelope. She is super soft and adorable. I know the little girl who will get her (it's a surprise) is going to LOVE her! :)

 

Going to cast on another right now!

 

Knitting Season

Where did August go? I must have blinked and missed it. Oh wait, I was working full time and writing my thesis, which means a black hole must have opened up and swallowed every waking hour.

Well it's September now, and that means one thing.

No, I'm not thinking of school.

Despite the +30C temperatures today, autumn is just around the corner. It's my favorite season, with cool crisp weather and leave crunching underfoot. And then there's knitting.

I haven't had a lot of time to knit lately, but I recently went on a trip to visit my family in Ontario, which kick started my knitting mojo. My aunties requested some knitted items so we hit up the local yarn shop of non-other than the Yarn Harlot herself: Lettuce Knit.


They picked out some lovely yarn (Koigu KPPPM for a triangle scarf and Berroco Vintage for some mittens), so I think I'll really enjoy knitting for them!

My knitting addiction seems to be infectious.

I knit a pair of lovely handspun alpaca mittens for my cousin Rochelle who is crazy about alpacas, and I have a hunch that she likes them.

(I think her friend might be jealous!)

My cousins have a balcony in their house, and 20 foot ceilings in the main entrance. I couldn't help myself, I had to try spinning over the railing. My 13 year old cousin Nic helped me by keeping the spindle spinning as I lowered it down (that's his hand).


Even my engineer brother learned the basic knit stitch while we were stuck in traffic (again) on highway outside Toronto.


I also managed to finish a sock, in a new pattern I'm really excited about. It's the Minnesota Moonlight sock by Cat Bordhi, with the new and amazing Sweet Tomato Heel. Love. It.


My grandma was really excited to see the lovely yarn I was spinning and all my knitting projects. She even gave me a set of handcarders made for her mother by my great grandfather. Cool!



All in all, a great trip, with lots of knitting :) I'm all ready for fall and winter! Bring on knitting season!

The right tools

So when I first read about Signature knitting needles on the Yarn Harlot's blog, I thought to myself: "Who would spend that kind of money on knitting needles??" Those needles are almost 10 times the cost of a regular pair. I got a set of 9 pairs of interchangeable circulars for about $75 and one pair of Signatures costs 3/4 of that.

That was before I tried them.

A woman in my spinning group had 2 pairs of circulars and a set of dpns. I tried the dpns and I tell you, I didn't want to give them back. They had stiletto tips for Pete's sake!

I'm a different sort of crafter than I was when I read that post by the Harlot. I realized that I was willing to spend $50 multiple times over for well-balanced, well-crafted spindles, to maximize enjoyment of spinning. Why not spend money for a good pair of knitting needles? I also know what kind of knitting enjoy and I figured that stiletto tipped needles would be very useful for knitting lace. Lace knitting something I've been enjoying more and more.

Well, they came today...

4mm, Stilettos. mmmmmmm...

I think I might be in a new knitting needle bracket (a la Corner Gas).

I might actually finish my Gnarled Oakwoods shawl now! (yes that's right. I start it in 2008.)
(Also: bunny nuggets!!!)

Expect the unexpected...

...when using natural dyes.

I've been experimenting again with the dye pot. I did another batch of black beans, and I got a much deeper blue this time! I soaked the beans at room temperature this time instead of in the fridge. Much better.


Then I ventured out in the rural area south of Winnipeg and found some St. John's Wort (with the help of a good friend, thanks Laura!) I used them fresh, and I've heard you're supposed to be able to get green, maroon and yellow from one dye bath!



So I simmered the flowers, and mordanted my yarn in alum.

And then I put my skein into the red liquid.


And I simmered that, while enjoying my balconey garden. :)

The skein did not turn green. But it also didn't quite turn maroon either.

In artificial light it looks like this:


But in sunlight, it's got a browner hue (even more brown than the photo suggests).


Colour changing yarn? Wow! But not really colours I enjoy... peachy brown. Lovely. Oh well, back to the drawing board I guess. What should I make out of it?

In other news, I'm knitting alpaca mittens in the middle of July. Yes. I know. They are for my cousin, whom I'm visiting over the September long weekend. I'm using my handspun baby alpaca, 3 ply chunky. One mitten is almost finished. Here's a teaser. I don't want to ruin the surprise. ;)


Also I got two more Jenkins spindles. One heavy hickory standard (1.5oz):


and the other a boxwood Aegean, which might just be my new favorite.

Both fibres are from Sheeples. The top one will be a sweater some day.

Ok back to thesis writing. Will post again when the golden rod is flowering! (I'm going to dye with that too!)

Dyeing with food colouring

Well I was getting a little impatient for my dye plants to grow and I have been accumulating white and cream coloured fleece and wool.



(this stuff is from a sheep named Dot. I recently found out she met a tragic end at the jaws of a coyote... RIP Dot, you'll live on in your lovely, soft, creamy fleece.)

So I got out my crockpot and some Wilton's icing gels (AKA food colouring) and got busy.


Superwash Merino/Mohair/Nylon blend from Paradise Fiber:

I used Teal, Kelly Green, and Golden Yellow with a bit of No Taste Red.


I love how it turned out. I can't wait to see how it looks spun and knitted up into socks!!

Also I finished one of my black bean socks and started the next one. Perhaps I might have to go for a little forage in the woods later today and see if I can get some oak galls.

Or maybe I could dye some handspun with the onion skins my friend Esther has been saving for me...


Or perhaps I should try out the logwood chips I purchased when I was at Maiwa in December.


Or maybe I should go write more of my thesis.... :P

Spring!!

Look!

My seeds are sprouting!


I started seeds for cosmos, coreopsis and hollyhock (for dyeing yarn) and tomatoes, basil and hyssop for eating! (Hyssop makes delicious tea).

So exciting. Summer is almost here!

Also:


My black bean socks. :)

Black Beans

When I went to the West Coast in December, I visited a store called Maiwa. They sell all sorts of textile related supplies, including dye supplies. I found a book called Wild Color by Jenny Dean. It grabbed my imagination and I've been dreaming all winter about dyeing yarn with wildflowers, tree bark and foodstuffs!

I just couldn't wait any longer and I had to try dyeing some yarn. The first dyestuff I chose was black beans (I saw some cool results on Ravelry, so I had to try it myself).

I bought a pound of dry black beans.

I soaked them in cold water for roughly 48 hours,

and then, I made chili.

But before the beans went into the chili pot, I carefully ladled off the purplish liquid onto my yarn. The night before, I had mordanted my yarn with alum (a chemical that helps the colour stick to the fibre) and cream of tartar (helps brighten the colour).

Then I let my superwash merino/nylon sock yarn soak in the bean water for another night. The result?

A lovely steel-blue yarn! :)

Wow. I think I might need to add this to my list of fibre-y addictions! But as my cousin said, I'm not adding a new addiction, I'm just expanding my existing one. I'll be posting more of my experiments throughout the summer, so stay tuned!

I've already started a pair of socks from it :) (Cables and corrugations from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters)

Which natural dye should I try next? Logwood? Onion Skins?