They’re done! Kettle-dyed BFL. Knit to my own pattern…and hooked up a bonus beanie, too.
And some detail shots — did a mock cable waistband ribbing, and used a stem stitch bindoff to finish the legs– matches the longtail cast on nicely, and doesn’t “pull in” the way a knit bindoff can.
I love how sometimes you hit up just the right combination of yarn, colour and project and it’s like the item knits itself. Just flows along in happy, yarny harmony, faster than you would expect. Whereas the wrong yarn or combination of colour and project always seem to drag along my needles. This is an example of knitting karma in a positive sense. WIP, longies knit from my kettle-dyed “Firebird” and destined for a long and lean little fella.
As we all know, however, karma works both ways. I decided to “cheat” and wash my little twinbit’s woolies on the Wool cycle in my new HE washer. Worked fabulously, BTW.
Unfortunately, I forgot the evil trick of front-loading HE’s — things get stuck all the way around the basket. They hide up at the top, so you end up with red socks in with your white undies if you aren’t careful.
You also end up with this, should you leave a poor wooly soaker in whilst you cold soak, hot/hot wash your cloth diapers.
Before, with it’s detachable, funky little skirty:
And alone:
And now. The other side of knitting karma? The peek-a-block is for sizing purposes. The head is because it is now Caden’s favourite teething toy…
After my month-long drought of FO’s, I’m pleased to share this little skirty that I made for a customer and fellow mom of multiples…she sent me the yarn, called “Dandelions” from Midnight Spectrum. BFL, and quite yummy!
The body is a knit using my soaker/shorties pattern, and the skirt is hooked up. The stitch pattern was something I have in thread on a sweater, and I love how it translated to the worsted weight.
Enough blabbing! Here’s the pics:
The Skirty:
closeup of skirt stitch pattern:
And, finally, the yarn porn. Kettle-dyed by me, shades of crimson, golden ochre and yellow marbled to create what I’m calling “Firebird”. BFL.
I spent a month meticulously planning my “vacation knitting” — the projects I would pack, work on and complete whilst R&Ring at my grandparent’s cottage for a week.
Alas, in a cruel twist of fate, I finished….nothing. Sick twins and crummy cottage weather united to leave me with even less time than normal to knit. In fact, the only time I got to work with yarn and needles was while riding in the car for the 5 hrs of driving each way.
And so…nothing is done. Not one, single knitting project. Out of a potential three.
I realized today it has been nearly a month since my last FO — no wonder I’ve been feeling so blue lately! I need a shot of knitting adrenaline, and I need it NOW!
And with that resolution…I am off to knit. And to — hopefully — finish, by the end of the weekend, a project….so that I can actually post pictures of something completed, and get myself out of my knitting funk.
The last few evenings, I’ve quit knitting early because my right wrist hurts.
I’m running a bit behind on orders and am busily stomping down on that little voice that is whispering “Carpel tunnel?” in my subconscious.
I’d rather deal with the pain than not knit!
…on retrospect, I wonder if it was wise? Riding along the highway at 100km an hour, knitting happily along with loooooong, sharp straight knitting needles?
Something to ponder. I’m betting airbags and straight needles could be BAD news.
Perhaps I will stick with circs for on-the-road projects?
What, you ask, was I knitting? A fun little funky, stripey baby shrug for a friend’s little girl. Am using “Sassy Stripes” in the “Vintage” colourway. Will try and snap pics later this afternoon!
Concerned knitter saw what appeared to be a UFO…on closer inspection she realized it was not one, not two, but THREE unfinished objects hibernating in her living room.
First was this lovely Pinwheel Sweater from Elann. Beautiful design. The combination of knit and crochet draws me like a moth to a flame. So why a UFO? Bad colour choice! I started it in an “Apple” green, discontinued Paton’s Grace colour that I scored for 10 balls at $12.99 total…great deal. Great colour….for a preschooler. For an elegent “me” sweater? Er, not so much.
Next is this lovely Baby “J” Sweater from Cabin Fever. My LYS owner raved about it, raved about the yarn, showed me all the cute and squishy little baby sweaters she’d done up…I caved. It’s been sitting with all but one sleeve done for about two months now. I’ll probably finish it, eventually…it’s a lot cuter IRL than in the pic, and is cuddly, squishy and stretchy…I just discovered I have a deep-seated dislike of continues Garter Stitch. It’s like I can feel my knitting brain atrophying.
The last is what was going to be a sweater…then a little dress…now it’s nothing really…for a friend’s baby girl. Bought some “Sassy Stripes” because the colours were great and I know she doesn’t like wool…but I cannot stand working with the stuff! Acrylic is so sticky it drives me crazy. I’ll probably suck it up and quickly crochet a hat or something, but I’m NOT feeling the love. **makes mental note to go with superwash wool or cotton for next baby gifts**
Am noticing a disturbing trend of sweater UFO’s…
…here’s a pic of the wool I dyed during my “play by play” slideshow.
It’s inspiring all sorts of cravings for chocolate covered strawberries…or maybe some dark chocolate and a nice wine…
I truly love the softness and sheen of BFL… amazing wool.
OK, so it’s only 10pm. But when you’ve got four kids ages 5 and under — anything past 9pm is officially “late”. Just FYI.
I’m on a double-yarn high tonight…have a 4oz skein of freshly dyed BFL rinsing in the sink and I am positively giddy about how the colours came out — a yummy red, chocolate brown, and black.
My friend Irene requested that I take step-by-step pictures during the kettle-dyeing process — I’ll post those tomorrow. It’s an amazing thrill to me to watch the initial pools of colour slowly evolve into something beautiful as the kettle heats the yarn. And it’s always a relief when it doesn’t end up a big muddy mess.
The other half of my yarn high is from a pair of longies I’m knitting up for Laura. I’m calling that colourway “Oceanic” and the blues and soft green are so soothing. I’m quite pleased with how it’s knitting up — a nice mix of colour, no pooling — the skeins took colour differently so I am switching between the two. Going to be a lot of loose ends to weave in on those longies! 
But there is something immensely rewarding about seeing the longies start to evolve out of yarn that I dyed myself…there’s a lot of love that goes into these projects.
And now I need to go hang up the yarn to dry…then it’s off to sleep to dream of yarn.
What, doesn’t everybody?
