dye night

I've been completely unmotivated to dye yarn lately, but I was very excited about the opportunity to help my friends dye some yarn. It was really exciting to watch them come up with the concept for their color and decide which colors to mix to get there.

The entire process has lost its magic for me because I've done it so many times, but seeing their excitement really renewed my own enthusiasm. The process of dyeing is easy, but it does require all of this separate equipment, which is a huge hassle for someone who only wants to do it every now and then. So I'm glad I could host them (and I hope we can all do it again!) Honestly, I'm scheming for a shawl dye-a-long/knit-a-long.

Melanie took many more pics than anyone else, so check out her commentary on the evening as well.

Bella Mittens: Complete

Oh yes I did. When I asked Jose to pick up one red apple at the store, he was totally on to my plan. And when I asked him to photograph the mittens for me, he even pointed out that the overcast day would be perfect for the shoot. Very Forks.

The Bella Mittens pattern was easy and the chunky yarn knit up really fast. And warm...man, they are so warm! I'm learning that wearing mittens is much different than wearing gloves (these are the first pair I've owned). Turning keys, pressing buttons, gripping a cup or bottle. All of these things are difficult with mittens. Let the learning curve begin...

WIP Wednesday: the Bella Mittens

Love. Love the way the yarn feels, love the way the color turned out, love the way the mittens feel. Love it all! They are still (clearly) a work in progress, but I am really in love with this pattern.

Photo credit to Meg, and shout-out to my Vampires! shirt :)

you like purple, right?

I've had the Bella Mittens queued for forever. Like, before I knew how to knit in the round, before I ever thought I could learn to do cables, and certainly before I had ever considered watching or reading the Twilight books. Now...forever later, I've done all these things and I still want to knit the mittens. Plus, I'm going to Alaska...I'll need mittens, right?

I had the idea that I would knit them in Madeline Tosh chunky. The problem? It would require two skeins. So...$20 mittens would be $40 mittens...and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I started searching for a suitable substitute, but no matter how I diced it, I was going to be spending $20 and none of the colors were right. I eventually realized that I had enough natural chunky in my stash, so I cooked up a batch.

It's not the exact color I was going for, but I really do love it. I love the subtle variations in color as they look on the skein, but I'm anxious to see how it looks when it's knit.

I was trying to think of a colorway, and since it's a Twilight-inspired pattern, it seemed only appropriate to have a Twilight-inspired colorway name..."you like purple, right?"

Jose's Christmas Socks

I took my skein of Too Much to Dream and knitted a pair of socks for Jose. I thought it would be a surprise, but he kept asking questions along the way that told me he knew. Boo on that, but yay for the outcome!

First, Jose said they are the best fit of any of the socks I've made him, so that's positive. Second, I wrote the pattern and I like the way it turned out. There's a little more variegation in the yarn than I would have liked for this simple pattern, but it's still nice. I'd like to type up the pattern and post it on Ravelry, but it's just so simple that I feel like it may not be worth it. We'll see. Third, Jose said the socks might be his favorite gift. That may mean that the other gifts I gave him were failures, but I'll take it to mean that the socks rock :)

This is my attempt at a close-up of the rib. The cuff is a 4X1 rib and for the body of the sock, I ran 15 stitches (with a purl on either end) down so that it's just off center on the front of the foot. My original vision was for a cable, but I wasn't able to find one that was masculine enough and I started running out of time. I just got a book of stitches for Christmas, so I should be able to find a manly cable for next time...

RKG Holiday Party Sponsors

A few months ago, I set out on a mission: recruit raffle giveaways for the Raleigh Knitting Group's holiday party. My goal was to send out 8-10 requests with the hope of securing 5-6 items. When it was all said and done, I sent out eight requests and received eleven prizes! ELEVEN! I wish I could take credit here, but this is really about the generosity of the folks I reached out to.

As one final thanks to our amazing sponsors, I want to share the photos of our excited winners with their raffle prizes. I hope you will all continue supporting these shops that so generously supported the RKG this holiday season!

Yarn Tree Studio, Raleigh, NC

Sassafras Creations

Knitterati Sock Club

Hillsborough Yarn Shop, Hillsborough, NC

Great Yarns/Yarns Etc., Raleigh, NC and Chapel Hill, NC

Downtown Knits, Apex, NC

Cozy, Durham, NC

Color Me Happy Yarns

Admit Ewe Knit, Raleigh, NC

Many thanks to you all, and happy holidays!

boil, boil, toil and...yarn?

Some of my friends have asked to come over the next time I'm dying yarn so that they can "witness the magic". Honestly, I laugh every time. Why? There's no magic here! I use a pretty straight forward dye. In a pot. On my stove. I guess the magic is in the color mixing, which I'm constantly testing and working to improve. The strategizing never stops. I'm forever jotting down ideas and notes...it's a fun, constantly evololving process.

It kinda looks like a witches brew, no?



If you like what you see, mosey on over to my Etsy shop and pick some up!

too much to dream

I resisted the temptation of the yarn I was dying for a long time. And by a long time, I mean one month. There was something about this blue that I couldn't pass up. I dyed two skeins at once and called the colorway "I had too much to dream last night". Working on some socks now, but can't quite get the pattern right. They have to be perfect. Stay tuned...

so slack

I haven't not been blogging because I'm slack, it's because I've been crazy busy...mostly dying yarn! A great deal of it is going to Downtown Knits in Apex, NC, but a bit has been posted to my etsy store (check it out!).

Below are a few of my very favorites...









...more to come!