Friday February 27, 2009
Christina: Sock blank final socks
I have finished the socks pretty quickly. They are
Posted by Christina at 11:36 AM. Category: Dye-along | Comments(0)
Friday February 20, 2009
Christina: Sock blank skein
I dried the blank fairly quickly overnight. You are supposed to knit your socks two at a time, toe up, and knit straight form the blank. I can only advise you to do this. I did not want to knit toe up, and I did not want to knit two at a time. So I unraveled the blank...
....rewashed the resulting skein, and laboriously wound it into two balls by splitting the doubled thread - which was a complete nightmare.
I then started knitting my socks right away.
Posted by Christina at 11:25 AM. Category: Dye-along | Comments(0)
Thursday February 19, 2009
Christina: Dye-along
I say dye "along" but so far it's only me - Alison is all set up with her dyes, but is nervous at starting a complex dyeing project currently, as it needs time and space, neither of which are easy to find at the moment. See her non-toxic work with the boys here.
My project starts with a sock blank from Knit Picks and before I say any more about what I did, I will point you at the Knits Picks tutorials on Sock Blank Dyeing and Gradated Dyeing - read these and do what they say.... Everything I did is most definitely not an improvement on their instructions, and was done purely out of ignorance.
If you want inspiration, look at their gallery of projects by others. I think what you can learn here is that the very best (predictable) way to go is fairly regimented stripes. Whatever pattern you choose to paint will not come out on the final socks - apart from anything else it will depend on how many stitches you work with for the sock.
Back to me. I used my Dylon all-purpose dyes in shades of lilac and purple. I have had good results before with Dylon cold water dyes - they are reactive and dye wool well if you use vinegar as the fixer and not alkali. They have stopped making these (and all their niche type dyes) in favour of one all-purpose variety - and these don't work so well with wool. I had an idea as to how I would dip my blank, but I was not satisfied with the pale result.
So I moved on and made up concentrated solutions of the two dyes, and poured them directly on the blank as it lay on cling-flim, and then wrapped up the whole thing in a bundle, which I then immersed in the water bath. I was not too bothered about the colours seeping into one another, so I did not try to steam the package.
Here you can see it all looks promisingly like it will be all shades of lilac. However, I added vinegar to the mix, and I raised the temperature to over 70 degrees C for 30 minutes, and I think that had a significant effect on the colours. When I finally removed the blank from the bath it looked like this. The pink colour seems to have emerged where the blank was exposed to the greatest heat (bottom of the bath).
Since the litmus test itself involves shades of blue turning to pink on exposure to acids, this result may not be too mystifying. The colour combination is perfectly acceptable but not what I was aiming at.
Posted by Christina at 10:30 AM. Category: Dye-along | Comments(0)
Sunday October 5, 2008
Alison: Done - at last
I have finally finished River Rock...having thought this would be a quick knit, it took me ages.
I did not much like knitting with beads - something about having the weight of the beads on the yarn, and having to keep pushing them along out of my way. I also am not so keen on the way the beads hang - but don't know if this is due to using lighter yarn. I also had (and still have) problems with the beads migrating out of the 'rocks'...I twisted both the knits and the purls on each side of the rocks - which helps, but does not prevent the problem.
Having said all that - finished item looks pretty nice. I did not exactly follow the pattern; I faded the beads out of the center section and then faded them in again pretty randomly.
Posted by Alison at 11:16 PM. Category: River Rock Scarf | Comments(2)
Monday August 4, 2008
Christina: Done and dusted
Here is my pleasing skinny scarf. The true colour is seen here, as the photo was taken in natural light.
Unlike Alison, I enjoyed knitting this so much I am planning another - I plan to use thicker yarn and fewer bead rocks in my next attempt.
Posted by Christina at 9:12 PM. Category: River Rock Scarf | Comments(0)
Sunday June 22, 2008
Christina: First panel
This is the first half of the scarf. It seems for both Alison and I, it's hard to get a good colour photo of this yarn with the beads. Both are rich deep colours - mine blue (almost navy) and hers a dark rich mahogany brown.
After the first ball of wool, I am knitting a plain section, in order to make the scarf longer.
I really love knitting this - I like the beading and the way it's turning out.
Mmmm shiny things....
However, the fuzzy picture below shows that the beads do sag a little - which is not ideal. It seems to be caused by the kntting itself rather than simply gravity, as the direction of sag is the same regardless of orientation.
Posted by Christina at 10:49 AM. Category: River Rock Scarf | Comments(0)
Tuesday June 17, 2008
Alison: River Rock not flowing
I started the River Rock, and while I have knitted about 10" so far, the knitting is rather stalled at the moment. I think this is partly because the knitting is boring, and partly because the beads make it less portable than, say socks. I might try to take it away on my next business trip which would force me to knit on it some more.
However, the effect is really nice. I think the slight wobbliness at the edge will block out.
Posted by Alison at 11:05 PM. Category: River Rock Scarf | Comments(0)
Saturday May 31, 2008
Christina: Whitby Gansey - complete
Now on the long weekend away in France with George's parents, I finished sewing in the extra ends generated by the new neckline, and handed over the finished garment to George Senior. He wore it for the first 10 minutes of gardening in the chilly early morning but basically it is too hot to work in a guernsey at the moment. Looks good in it though eh?
Posted by Christina at 7:22 AM. Category: Ganseys | Comments(1)
Tuesday May 27, 2008
Christina: Whitby Gansey - revamped collar
George's Dad liked the gansey but he (and everyone else who tried it) had a problem with the neck being too high at the front. I think, comparing it with Alison's, my neck is much tighter and this does not work with a style having the back and front alike. So I undid the collar rows, leaving the live stitches, and picked up the two sides across the saddle and back neck the same as before. However at the front, I picked up stitches diagonally down about 12 rows, and then straight across about 12 stitches, for the front neck. I unravelled the rows between and will cut the threads and sew in the ends.
I then reknitted the collar.
We are spending next weekend with George's parents in France, so George Senior might be able to wear it then - especially if the weather doesn't improve!
Posted by Christina at 8:34 PM. Category: Ganseys | Comments(2)
Monday April 28, 2008
Alison: Casting on
I am getting ready to cast on my River Rock scarf. This is from No Sheep for You.
My yarn is Naturally Dawn - same brand as Christina's, purchased at the same time from Full Thread Ahead - in a deep rich shade of brown. It's a 50% silk/wool blend from New Zealand.
Posted by Alison at 7:18 PM. Category: River Rock Scarf | Comments(0)
