Tofutsies Vine Lace

April 13th, 2008

The first time I ever knit with Southwest Trading Company’s Tofutsies I really fell in love. Since then I’ve worn the socks many times, and they have worn up much better than all the rest of my handknit socks. I’ve come to the conclusion that merino is not for socks despite its prevalence among sock yarns, but Tofutsies sure is.

These socks are very simple with a [vine lace](http://thewalkertreasury.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/vine-lace-2/) pattern and a traditional heel flap. This is my favorite way to knit a sock, and my only regret about this sock is that the stitch pattern doesn’t fit with the yarn. You can’t really see what’s going on there because the colors are too busy. I continued to knit it anyway because I didn’t feel like ripping back, but maybe some day I’ll knit this cuff with a more suited color.

I really can’t wait until both pairs of these socks are finished. If they’re anything like my first pair of Tofutsies socks I will probably end up falling in love with them just as much.

1 Comment | Categories: Knitting |

Hand Towel

April 7th, 2008

Today I’ve got just a quick post on something that I finished a couple of weeks ago. When I went on my birthday trip to buy fiber with my husband I saw some linen yarn at the store. I’ve been wanting to knit with linen yarn for the longest time, and my local yarn store doesn’t generally have 100% linen. When it came to knitting it, I decided to improvise a hand towel. I’m really happy with the results, despite the fact that it’s just slightly thinner than I’d intended.

Unfortunately in the picture you can’t see the stitch pattern very well, but it’s a simple stockinette/garter basketweave. Basically I knit the front tab at the top, increased a lot over 6 garter stitch rows, started the stitch pattern, decreased a lot over 6 garter stitch rows, and finished with a back tab. Sew together and add buttons and voila! What you can’t see here is that the towel actually folds and goes up the back to create a doubled loop piece. Since it was so thin I just knit until I had only a little yarn left before finishing it to add more fabric.

1 Comment | Categories: Knitting |

A Day for Dyeing

April 6th, 2008

I’ve got a lot of things to catch up on that I’ve been working on but haven’t yet written about, so I think what I’m going to do is write several posts in the next few days. I finally took the time to take some pictures today while listening to podcasts. I keep using the lack of sun as an excuse, but I’ve just had a hard time getting motivated to blog, so here goes an attempt at revival…

I’ve decided to try doing at least one non-knitting non-spinning craft every Sunday, and without really planning it last Sunday I chose dyeing. I’ve had these two skeins of [handspun white merino lace weight yarn](http://www.crafty.greenkri.com/finishing-at-1am) for a while that I’ve been meaning to dye. My dyeing methods are very haphazard because I just don’t have the patience or the scale to be meticulous and specific. Basically I fill my dyeing pot with lots of water, pour in some vinegar, mix some dye powder with a little water and pour that in. Then I put my soaked skein into the dye pot and turn up the heat. I do have a digital thermometer whose probe I use only for dyeing to make sure it doesn’t go above 180 degrees, and generally I go for a half hour around 180. This time I really wanted a green yarn so I took a bit of my blue and a bit of my yellow and mixed them together. It’s been a while since I dyed yarn, so my memory of how much dye powder I normally use was a bit vague, and the results of my yarn prove that.

What seemed to happen was that there was so much dye in the pot that it took barely ten minutes for the yarn to soak up the dye and set. I did a thorough rinse of the yarn afterward to ensure it had taken hold, and boy did it. This quick dyeing also gave the yarn a really unique quality that I really like. It looks slightly variegated, but that’s mostly because the dye stuck fast to the very outside of the yarn, and didn’t sink in quite as much towards the core. It gives it a sort of shimmery look that I totally could not have predicted.

There was some extra dye left in the pot, so I stuck a little red in with the tiny bit of green and finally added some color to my sampler of handspun angora (ignore the darker red as those are just the ties of a different yarn).

Then I had a teeny bit of that left, so I put a very small amount of purple in and grabbed some white merino roving I had. I had the merino roving soaking in the bathroom sink, and didn’t have a way to transport it without making a mess on the floor. I stuck a trivet and the dye pot on the bathroom floor for easy transport. As soon as I put it in the dye absorbed into the fiber as much as it could and the water was white. Completely not what I was going for, but in the end I think it will make a nice yarn. I only stuck it back on the stove for another 15 minutes to make sure it set, and my roving only came out a tiny bit matted. Definitely easily fixed by predrafting it before spinning.

And another picture just ’cause it’s purty.

4 Comments | Categories: Spinning |