Noro Silk Garden Armwarmer and Kool-aid dyed Alpaca/Silk Broad Street Mitten

One of each. They should have partners before I leave to Paris in September.

First up is a Broad street mitten using the 50% Silk 50% Alpaca yarn I dyed in my previous post. The yarn is really smelly when wet and a little smelly when dry (my dog likes to rub her head on it).
I modified the mitten shell a bit-- I didn't want the loop on it. I also made the shell before I made the fingers; I misestimated where it should attach to the body, so it's further to the right than it should be.





Next is a Noro Silk Garden armwarmer in shade #226. I really like this colorway.
Pattern is based off of the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation.
Modifications: I cast on 40 stitches instead of 32 so that I could use my new Clover 8 1/4" Plastic "Mini" Circular Needles instead of DPNs. I didn't use the vines design from the pattern. Instead I attempted the double knot cable by the girl from auntie. I say attempted because something went wrong--I had to turn the armwarmer inside out because the design was showing up on the wrong side. Well, I think it looks nice anyway. It was my first time working from a cable chart and it was much easier than I had anticipated.
The armwarmer was a pretty quick knit--finished in only a day.

More kool-aid yarn dyeing-- Soy silk & Alpaca-silk blend

I should be working on Lucky, but I keep getting distracted!

After having some troubles getting the soy silk to hold the dye, I got some help on craftster. The trick was either the vinegar/warm water soak beforehand, or heating it longer (or both).
The soy silk is South West Trading Co's Phoenix in "white", which is really an off-white. Dyed with kool-aid flavors:
Blue Raspberry Lemonade (Light Blue)
Berry Blue (darker blue-- I also added a pinch of Sharkleberry Fin to some of it to make it less neon)
Arctic Green Apple (light green)
Lemon-Lime (Darker green. Some of it mixed with a little Berry Blue to tone it down)



This one is Blue Sky Alapaca's 50% Silk 50% Alpaca in white (also slightly off-white). It is currently being used to make my second attempt at Broadstreet Mittens. I'm not sure how I feel about the color combo, but I'm sticking to it and completing the mittens this time.
Colors are --same blues and greens as above (this time the lemon-lime was also mixed with a pinch of Sharkleberry fin for a less bright green). The red is lots of Sharkleberry fin + one packet of Cherry + one packet of Grape Illusion.

Update 5 of 5--More dyed yarn and projects I'm currently working on

So I ordered some kool aid from Gristedes, since they seem to have all the cool colors that are missing from grocery stores around here. Apparently, I'm not the only one who has noticed this--nearly all the items on their main page are different kool-aid flavors. My one complaint is that they sent me Cherry instead of Cherry Magic Twists--so I got more red, which I didn't really want, instead of more blue.

Merino wool definitely takes color better than anything else I've tried so far! From left to right: Blue Sky Alpaca sportweight, Filatura di Crosa Zara, and KarabellaAurora Bulky. I have no clue what to make with the first and last yarns. For the Alpaca, I'm thinking gloves or socks, but I don't have enough of it!! Maybe I'll combine it with some Koigu...As for the middle yarn, I've already started a dog sweater.......


.....a very bright dog sweater. The color combo reminds me of Rainbow Brite. The blue trim is Zara 1499, leftover from my crochet afghan.
The flavors I used to dye the white Zara were:
Grape Illusion Magic Twists Drink Mix (red)
Twist Blue Mountain Berry Drink Mix (darker blue)
Island Twists Blue Raspberry Lemonade (lighter blue)
Ice Cool: Artic Green Apple (green)
Mango Drink Mix (orange)


The other project I'm working on is the Lucky Clover Lace Wrap from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. I'm using allhemp3 in Sapphire Blue. The sash will be in Deep Sea. This project combines two things I dislike: small needles and lace. Unfortunately, I like this wrap too much not to knit it. Hopefully it will fit. If you look closely, you'll see that I messed up the first clover lace row. I was about halfway done with it when I noticed that the clovers didn't look right. So I checked the back of the book--I had been doing my yarn overs the wrong way! Since I'm stubborn and refuse to rip anything unless I can't make it work or fix it, it's staying as is. It will become a feature, rather than a flaw...The entire bottom of this wrap will have that same messed up row. Oh and also on the first repitition I skipped row 7, since it's mentioned in the first line of the pattern, but not in the middle where I could see it! Grrr... luckily I caught it immediately after, so again, it will become a first-row feature.

Update 4: Hats! Finished! All in Noro Yarn

Why yes, I am addicted to Noro. As of this very moment, I am resisting the urge to order some of that new Silk Garden lite. I have to remind myself that I already have 20 something skeins of Cash Iroha just sitting around without purpose.

So hey, here are some hats I've made:

1) Based on the the Hot Head pattern from Stitch 'n Bitch, except knit in the round--a hat for my sister, in Noro Iro shade 56:


2)
a)A hat for me in Noro Transitions (maybe Shade 8, but I'm not sure--I didn't save the tag) (left). This one is also, loosely based on Hot Head, except done in the round, with 3x2 rib, and some easy lace pattern I made up. I made myself another transitions hat, but I can't find it.....
b) The hat on the right was my attempt at Coronet. The cabled part, which you can't clearly see in the photo, was done in black Noro Cash Iroha, and the top part was done in Noro Aurora (I think shade #1). I do not like how this hat turned out...


3) Two hats for my brother.
a)The one on the right was done in Noro Transitions shade #1 (By the way, Transistions is a great yarn for hats--it's very warm, knits up quickly, and is self striping). Again, based on the Hot Head Pattern, in the round.
b) The one on the left is Tychus from knitty, done in Noro Transitions shade #19 and several shades of blue Cash Iroha. I tried to get a graduated effect with the Cash Iroha colors, but it didn't work out how I'd hoped....

....maybe in this photo you could get a better idea of what I was aiming for:

Update 3: Things I will probably/definitely finish, eventually

Hehe, my tubeys should be here too--I still haven't weaved in the ends.

1.) A scarf in Noro Silk Garden 224, black Zara leftover from Tubey, and some sparkly mohair.
I don't know if I want to finish this--sometimes I like it and sometimes I hate it. The idea is that the black stripes will slowly get bigger, so that the other end of the scarf will be mostly black. My uncertainty stems from the Silk Garden Colorway because......


....sometimes there's colors like this blue/purple mix section (the color surrounding the black stripe here--click the pic to see a closeup) which I loooveee so much. I wish Noro made a yarn with just this color. And.....


.....then there's colors like this yellow, which I'm not too crazy about. To make matters worse, it's directly next to the lovely blue/purple.




2) Some squares I made for a Psychedelic Squares afghan, Garter stitch version, in Noro Silk Garden 228 (left) and 224 (right). The one on the right may be recycled for the scarf above. These squares are good for "on the go" knitting, so I might just do one once in a while...it'll be a long term project.


3) Some camera cases in Zara (left), blue/green dyed yarn and various other yarns(middle), and a sloppy crochet case for my sister's ipod I made in France from some cotton yarn I bought there (right)
Case 1: technially done, I guess- Maybe I need to weave the ends in a little better so it doesn't look so messy
Case 2: I wanted to felt this, but don't seem to be able to felt properly...I'm not sure what to do about this..try again, maybe. Also, it needs a button
Case 3: Is done.

Update 2: Things that need a partner---will they get one?

Again, Blogger is randomly rotating my images..and again, I can't be bothered to fix this.

1.)What was meant to be a Broadstreet Mitten, but never became one, in Koigu, assorted colors. Too many colors, actually. I got all this lovely, bright Koigu, got way too excited and tried to use them all at once. I don't think this glove will get a partner, but I might try the pattern again, with a slightly more subdued color combo. At least I now know that making a glove isn't all that hard.
The glove is currently being used as a camera case by my sister, and has starred in a series of photographs, shot at a local nightclub, with my sis's friends





2.)A sock, made from the blue/green yarn I dyed (and re-dyed, with more blue this time). This one will probably have a partner. It's warm and it makes a nice "house sock"

Ok, Update time-- 1. Items I probably won't finish

I admit it: I've been lazy. This post and the 4 above it are updates from the past few months.
First up--some items I probably won't finish:
Blogger has decided to turn my images sideways for this post, but since they're items I'm not going to finish anyway, they'll stay sideways.

1.) Dog coat using the red/pink yarn from the post below, and some stash yarn for the heart. I liked this idea at first, then I decided I hated the color, I can't seam well, and this doesn't fit my dog properly. I can't bring myself to frog anything, especially if I've spent a good amount of time on it, and I like how the heart turned out in the middle, so maybe I'll cut this up and use it somehow in the future. I've since re-dyed the rest of the yarn (with more orange). I forgot to take a photo, but it's not much to look at anyway.:


2.) Cozy from knitty in Cash Iroha. Will not be finished because I don't like doing lace, and I don't like how it's coming out. While starting Lucky (look a few posts up--actually, you can see a bit of Lucky in the background here), I realized I've been doing my yarn overs all wrong. This is probably why my Cozy is coming out badly. I might frog this and start over some day---I've got a ton of Cash Iroha, and I'm not sure what to do with it.

Kool-aid dyeing / Cash Iroha Panta

I should have posted this a few months back, but I am lazy.

Anyway, Here are the results of my first ever yarn dyeing attempt--using kool-aid and food coloring on Bartlett's Fisherman 2-ply. So far, I've made a camera case and sock with the green/blue one, and started a dog sweater with the red before I realized that I don't really like the red one. Lola had some fun playing with the yarn when I wasn't paying attention.

I like Bartlett's logo--a sheep knitting from itself. It's pretty creepy.
The last photo is a Panta made from Noro Cash Iroha. I like it even though it's a bit too loose and wide.

Tubey in Filatura di Crosa Zara merino

Cross posted from tubey knitalong:

Both dog and human tubeys were made with Filatura di Crosa's Zara merino using US8 needles. As you can see, Lola is very comfortable in her dog tubey.

My 2 Clapotis: One in Noro Silk Garden #232, one in SWTC Phoenix Soy Silk #506 "Purplexed"

The clapotis are the first knitted objects I've actually used a pattern for. The first one I made in December 2005 from Noro Silk Garden shade 232. I did one extra increase row for this one and used US #8 needles. The second clapotis I started in January 2006, and just finished it on Sunday. It's made from South West Trading Company's soy silk yarn: Phoenix in the shade #506 "Purplexed". I made it exactly according to the pattern using US # 8 needles. I really like this yarn even though I'm not that crazy about the color. It's strong, but still soft and drapes nicely.

Crochet Granny Squares Afghan in Noro Silk Garden 8 and Zara 1499

This was my first (and only, so far) major crochet project. Made up of granny squares in alternating Noro Silk Garden shade 8 and Filatura di Crosa Zara in shade 1499. This took me forever to make, and I'm still not sure if it's actually finished or still a work in progress. I'm contemplating adding a few more squares to make it a bit longer, but we'll see.

Intro Post / First Projects

I first started knitting around December 2003,and crocheting sometime in 2004. I bought a "Learn to knit" kit, and by January 2004 I had made my first item--a sweater and scarf set for my dog made from cotton yarn.









My second dog sweater, made in February 2004 from chunky merino wool, came out a bit better:








That spring, I got a little creative with a 2 piece outfit--the top made from wool, and the bottom from an old t-shirt.







A colorful cotton sweater:







I tried to make myself a sweater using Noro Kureyon. I eventually turned this into an ugly pillow, when I realized it was way too bright and gaudy to wear.




Then began my love affair with Noro yarn. Here is an Easter sweater made from Noro Silk Garden and Filatura di Crosa's Zara:






Another dog sweater made from Zara and other wool. This one was done last year.




I've set up this blog to show off my finished objects, after realizing it was
useful to browse through other people's blogs to get inspiration or to see how a certain yarn knits up. If you have any questions about the knitting or the yarns used, feel free to leave a comment!