knitterly pics!

now for knitty pictures

the zen sock:
i love LOVE the color of these! they are so squishy and soft and lovely.

and the progress of the second one:

these are clay stitch makers that some girl made and sent to me:

and cutest one ever:

the never ever EVER ending baby blanket, i have been knitting on it constantly since yesterday when i woke up.
bernat's cottontots yarn

this is a new line from paton's... sws is what it's called. stands for soy wool stripes, which is what it is. :D i think i will see how it knits up and it will probably be a "my so called scarf" moi! it's pretty, looks like noro, i think... but it's SO SOFT! much softer (and less expensive) than noro too.

Now starts the yarn i got the other day at the yarn store for HALF OFF.

this is malabrigo wool, it's for carrie's fiance. he took one look at brooklyn's hat and wants one. this is much softer than the lamb's pride. i got this for 5$.

more malabrigo, this is for a "my so called scarf" for derek's sis in law for xmas. again 5$ each... a STEAL for this yarn. that paton's yarn up there was more than this yarn at half off! i heart this yarn and i haven't even knitted with it yet.

this is katia mississippi sock yarn, this color makes it look all poop green, but it's more of a lime green. yay socks!

i cast on a hat for nicholas:

here is some of the softest yarn on the planet. blue sky cotton, i bought this in DC this summer. it will be a hat for me when i find the perfect hat pattern that i want. until then, i keep it in a bad and take it out occasionally and pet it. it is that soft, no kidding.

i have had this since earlier this year too. it's cascade 220 wool, it's for a felted bag as soon as i get around to knitting it. i actually forgot i even had this yarn until the other day. :D it's a purple and blue heather. i bet it makes an awesome bag.

this is some knitpicks yarn... mainline is the type... i dont know what it is exactly... probably cotton and something else... i have some kind of cotton addition if you haven't been able to tell yet. i thought i would use this for some baby sweater or something, but it's not machine washable... and i am under the understanding that is a pretty important thing that mom's look for. eh?

here is the hat i knitted for my cousin's baby, it's 1824 cotton... bleck, never again knit with it, too nubbley. cute hat tho.

random yarns from any where from walmart to target to ac moore... to who knows where.

one day i will get the mason dixon dishcloth pattern and make some dishclothes:

the finished pair of fetchings, please ignore short fat fingers, i dont think the armwarmers help that.

in action:

this is blown out, but i couldnt figure out how to fix it but you can see them all and all the cable-y goodness

ok , god that's is all! you all probably think i am insane! :D off to (where else) my knitting group! :D

i dyed yarn, yo.

i bought some au natural sock yarn...plain, unfettered sock yarn.
and then i bought some kool aid. it was fettered... the black cherry
flavor...cause i wanted me some dark red socks. I read that you need
1 packet of koolaid per 1 oz of sock yarn. I had 100 grams of yarn...
googled and got my conversion of having 3.5 oz of yarn total... so i
bought 4 packs of koolaid.

to dye sock yarn with koolaid, you need a microwave and a bowl too.
here we have it all:Step One - buy everything


Step Two - Wash it.
First you take your yarn and you wash it with mild soap... i just used some antibacterial soap that sits on my sink.this is what it looked like in the very beginning of it's plain life:

At this point you have to be careful... what we are working with here is 100% merino wool (boy howdy, it's soft!) and anything that is 100% wool will felt if there is too much aggitation and water going on.
Washed Yarn:

At this point I was thinking what a mess it was going to be to untangle...even if it is tyed up in bunches.On ward... while the yarn is sitting there you go mix your koolaid.
Step Three - Mix it up.it doesnt matter how much water you have... just how much dye.so this is 4 packs of dark cherry koolaid. I was thinking, oh god, purple? Oh and also at this point, you are going to be really really excited because, poops, you are dying your OWN SOCK YARN! and you breathing all heavy and then you will suck koolaid dust up your nose and down your throat.... coughing will ensue for several minutes, belive me. :D

but no, when mixed with water, it's exactly the color i want!
Step Five - Yarn Goes Swimming.

Isn't that pretty?! yay!!fill-er up with water:

Step Six - Cook it!you put it in the microwave for 2 minute sessions. you cook 2 min, then rest a few minutes:
it's cookin':

while it's cooking... you finally notice what happens with koolaid and water and things in general:

it stains things.
so just get you some gloves or something to wear, because believe me, you are going to touch the yarn while it's in the bowl... you wont be able not to touch the yarn. you will have to see how fast it soaks it up. even my nails are red, still today. hopefully it goes away before the wedding this weekend.. i am well on my way of working on being the freaky bridemaid (yes i sunburned myself AGAIN yesterday. i suck, we know... back to the yarn)
Ok. i would microwave it for 2 minutes and look at it. Microwave and look. the thing that was wrong was... the red from the yarn was reflecting the water as red too... and i didn't realize that until i cooked my yarn for a total of 10 minutes. should not have taken that long... my brain finally made the connection to get a cup and check the water... uh huh...it was clear.
Now you let it cool... so i dumped most of the water out because it was really hot cause i cooked it for TEN minutes.
here we are, Step Seven - Let it Rest.

Ok so while the yarn is cooling.... lets talk about the color of it. my camera sucks... that looks almost a strawberry, wouldn't you say?? In real life it was more of a coral... CORAL. i'm not a coral person.... ya'll know that.
See, coral:

Oh and what's that??? yes there is some white streaks still in it... hard to see in the photo (more on over to the left hand side) but i guess the dye didn't get to the middle!!! CORAL AND NOT EVEN ALL DYED. at this point, i get all antsy and i'm not a good decision maker and was debating.... just leave it? and just see what happens when i knit it up? i was lamenting to Amelia at the time... she told me to go get more koolaid, i wouldn't be happy if i left it. atleast i think she said it... did you say that? or was that in my head?
ANYWAYS, coral yarn = BOO.

see the white streaks? and this is the color of it wet... it would be even lighter as it dried.
So I went to Food City at 10:30pm last night and got more Koolaid.... 4 more packets, because dammit, i wanted some dark red socks!! SO repeat steps 1 thru whatever number we are on now.
You get this:

and this:

That's pretty much the color of...maybe a bit lighter since it dried. But it's still not dark as i want. Next time? 12 packs of koolaid...or maybe 16. 1 oz per packet is poop. who wants coral socks?? raise your hands. no one does, that's right.
So it hung up all night drying and it's STILL not all the way dry and i wish it would hurry because i am DYING (haha, get it? dying? :D) to cast on my very own pair of "aya's zen socks"
Ok.... questions?? comments?? i'm crazy?? yes i know. you all have now witnessed my lil' bit of crazy. you have no idea the full spectrum of the knitting crazy in my head.

what's been going on the needles lately.

ok... first garment ever, people! this is so easy tho...it's the anthropologie inspired capelet. i knit it for my bestest friend in the world, carrie.
check it (right side):















Wrong side:















And finished:


i also ended up making one for her daughter too:


























brooklyn should be able to wear her's for a long long time if she wants... it's barely blocked and has a lot of stretch still in it. i think they are so cute!!

Remember this sock??
















i finally just ripped it allllll out the other day. it was huge mess of knots that took me 5 days to unknot. it was just too small and i will go up a size in the pattern and try again. yay. lol. took me long enought to make a decision, eh?

right now i am working on a baby blanket for my sister's best friend (it's a boy!) and reading the yarn harlot's newest book. i am so tired of knitting boy stuff. i need a friend to have a girl baby so i can buy all the pretty purple and pink yarn. i am tired of blue. :D

oh and i ordered some un-dyed sock yarn and will dye me some red dark cherry socks tomorrow on my day off from work. i am so excited about that. so very excited. :D

that's all, poops!!

ok, ok. called out!

broke my promise, i suppose. but i will update now, because i have things to update about! knitty updates are fun and good.

so yeah, my jaywalker. haven't touched it. not a knitted (or slipped) stitch knitted (or slipped). i am just torn about what i should do. what should i do? what would YOU do? this is not going to be a pair of socks that i will be able to wear. they are just going to be too tight. i love this yarn, it's so pretty. but that's alot of work. but can i give away my first pair of knitted socks? should i just make them for someone else? that way i would atleast work on them. or should i rip it all out and knit some other sock pattern? i dunno.

ok but what HAVE i been knitting you ask? socks. hahahah. socks for my nephew tho. i realized that he has smaller feet, which in turn needs smaller socks... so include bigger yarn and bigger needles to the party and you are rockin' some socks.

so socks for toddlers (he's 2) are hard to find.. you got KIDS socks and you got BABY socks. i found one pattern that said toddler so i casted on. ok, they were going to be too small, so i ripped it out and did some figuring (oh the math! instant headache!!) and sized up the whole pattern to something that would work, esp. if i fudged it enough. so now they will fit my nephew... but not the intended one, the 2 year old. they will fit my 4 yo nephew instead. oh well.

ok a picture, you have read this far.


i finished this sock today... would have finished it yesterday, but me and the kitchi stitchi were not friends... i was actually 15 minutes late to work because of this sock yesterday. but today, with new and improved directions, i ripped back past the toe decrease and started over. and it was successful (mostly, minor surgery had to happen) but i casted on the other sock and got started on the ribbing today before work (not late today, yay!)

why cant knitting be relaxing for me??? why? lol.... does matter, because of this.

finished product:


loverly, eh? i loved that yarn. best 10$ i have spent at jo-ann's ever. so soft and lovely. i hope katy liked it, i haven't heard from her since she recieved it, but she has much more pressing things going on in her life right now. :( i just hope it gives her a smile sometime.

ok there's your update. hopefully i wont wait so long next time. lol SMOOCH!

long time, no blog

*puts hand over heart*
i promise to start writing here more.
poor bloggy.

ok knitty stuffs.
i have since finished that scarf for my sister. only took me 40 days. my new thing is trying to knit faster and more often. to bad real life gets in my knitty way alot.

I am currently working on a jaywalker sock.
forget "second sock syndrome", i can barely get my first one done. i swear, i dont understand how i can get 3/4ths done with something and totally lose interest. especially when i want these socks so bad. the next one is going to be on circs... i am too slow on dpns. way too slow. but anyways, here is a picture of the sock as it stands right now.















since my waning desire to knit this sock, i have started another "my so called scarf" for some quick instant gratification knitting. it is for a friend. this yarn is so light and fluffy. i think if i could touch a white fluffly cloud, it would feel like this scarf. i heart it.















sorry for the fuzzy picture... i need a new cam. but other projects on the mind is a felted bag from stitch n bitch, and some freaking leg warmers... soon! :D i wish i could knit at work. that would make all this easier. ;) hehe

Not Done Yet....

but so close i can smell it! :D thank goodness... i'm not a finisher... i get 3/4 the way thru something and i get tired of it and dont want to finish. i hate that, but it's just who i am. here some pictures of my sister's scarf.