Some new stuff...

Here are a couple of projects I worked on lately... the first is my attempt at dying. I knit a double seed stitch in a light grey cotton yarn and wanted it to have a tint of purple. Obviously, that is not what happened! I used mostly grape with a touch of fruit punch "drink mix" and this picked up and held all the red tones. It is not horrible, just not what I was going for. I still need to do another vinegar wash to hopefully retain the color since this is cotton. It's too short to be a good scarf so I'm going to have to put some buttons on it or something.

The second and third pics are the scarf that I knit up using ribbon yarn. It's very slinky and fun. Not sure yet if this one will be a keeper for myself or if I'll put it up on Etsy. So, it will sit here for now :-)

Playing with new yarns

Went on a little online shopping spree at joanns.com a bit ago and started playing with the new yarn a couple days ago. I made it a point to get different types to experiment with.

First up was the Color Infusions Memory String in Silver. I thought this would be awesome to try knitting jewelry. My first impression was disappointment, the amount I got was so small I didn't imagine it would make much. So I started with a ring but it was the wrong size so I frogged and started again. The second one was ok, but the amount of leftover made me think I should try for a bracelet instead. Well, all this frogging was not good for the yarn. It started wearing away the silver and revealing the white underneath. There wasn't enough for a bracelet so then I tried mixing it with regular yarn but that looked worse. I went back to a ring and had one that was decent, then the dog got a hold of it :-(. That was the end of that. I would definitely not get that again and would have to look for something more wire like for jewelry.

I then started playing with the N.Y. Yarns Tweed. I chose the green colorway and was surprised that there were hints of pink and orange in it. Knitting it up hides the strange flecks of color though. My original plan for this was a purse or bag but as I knit with it I decided it was too soft of a yarn to not wear. I tried to get some inspiration buy looking at what others had done with this yarn on ravelry.com but still haven't decided for sure.

My most successful yarn find so far was the Lion Brand Yarn Incredible, which is a ribbon yarn. I chose the Accent in Black colorway, a blend of black to dark grey to light grey. I knit every row using a size 17 straight needle until I was out of yarn. It's has a nice drape and it quite fashionable looking. It's not a super warm scarf but it keeps the cool air off your neck.

I also got a bunch of Lily Sugar and Cream yarn. Some in a Strawberry Cream colorway and some in their Christmas colorway. In shades of pink from bright to white the Strawberry was perfect for Breast Cancer Awareness cloths. One, a kitchen hand towel to hang from a handle with a ribbon design and the other a wash cloth in a simple diagonal ridge.

Now off to play some more!

Matcy matchy 2

I couldn't get all the pics to post in one, so here is the scarf that goes with the hats and the wristwarmers I just posted about.

Matchy matchy

I had lots of this interesting yarn and found a pattern just for it for a hat and scarf. I made a couple of the hats and then started on the scarf long, long ago. Then there was a birthday coming up... so I thought I'd finish the scarf as the birthday gal already had the matching hat. I didn't really end up following the pattern for the scarf and just eyeballed when to do the "pattern" rows. After finishing the scarf I still had plenty of yarn and thought something more was needed. So I made up a matching set of wristwarmers. I cast on 26 stitches in the round using size 10 dpns. I then knit for some rows and did the "pattern" rows whenever I thought it looked needed. One of them turned out looking possibly a little longer, but it's pretty hard to tell :-D

Reiana's Slipper Socks

We found the slipper socks! They were hiding with a box of books... They've been worn a bit so they're broken in looking, but I still love how the pattern on top turned out :-)

Hats

Recently fulfilled a couple of requested knits, both hats. The above pic is of a basketweave patterned hat requested by my son. He wanted something with a pattern but nothing too crazy. I didn't have the size 8 dpns called for so I used size 7. I didn't make any adjustments to the pattern otherwise though because it was meant for an adult and I was knitting for a kid. Plus the pattern indicated that it turned out pretty stretchy. It did feel like it was going to be too small, but I can actually fit it on my head, so it's just a snug knit.

I made the above hat for my sis after she saw the one I made for myself. Of course, I forgot to photograph mine! It's made with Lion Brand Homespun using a pattern made by Lion Brand just for this yarn.

Recycled Knitting Pics

2 pairs of kids jeans cut into strips and knit into a scarf and then ends weaved together; worn by an adult above; worn by a girl below

Jean Scarf with better coloring above

Recycled pjs, knit into a light scarf, above

This is as far as several hours painstakingly unraveling a sweater has gotten me!