Shoutout!

Hi to all my buddies at QC Stitch n'Bitch! The nicest bunch of ladies you ever saw, who took in the ophran who was me over winter break and let me join them for a few nights. I saw ya'll put a link to my blog on your website, so I'm returning the favor! Hope to see you soon.

Zap that Yarn

I've been promising pictures of my adventures in hand dying wool, so here are my tips to other first time hand dyers:

There's a great article on Kool Aid dyeing on Knitty.com here.

Make sure you have plenty of space, covered by plently of newspaper. And buy yourself some rubber gloves. Kool Aid mixed with water and vinegar stains nearly everything it touches.

Put your yarn down on some seran wrap, enough to be able to cover it up later.

Put each color in a seperate disposable bowl.

Since I wanted lots of colors, I divided my skeins into "pies" and put the colors in "slices". See?

Looks good enough to eat!

Next the recipe calls for you to microwave your yarn. WHAT? Remember the plastic you put down earlier? Wrap it around your yarn so the colors won't run so much. A little runnage is good, since you want the colors to blend a little.

Zap that yarn for a couple minutes.

If you don't have enough counter space or newspaper-covered floors, you can dry your yarn on the back porch. Those colors are there to stay, most of the liquid will be clear (cool, huh??)

It's steamy!

And then after a bath in the washing machine, you get this!

Aw, so pretty!

WOW! A whole afternoon produced my 5 skeins of yarn, dye and washed (drying took over night). I just can't wait to finish a few current projects and get to working with this stuff!

Lookie what I found at Berroco:

Halt all other knitting progress: we MUST knit this cute little shurg/sweater! It's called Babette, isn't that just a perfect name? I LOVE Berroco.

And the in the accessories department, we have this little handbag! It's called "Mars". AH! I'm going crazy with all the adorable-ness. I'm so excited I just might order the actual yarn Berroco is trying to sell me with these patterns...nah! I'm not really crazy about the Ultra Silk used in the sweater, but I MUST have that accent yarn, it's called Lazer FX (how's that for a yarn name?) I'll probably use a cotton-y white yarn for that sweater and who knows for the bag. I really just like the pink stars. Swirly yarn and pink stars. Very very presh.

Have I told you guys about "presh"? "Presh" is my word for anything cute, not like puppy dog cute, but like I-wanna-own-that cute. I've been using it since like junior high and I'm sure I got it from a movie or something, but it's mine now. My boyfriend makes fun of me when I use it, usually when we're out shopping in an intoxicating store like Bloomingdales. Kate Spade bags? So presh! Tiffany's initial pendants? SO SO presh!

Fugg-er-riffic!

Found a few goodies, thought I'd share:

Okay, this is actually kind of cute. And I would probably make one if I had some time I wanted to waste. What really irks me is the red. Yes, the TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT shades of red used in the little hat. Color blind designer? The model looks pissed off just to be wearing it. SHE knows it's mis-matched.

Cheryl only knew one way to keep that damn racoon from messing with her garbage cans again. The look on this guy's face is just a warning to other rodents: you'll never see this lady sneeking up behind you with the shovel until it's too late. Next week, those garden-eating rabbits are going to find themselves as matching socks.

Ladies, cover up your husband's unsightly leg hair (which he just refuses to shave) with these pratical felted sock/leg warmers/boots. Also makes a great gift for the leprechaun in your life.

Behind that pretty smile, knit model Jenna is trying to tell us something... "See the crappy acrylic junk they made this sweater out of? See the giant bullseye on my chest? Please put me out of my misery."

Koolaid yarn pictures coming soon!!!

Lookie What I made:

For JenLa's avatar meme/post, I had a cute one that actually kinda looked like me, but this is the one I'm submitting for your viewing displeasure:



The Uber-Patriotic Pyscho Cheerleader. Gag me with a spoon.

Does that wide-eyed-ohmygosh look suggest there's a 100 foot bear threatening to steal (and ingest) her pompoms?