Friday, March 28, 2008

Yarn to dye for

The Regia yarn just turned out to be the wrong colors. Those patches of MUish were just too much. So, I dyed it. I used the Wilton cake colors and dyed the sections that were going to be grey/white/black and yellow/ white / black with the bright blue. The sections that were too much orange got a dose of red. It is ssooo cool, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.
Anyway, I used vinegar and cooked the whole thing in canning jars and the smallish canner. I hadn't understood how dye could be "exhausted" before. I get it now. This is so cool.
Photos in the AM dy






























Thursday, March 20, 2008

Regia Yarn - Cool and Mysterious, Magical


Inca 5499 Each of these photos is from the internet today. Supposed to be of the same thing.
That's my Regia Color. Why on earth did it take an hour of web sluething to find that out?
And, not one of the online photos looks anything like the balls of yarn I have here.
But, I love it anyway. Why do I want to work with yarn that is hard to find, hard to match, hard to figure out?
Because it is soooo cool to get the fun little pattens and stripes without having to strand or weave in a million ends. It's worth it.
Now, I'm toe swatching while the game's on, so gotta go.....


Monday, March 17, 2008

Knitting Cables with out a Cable - Thanks Grumperina

Today, in honor of St Patrick's Day, I cast on a headband / ear warmer. It's Bernat Softee Chunky in Med Sea Green. It's what crawled to the top of the stash when I opened the door. Or, I should say it's the first Green that caught my eye. So, I cast on 13 stitches by chain stitch through the back loop. I'm using a 16" size 8 circular needle, probably too small as the ball band recommends a size 10. But, I like to live dangerously ! The plan is to do a k1, p1 at each edge and then do a 9 stitch braided cable in the middle. So, I started surfing and found the Grumperina Cabling with out a Cable Needle page. This is absolutely the best way to practice this and see if I like it. So far, it's going great. Thanks Grumperina.


Thursday, March 13, 2008

Headbands: Is there an age limit? Fashion Police?

Is there an age limit on headbands?
I would love to wear a headband.
I would like to knit a headband.
When, and why, did I stop wearing headbands?
There seem to be a lot of them in the magazines, on TV, out and about. The patterns are everywhere, if a pattern is really needed to knit a headband. Headbands seem to come in every fiber, texture and color. Wide, skinny, slick, chunky........ The store's got a whole row of them in the haircare section, as well as endcaps full of them in each department for female clothes. They've even got them in the dog food aisle for the little doggy darling.
Are they really that popular in real life? A few weeks ago, in the coldest part of winter, I saw an older (than myself) woman wearing a scarf-like headband about 4 inches wide. It was beautiful. But, I couldn't help wondering if she was wearing it to cover up a hair issue: hair loss, needing a dye touch-up, covering the wig line, who knows?
One of my lifelong issues with headbands has been the slide off factor. I don't seem to have enough hair, or maybe the right texture hair for a headband to stay on my head. It has to be pretty elastic, and not too slick, or it'll just slide right off. Maybe it's the shape of my head. Or the size.
Pet peeve alert: Not everyone is the same. Imagine that. Anything that is "one size fits all" will probably not fit most people very well.
And why is it that a headband that is tight enough to stay put will invariably cause a headache? You know; much like that headache from the brand new glasses that squeeze your head 'till the dents behind your ears are permanent. I have always suspected that the reason the glasses stop hurting after a while is because they've killed the nerves. But, I have always had problems with the dime-store plastic headbands because they really hurt to wear.

Then there's the fashion issues. Is it really fashionable? Am I too old for this? Does this headband make my butt look big? Does it make my head look funny?
I have to admit that although I love to knit hats, I have yet to knit one that I like how it looks on me. That hasn't always stopped me from wearing them. Even when my family says "Ohhh, maybe you ought to check the mirror". If Gilda Radner could admit to basing her fashion sense on what doesn't itch, I can base mine on keeping warm and/or cool. And now, my kids tell me that hats aren't allowed a lot of places they go because of "security issues" and "gang overtones". What is that about? And, at where is the line where a headband becomes a hat?

I went through a (non)fashion phase a few years ago where I didn't cut my hair for a long time and wore a headband almost every day. The Goody company made one that I loved, for about 2 years. Now I can't find them anymore. The ones that I had have all broken - the risk of wearing cheap plastic. And - my DD1 got a hairdresser friend to threaten me, cut my hair, and make me swear to quit wearing any "device" on my head that cost less than 99 cents each. They were trying to tell me it wasn't good for my "professional image".
So, what's the Fashion Police say? Can a professional grown up woman wear a headband? And what would it look like if she could? Could it be a hand knit? Well coordinated with the outfit?
Keep in mind that my idea of "doing my hair" is limited to dandruff shampoo no more than 5 times a week. My "hair tools" are limited to A Comb and A Hairbrush. Sometimes, I actually look in a mirror while brushing through the wet hair. While I do own a curling iron and a blow dryer, both have been used by DD2 on her puppy more this winter than ever on my hair. Not counting the shower time, the average daily time spent on my hair probably averages out to less than 3 minutes per day (but only if you add in the time I spend with my "Colorist" (DD2). She likes to "paint in the blank spots where all the color's missing" for me. That's about as good as I can do for girl's night.
So, what's the Fashion Jury verdict? Skinny or Wide? Over the ears, or behind the ears?

Friday, March 07, 2008

Wherefore art thou, Socktopia?

Does't yea know what happened to Socktopia?
I'm getting a "this might be for sale" message when I go there.
I was searching for scale-ish knit stitches, and happened to find a lot of references on other blogs to Socktopia.
I totally missed the Harry Potter series, and am searching high and low for "dragon scale" like knitting patterns. The photos I'm seeing online are absolutely awesome!
How did I miss this? I had a pretty serious LACE phase last year. Maybe it was during all that. I got caught up in Peacock Feather lace, and totally lost track of time and space.
There is just sooooo much cool stuff out there, how is one to keep up with it all?
Let me know if you know where I can catch up to the patterns or Socktopia.
TIA everybody...........
Ruby

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Is Bamboo an Earth Friendly or "Green" Yarn?


I'm looking forward to spring. I am really ready for this winter to be over!
Every once in a while, we have a somewhat nice day and I venture outside.
Several years ago, we planted bamboo, and it's getting to the stage where it could be harvested without damaging the planting.
And, I've been reading a lot about Bamboo Yarn. So, I decided to look up what it takes to make bamboo into yarn. Might come in handy if I'm ever on Survivor, right?
Anyway, I found some pretty scary stuff out there when they try to describe the process. And, it seems to be a pretty industrially intensive process. Something requiring some pretty exotic sounding chemicals and some expensive sounding machines. I'll keep looking though.
Let me know if you know how this really happens.



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