Spinalcat's Crafty Adventures

Kool-Aid/Easter Egg Dyed Roving Originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . 8oz of Blue Faced Leicester roving, dyed with assorted Kool-Aid flavors and Easter egg dyeing tablets. I split the roving into yard-ish length and presoaked it in warm water with vinegar. I followed the package directions for dye tablets (1/2 water with 3 tbsp vinegar) and mixed each Kool-Aid packet in approx. 6oz water and 2oz vinegar. Some say you don't really need vinegar with Kool-Aid (it's got enough citric acid already), but I decided to try it with vinegar this time. I laid out 2 strips of roving at a time on clingfilm and poured on the mixed dyes. I wrapped up the packets and put them in the microwave (1 at a time cause that's all that would fit) for 2 minutes with a 2 minute rest before heating again. It usually took about 3 cycles before the dye seemed exhaused. I heated the packets in a glass dish, and it works a lot better if you put clingfilm over the whole dish. My untaped pac...

Corespun Mohair Skein Originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Finally plied the first bobbin of corespun mohair locks with binder thread. I used the same black sewing thread for the core and binder. The second bobbin is plied and waiting to be skeined and washed. I have some leftover locks and fluff that I deemed too full of seeds to be worth messing with. I also accidently felted some of the locks during scouring. I was adding more water to the tub and forgot to keep the locks out from under the faucet!

Myrtle Leaf Shawl in progress Originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . 6 of 40 pattern repeats completed. Photo taken after spritzing and pinning out to check width.

Swatching for Myrtle Leaf Shawl Originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Swatches for Myrtle Leaf Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. Using Jaggerspun Zephyr color Vanilla (from sarahsyarns.com). On left, size 5 Knitpicks Options needles. On right, size 4. I'm going with size 5.

Simple Stripes Fair Isle socks Originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Pattern: Simple Stripes Fair Isle Socks from Knitpicks.com Yarn: Essentials and Simple Stripes from Knitpicks Needle: Size 1 Knitpicks 32" circular (magic loop, 1 sock at a time) Methods: cuff-down, unwrapped short row (Sherman) heel, round toe This was my first foray into two-handed stranded colorwork. The patterned parts were shockingly quick and easy. I suppose my continental practice dishcloth really helped. I find the round toe really comfortable, but I missed getting to Kitchner. If I were doing this again, I'd probably work the heel on more stitches. The pattern calls for working the heel over 30 stitches for all sizes.

I wanted to share my thoughts on Nancy Bush's Folk Socks before I have to return it to the library. I was pleasantly surprised by how much knitting history is in this book. It is well-written and appears to be well-researched. There's also a large section of numerous variations for heels (all based on heel flaps except for an afterthought heel) and toes. (Where else could you read about the Balbriggan heel?) This could be really useful for big-time historical accuracy buffs or designers looking to make their socks a little different. Patterns lean heavily towards stranded colorwork , with several lace or cable patterns to boot. The only pattern I'm really in love with is for "Norwegian Stockings." The biggest issue I see with the patterns is sizing. The patterns do not indicate finished size (other than indirectly through gauge and stitch number). Others simply state "for men" or "for ladies," with only one stitch count given in the pa...

I'm almost finished with the Simple Stripes Fair Isle socks. It's a Knitpicks pattern that doesn't appear to be on their site anymore. The Simple Stripes yarn doesn't appear to be on their site anymore either. I like the finished product, but I have a few issues with the pattern. Mostly I found the short row heel instructions to be confusing. I'm still not sure exactly what method for closing gaps was intended, but I used the knit and purl encroachment techniques from the Sherman heel . On the first sock, I redid the heel several times because I had trouble getting it centered. I hadn't discovered this chart yet. I finally just decided that if I had 10 gappy stitches on each side and 10 normal looking stitches in the middle, then it should work out. And that's exactly what's shown in this example ! The only thing I didn't do was the wrapping of the first stitch on either side to prevent ankle gaps. After tightening up the stitches at the ...