Thank you, Ravelympics. The burden has lifted!

It's a bit delayed but...

Here is the medal I received for competing/participating in the first ever RAVELYMPICS!
See Ravelry for more info.

The major project that I worked on in order to be a "Ravthlete" in the WIPs Wrestling event was...the Torturous Baby Blanket. I had not touched it since the linked blog post was written...3 months ago. Here it is. Finally finished!


The actual finished size of this blanket is ~24" x 36" so you can see how tiny the stitches are.
I had to mess with the needle size before I could get a nice even fabric. The end looks SO MUCH BETTER than the first 2/3, but I DON'T CARE!.

It was hand delivered to Karen and is GONE!!

The one thing that makes me a little remorseful about my negative feelings is that Karen told me that the couple who lost the baby that this was intended for (their 3rd loss) is going to have the wife's sister carry a baby as a surrogate. That made me feel bad that I had all this negative energy attached to it as I knit it. But I am happy for them and wish them a healthy baby to love and wrap up in this cute little blanket...well other people think it's cute.

Flitting Butterflies

Just had to share this bit of nature from my front yard.

Monarch vs. Bumblebee


Monarch caterpillar on milkweed.


Monarch chrysalis


Brand new Monarch


Monarch


Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail


Painted Lady


Black morph female Eastern tiger Swallowtail.

Bloomers leg style added to Munchkin Rumps Universal Soaker Pattern

Pattern revisions are finally complete!
I have made the calculations more user friendly.
Added and changed some directions to be more concise.
And most exciting of all...I've added instructions for a
BLOOMERS LEG STYLE!

In my etsy listing, I have also added this picture of a cover made with the bloomers leg.


For anyone who purchased the pattern previous to Aug 16, 2008, I will send you a revised pattern file if you email, PM, or convo me (on Ravelry or Etsy).

The Munchkin Rumps Bloomers Pattern is still in the works...it will include worksheets with sizes ranging from 4/5 to 14/16 and will also include a customizable worksheet.

Playtime Sling Pattern...Now Available

My first ever design-by-request...

a knitted pattern for a child-sized sling for carrying dolls


Serena loved testing it :) She was even emulating some behavior that she saw us doing with Owen when he was smaller & liked to be in the sling. Good practice for promoting baby-wearing later in life :)

Now available thru my etsy shop & Ravelry.

Yarn Barf...An Adventure into Natural Dyeing

We have a ton of berries growing at the back edge of our property. Mostly black raspberries and some mulberry too. So when J brought in a huge tub of berries what did I immediately think of? Wool, of course!

Researched natural dyeing on the internet & found that I needed to use a mordant like alum to use a natural dye. I was going to...even had J pick some up at the grocery store. But then I read that even when using alum from the spice aisle you can no longer use the dyeing pot for food...NOT gonna work :(

I read some more & thought that maybe I could use vinegar as the mordant instead...well I could try anyway, right? I skeined up 50g of Fishermen's Knitting Wool and got to work.

Here's my mashed black raspberries


In the crockpot with yarn


Lookin' good :)


Not much bleeding right out of the pot :)

Hmm...it's a bit brown :(


Overdyed with 2 packets strawberry kool aid...too red :(


Overdyed again with one packet berry blue kool aid...acceptable


Crocheted into a pony with some purple hair (as requested) by Serena.


Where does the "yarn barf" come in, you ask? I've heard this term used for crazy-looking thick & thin yarn made by newbie spinners. And also seen it used to describe knitted objects that are not looking very attractive. However, I'm using it in another way. "Yarn Barf" is how I would describe the atrocious smell that came from my crockpot as I was over-dyeing (both times). Now granted I did the over-dyes right away and did not dry the yarn in between so maybe that contributed to it. But my guess is that it was the OVER-cooked black raspberries exacting their revenge. I conditioned the yarn & lanolized it lightly with some lavender and eucalyptus oil and now it finally doesn't smell repulsive anymore :)

Dyeing in Black

Ok, so got on ebay to see what kool aid flavors were out there and found this...

Scary Blackberry "Ghoul Aid." Of course, I bought some (read "72 packets")

Skeined up the last of my Fishermen's Knitting Wool (only ~54g left). Tied cotton ties so I would have 5 roughly even portions to dye that would represent ~1/8 of a 100g skein.
Here's the mixes I tested, From bottom right, clockwise: Blackberry, Blackberry + 2 Lemonade, Blackberry + 2 Lemonade+ Ice Blue Raspberry, Blackberry + Lemon Lime, Blackberry + Lemon Lime + Orange.


Yarn added.


Ready to zap...


90 minutes later...the dye baths are all FINALLY exhausted. The BB + LL took the longest to exhaust. I was only zapping for 2 min at a time and letting it rest for 2-5 min in between.


This pic is blurry but it has the best match to the color I see with the naked eye.
From left is BB+LL+Orange, BB, BB+Lemon, BB+Lemon+IBR, BB+LL


Here's with a flash


Blackberry alone


Blackberry + 2 Lemonade


Blackberry + 2 Lemonade + Ice Blue Raspberry


Blackberry + Lemon Lime


Blackberry + Lemon Lime + Orange


Results:
BB alone is a really pretty dark purple.
BB + 2 Lemon is not that different.

The closest to black (in my opinion) is BB +LL. If I was to try it as a stripe on a 1/4 skein I would use 2 BB, 2 LL, and one IBR or berry blue just to liven it up a bit. There are some nice grays but it's pretty flat as it is.

BB + 2 Lemon + IBRL is close to a cool black. There is potential for a nice navy here too.

To get these approximate results on 100g, multiply packets by 8.

I haven't decided if I'm going to over dye the BB + LL + Orange. It kinda reminds of army fatigues. If I do, I'll add more BB or grape.

And there are some pretty cool looking combos at the edges of the dyed sections. I have NO IDEA what I'm gonna make with it :) LOL

Stash building

I've been in a stash building mode recently...I'm not transferring any $$ into Paypal to cover it either :)

Let's see in the last month....
One pound worsted weight BFL from Ashland Bay


4 balls of black Berroco BFL, won on ebay...didn't discover this till after it was discontinued :(


3 balls tan Berroco BFL.swapped with Raveler "happycat" for 150g of purple sport weight yarn.


2 HUGE skeins (250g) Cascade Eco Wool & 3 balls Regia plus cotton (wool, cotton, nylon mix) purchased from Raveler "kinttinfiasco"



I also bought 72 packets of Scary Blackberry Ghoul Aid on ebay and I have lines on some marled white & gray Eco wool, 8 more balls of Berroco BFL, 1200g of Perendale bulky (some purple & some white), and maybe some Cascade Fixation (cotton, elastic) in white.

Gotta wait for PP to refill :)LOL