Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Footsies, Flowers & FO's --- oh my!

Greetings from a very wet and chilly New England! Our Nor'Easter started out with rain, then turned to snow for a bit and back to rain.... and more rain... and more rain is forecast for pretty much the rest of the week. Hello, Miss Mother Nature... did you miss my last post??? I'll spare you the photos of my wet basement and instead share the view out my window.



So, despite the friggin' stinking, dreadful rain cold and wetness, at least we have power today. I had taken yesterday off with intentions of getting some spring cleaning and other things around the house done... Yea, not so much! I found it a bit difficult to vacuum with no power. Fortunately, we were only out for 8 friggin hours most of the day though...
Heather and Joanne didn't get theirs back until this afternoon.

I did manage to get some knitting done yesterday and actually do have 2 FO's to show you! First up, my Cabled Footsies from One Skein in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in the beautiful Tuscany colorway. (feel free to ignore the snazzy pj pants!)

footsies2


After I finished them, I got extra ambitious. I cast on and finished a matching mini sock for my sock blocker key chain (all while the man was still sleeping, mind you!). What do you think?


footsies

minisock


This was the first (of many to come!) mini socks for me and I have to say, working on size 0 DPN's with worsted weight yarn... not so much fun! Kinda like trying to vacuum with no power. Matt seemed to like the mini sock and even encouraged me to do some for Christmas ornaments ... hhmm, maybe instead of the usual bows & gift tags this year, we'll have sock tags!


So what socks to cast on next? I've already wound up my Sereknity Three Scoops, but now I have 3 skeins of my very own hand dyed yarn to play with too! Decisions, decisions... and back to that hand dyed yarn.... I had a lovely time at the Cherry Tree Hill yarn dying workshop at Yarn & Fiber on Saturday with some fellow ManchVegas knitters, including Heather, Gina, Ericka and Sarah from Pittsfield (whom it was great to finally meet!).


Here's Cheryll from CTH, along with her very helpful daughter!

CTHclass_41407c


The class might've been a little big for such an event (a bit over 20), but Cyndi kept the shop together and Cheryl kept things moving along (she started by saying she usually doesn't do classes that are only 3 hours long, which I could see as a longer class may've left those of us who were completely new to dying with a little bit better of an understanding). I do feel like I picked up the basics and had a lot of fun, but as Ericka mentioned over on her blog, I don't think I'm ready just yet to clean and make room to dye in take over the whole kitchen just yet (paging Miss Heather... how about a group dying day?? lol). We got to dye in groups of 7 and here are a few pictures of the action and the patient waiting.

CTHclass_41407a

CTHclass_41407d

I got to dye 3 skeins - 1 fingering weight and 2 sport weight. Here's how my messes turned out...

MyDyedYarn41407


The bottom hank (blues, pinks, purples) was my first ever attempt at dying yarn. Cheryll asked us all to name our colorway before we even set foot near the dye table... this is "Jazzy Jewels." The middle hank was my second creation that I'm now calling "Autumn Road" and the top hank was my "mistake" hank (I got 2 wound together and didn't realize it until yellow dye had already been placed on both of them... yikes!), dyed at the very end of the class when the dye was scarce and almost all containers completely empty. I'm calling this one "Madi Gras." So what do you think at my first ever attempts at hand dying?


An interesting tidbit... Cheryl taught us to never throw away the left over water, run off or what one might consider "grime" from dying. What one (or at least I) would think to throw down the drain, she calls "exhaust" and uses to dye her Potluck (one-of-a-kind) skeins, of which she brought along lots for us to browse. Here they are, along with several samples of her work.



CTHclassDisplay_41407


I was as reserved as a well trained dog at the White House good and scooped up just one skein. I wasn't even going to get the 1, but it was the one skein I was eyeing while chatting with Gina before class began and it was still there at the end of the day, so...


As you can see, I also picked up 3 skeins of Meditation for what will probably be a scarf and size 4 needles to start my headband (still haven't decided if I will do the Amanda or the Jacqueline but I did wind up my Sereknity "Lilacs In Bloom" yarn last night, so I had better choose one soon). Those purchases don't really count though... you see, the bag really wasn't big enough for Matt to show concern or notice more yarn coming in the house!

Speaking of my honey, look at the burst of color he brought home to me on Friday... I think he was trying to cheer me up from having dropped Dustee (who I got to visit for a bit on Sunday... which made me smile lots!) off to his new forever home the night before. So now I'll share it with my fellow NH knitas, as I'm quite sure you need a burst of color today!


flowers

Are you smiling a little bit and trying not to look out the window now? If not, let's try this one... it seems as though whenever I'm trying to photograph for the blog lately, a nose, tail or paw seem to pop up in the pictures... this time I got a little more.

TutFootsies


Stay dry... stay warm... and keep this thought in mind... if April Showers Bring May Flowers, just what the heck do April Snow Storms and Nor'Easters bring??

13 comments:

NH Knitting Mama said...

Wow, your cabled socks came out beautiful... I really like the colorway of that yarn. And, speaking of yarn, your first attempt at dyeing was incredible! Great job!

Anonymous said...

love the colors u choose to dye your yarn in maybe someday u will do one for ma to use

Gigi said...

Great yarn. Sounds like you had a good time!

Criquette said...

I am in awe of both your knitting and dying skills! I love the colors of your hand-dyes, no one would guess they were your first. The flowers are so pretty, but it was definitely the doggie that made me smile!

Kare said...

I loved this post.
Your dying looks super to me. That must have been so much fun.
Favorite pic, of course, is the one with the dog. awwwwwwww.

Anonymous said...

Hi Nichole!

Just go our power back here in Maine (after losing it on Sunday night -- before the storm even began)! And I'm using the luxury to post my first comment to your wonderful blog.

Awesome photos all the way through -- LOVE the socks...and Lola's beautiful face.

I hope Dustee's doing well in his new home and that you've had a chance to reconnect with him.

Lapdog Creations said...

That's actually the "little one" in the pic - Teutul (the only one who seems content with Dustee's departure, lol... after all, he is "king tut" once again!).

Anonymous said...

I love your footsies and the Tuscany colorway...gorgeous! How lucky are you to get to take a dying class with the Cherry Tree Hill folks?

Also arghhhh!!! I totally had a mini-sock blocker already included in your next Knitting Goodness Package. I'm glad to see you're a sock enthusiast...'cause this next surprise is all about socks : )

P.S. Your mini-sock is beautiful too.

Gina House said...

Your yarn came out AWESOME!! And the cabled socks are great...look very comfy. Mini sock...adorable! Wasn't that dyeing class FUN???

Rositta said...

That was some nor easter wasn't it? I like the dye job you did. I bought some bare yarn from knitpiks and acid dye but have not attempted it yet. I'm kind of scared and a little stressed at the moment so I thought I'd wait a while. Nice blog...ciao

yarnophiliac said...

ok, first, LOOOVE the footsies! Must. Get. Pattern. That colorway is awesome. Matt was such a sweetie to bring you those flowers! I hope they cheered him up, too. Your skeins came out great, and I'm thinking we'll have a dyeing day when the weather gets nice! Cookout, dye, knit...sounds good to me!

NH Knitting Mama said...

I'm glad I'm inspiring you to do the Opera Scarf! Its a nice and easy knit. I don't have to look at a pattern, just knit away... Aren't those kinds of patterns great!

Monado said...

Your dye results were beautiful, especially the last, "leftover" one. It's serendipity, I guess!

You have me interested in how to dye yarn, now.

The footsies are a lovely colour and look warm and comfortable. I'm just starting to knit so all the technique are a marvel.

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