Friday, February 29, 2008
What To Do...What to Do...
A terrific woman from Ravelry did a swap with me. I sent her books, she sent me yarn. I am pretty thrilled.
The yarn is Scout's Swag Superwash/Tencel blend in the Socktober colorway. It feels wonderful. The colorway is definitely lighter than the one on Scout's site. But I think it is lovely. I am so thrilled.
I haven't heard back from the woman I got it from yet. But there were some beautiful stitch holders on a safety pin attached to the Scout tag. I don't know if they came with the yarn or if she sent them. I am hoping to hear back from her. I did try to take some close up pics, but they came out fuzzy. Maybe I will take some this weekend along with the letter markers I made for the Coriolis Socks (ravelry link).
March 20th - Sweater Day in Honor of Mr. Rogers
There is a YouTube clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVeyLr2fG
I never need an excuse to wear a sweater. It doesn't have to be anything like his trademark cardigan. Just a favorite sweater.
I wish my black alpaca cardigan would be done in time. But it is barely begun. So there is no way it will be done in time.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Socks That Rock Yarn Fading
I have to say I am pretty disappointed with Socks That Rock. I know people rave about their yarns. And the sad part is I *love* their colorways so much.
I have several complaints about their yarns.
The problems started when it arrived. It smelled strongly of vinegar. I know vinegar is a fixative in the dyeing process. That makes sense. But the rinse process should remove that smell. It really seems like the batch I got was not rinsed out enough. It disapated with time, but it was still a bit off putting.
Then came to knitting. It knits up beautifully. The weave is tight and I had really high hopes. But the color kept coming off on my hand! I would get a grey ring around the finger where I wrap my yarn. And another finger tip got colored. This seemed odd to me. So I checked the Ravely boards. Many other people have the same experience! That seems really wrong to me.
So when the socks were completed, I washed them with Synapol and then a dye fixative. I had hoped this would help the colors to stay fresh. The dye fixative is sold by Dharma to help with any sort of dyed piece. It is supposed to help the color fastness. I figured it would be good.
The fit on my Jaywalkers isn't great. The problem is that they are hard to pull over my heel as the leg doesn't have enough give. I suspect that is more an issue with Jaywalkers. But for this reason, I only wear my Jaywalkers once a week or every two weeks.
Since I finished these on 11/25/07, I figure that even if I wore them once a week (which I think is very generous), I would have only worn them 12-13 times. And honestly, I know there are weeks when I didn't wear them.
The color really should not have faded this much in that time. I don't know if the photos really show the difference that well. The ball of yarn is the color I knit. The socks show how much they have faded.
You can definitely see how much color loss there is on the foot. And there is a lot of pilling and such. I guess I just expected more from the yarn given the rave reviews and the price. I mean the socks where I dyed the yarn myself don't have a different color on the sole of the foot. Why should professional yarn?
I nearly always handwash these with Eucalan. I put them in the machine once and saw such a difference that I feared putting them in again.
I am really saddened. I love the Raven colorways and really did want to purchase some yarn in those colors. But I can't bring myself to spend at least $25 a skein when the color will not stay!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Jayne Hat Up for Auction
http://www.californiabrowncoats.org/?p=90
The procedes are going to benefit The Marine Corps–Law Enforcement Foundation. Kinda nifty.
Found on the Lime & Violet blog.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Finished Baudelaire Socks in Dharmafey Bamboo Dexter
Cast On:
January 26 2008
Finished:
February 14 2008
Pattern:
Baudelaire by Cookie A.
http://www.knitty.com/issuesummer06/PATTbaudelaire.html
Made for:
Me - Size 9 shoe, 9" at ball, 9 1/4" long
Yarn:
Dharmafey's Cosmic Fibers Bamboo Sock in Dexter Colorway
60% superwash merino/30% bamboo/ 10% nylon
1 skeins = 385.0 yards
Needles:
US 1 1/2 / 2.5 mm
Knitpicks Options and Harmony
2 socks on 2 circs method
I wanted to do something interesting with the Dexter yarn I got. The batch I got is mostly grey with some flecks of red. I had been looking at the Cookie A. patterns for the Sock Knitters Anonymous KAL for January. So when I went to my ravelry queue, I spotted the Baudelaire pattern. It is a beautiful pattern.
I wasn't sure if the flecks would obscure the pattern. But I don't think the flecks detract. I think the yarn works pretty well with the pattern.
I *love* the Bamboo Sock yarn. It is very soft yet nice and smooshy. I liked it so much I ordered a couple blank skeins to dye myself. They just arrived today, so I think it might be a weekend for yarn dyeing... Mmmmm....
I really like the Baudelaire pattern. It was definitely a good pattern and a pleasure to knit. The only part I loathed was the Front Cable Increase & Back Cable Increase for the larger size. You have to create 4 stitches while simultaneously doing a cable. I think it should have just had the increase without trying to twist them at that same time. There was a ton of swearing involved. But it only happens once in the pattern. So two sets of each and then no more. If I had to do it more than that, I wouldn't knit the pattern ever again. *laugh*
Overall, I like the socks. They are very pretty, yet the coloring of the yarn doesn't make them super girly which I like. *grin* Though Paul keeps saying the color is pink not red. *growls* I do not do pink! It is red. *chuckle*