Category: hats (page 2 of 4)

A new adventure!

So, I wanted to add something else to my shop. Hand dyed roving. I’ve been saying I was going to try it for some time now, but hadn’t had the chance… or the bare roving. Today was the perfect day to give it a whirl! And the perfect time to try out my new “green” dye. This dye is more environmentally responsible, but a bit more expensive than the dye I’ve been using. I’m curious to see how it will turn out.

Above you see a bare merino/silk blend, presoaked in a vinegar/water mixture. It’s shivering with excitement about being a different color. It really is, you’ll just have to trust me.

And here it is, relaxed and soaking in the color. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the darkest color is actually purple, and then there’s red, yellow and green. Let me tell you, this was not easy. I used a syringe to apply the dye, and even though it looks like it’s soaked all the way through the fiber, it’s not. At all. In fact, when I peeked underneath, the entire bottom was still mostly white.  Even after I added more dye and pushed and pressed and manipulated, the dye had a hard time spreading to the bottom. But after enough gentle prodding, it seemed good. And it blended to make a much better color combination, which is what I was hoping for. When I was sure it was saturated, I folded the roving in the saran wrap lining the plate, placed it in the colander and steamed it for 30 minutes.

Here it is after the rinse. I meant to take a picture of it being steamed, but I forgot. The water was clear right from the start. The roving sucked up ALL the dye. I still rinsed it a ton, not to get rid of any excess dye, because there wasn’t any, but to get rid of the smell of the vinegar. I even use a little Burt’s Bees Baby shampoo. (This is how I rinse my yarn too.)I did this all VERY carefully, as I’ve been told it’s quite easy to accidentally felt your roving. When I say “rinse”, I mean gently lowering the roving into clean water and then lifting it out. Then lowering it into more fresh water, pushing on it gently, then lifting it out again. I do this maybe 10 times or more.

And here it is, drying on the rack. So far so good! I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s dry.

I also finished another slouchy hat for a friend. It’s the same one I made for my mother in law for Christmas, the Slouchy 2-Way Cabled Hat. And now I’m going to start it again for another friend!

And today I sold my 8th skein of yarn! Say bye bye to Crime Scene. It’s the 2nd skein I’ve sold to someone who didn’t actually know me! He asked me to wind it into a ball, so I thought I’d take a picture of it before and after. It’s always so cool to see the skein turn into a ball. It gives you a better idea of what the yarn will look like when it’s knitted up.

So tomorrow I might post again, I have some Baby Alpaca drying next to the roving, and I can’t wait to share with you!

Mustard Seed Yarn Lab

I did it! I’m in business! I dyed almost all my yarn and finally managed to get it uploaded into my Etsy shop. If you’d like to see the shop, go ahead and click here.

It’s taken a longer time than I thought to get off the ground, but I blame the holidays and a suddenly incredibly busy work schedule filled with lots of overtime. I’m hoping life will calm down now and I can make some more (and sell some too!)

Christmas was wonderful. Christmas with a four year old boy is just magical and FUN!

I made the Bella mittens for my sister for Christmas. They were a pretty quick, fun knit, and I might do them again sometime.

The pattern can be found here. Emmet liked them.

And remember the Ribbed For His Pleasure hat I was making? My friend Ben received it from his wife on Christmas morning and he loved it! Here he is showing it off  🙂

I’ve also almost finished knitting the Gaptastic cowl and I’ve started the BeeKeeper’s quilt. Yes people, I’m knitting a quilt. I expect to finish it in a couple years. It’s a great idea really. You use all your leftover sock yarn to make it…I have lots of that! Nothing goes to waste.

Well, it’s late. I’m tired. I’ve been staring at this computer ALL day and I just want to go read my book now (A Game of Thrones…I love it.) I’ll try to be better about making more frequent posts now that life is calming down. Really.   😉

 

2 more down, 1 to go

Christmas is right around the corner. I started with a fairly good sized list of presents to knit. As of this morning, I have one more to go.  Take a look at the #105 Slouchy 2-Way Cabled Hat. It’s a forgettable name for an unforgettable hat.

It can be worn slouchy, like shown here on my 4 year old (wearing rock star pajamas and playing guitar):

Or it can be worn as a brimmed hat, which is my preferable way of wearing hats:

It was super fast and easy to make. I used size 10 and 1/2 needles as per the instructions, and if I were to make it again, I think I’d use size 10’s. Also, it did not require anything close to the amount of yarn the pattern calls for. I bought 3 skeins, thinking 2 skeins would not be quite enough and I better play it safe, but I actually only used just over one skein. And I have enough yarn left over to make another one, maybe for me!

See how it seems just the tiniest bit too thick…at least it seems that way on me. I will not say who this is for, but I think they’ll like it.

The second finished present is another 2×2 Ribbed For His Pleasure hat. Made for another friend, who will not be named. This is the one I actually dyed all the yarn for. Remember this yarn?

It has magically turned into this hat:

I love it. I know it looks a little pointy at the top, but when you put it on, it smoothes right out.

And last, a picture of my cutie and this year’s tree.

Bella mittens, NOW it’s finally your turn. Yes people, that’s what goes onto the needles tonight. The last present. Can I finish it in time? We’ll see……

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