I Heart Corriedale

That 12 pound Corriedale fleece that I bought last May has finally reached its full potential. Unfortunately, I had too much fun plying it and it took on a life of its own.



It had an over abundance of energy. It needed a lot of taming so it got a long, hot bath.



Since I was going to have to show this yarn who was boss, I decided I might as well put some color on it at the same time. I am not the most talented dyer out there, in fact, I stink at it so I decided to do something simple-with only one color. Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I picked Russet.



As per instructions in Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan, I made a little nest out of a giant plastic bag that was inside a big pot.



I mixed three different strengths of the dye solution. I started by pouring on the weakest solution first.



I kneaded it in, but was afraid of felting so I went lightly on the massaging. It proved to be an error because it came out blotchier than I wanted.



It went for a spin in the microwave for about 6 minutes. Heating 2 minutes, resting 2 minutes and repeating it until the solution ran clear.



There was a little pink in the water but not enough to worry about.



After a spin I could see that there was some white spots and some very harsh dark blotches. It's a pretty amateur looking job.



It's not the worst dye job I have ever done but it is not what I wanted. That elusive gradient quality that I admire in other people's work seems to be beyond my meager abilities-but I'm not giving up. There is plenty more white stuff where this came from that I can ruin.

It's a Mystery Part 2

The pretty little skeins are now balls so I cast the mysterious thing on. I nearly went crazy trying to cast on 6 stitches on 3 needles without either getting a hole or a bump.



I finally ditched the double points for the Magic Loop and decided to settle for the small bump that I ended up with using the circs.



Stranded colorwork in the round, with such a small diameter was major fiddly. It was not much fun at first. My stranding technique is also rather rusty so I ended up with a circle that was on the lumpy and bumpy side. I even ripped back a few times due to puckers. As the circle grew, however, it became much more enjoyable. The pattern is very pretty and relatively simple so I am looking forward to Clue #2 which comes out later today.



The only problem is that I only have this much of the main color (lt blue) left. Yikes.

It's a Mystery Part 1

While everyone else is watching football, I'll be winding lots of pretty little balls of yarn that just arrived from Abstract Fiber.



The yarn for the Flight Path Mystery KAL finally arrived. I was late to the party, as usual, and the first clue came out last Monday but I should be able to catch up.

Just For Fun

The Faux Noro is still fun. I am never going to wear the awful thing, but I still like working on it.

Halfway to Nowhere

The Kide Shawl is supposedly at the halfway point but I have my doubts. There is 22 pattern repeats and this is 11.



Even with The Mister and I stretching it out, it still seems to be on the smallish side, even given the fact that it still needs its all around knitted border. I am using lace weight, while the pattern calls for fingering, so I guess I am going to have to just keep going until I get the length I am looking for.

25% Off Knit Night

We were camped out on the floor tonight. In the book section. The 25% off book section. In fact almost everything in the shop was 25% off which may be why there wasn't a single space that wasn't filled by the time we got there at 7.



There was only a small amount of knitting happening because it was a much better night for planning future projects and shopping for things. Somehow in all the confusion, however, there was another Cubba in the making.



She was also planning to make Freddie's Blanket from the book of the same name.



Selecting the colors was tough. It always is.



Unfortunately, the needles were not on sale but someone bought some anyway. You have to look hard to find the needles because they are that small. Size nothings, if that is possible. My eyes hurt just looking at them.



While we are on the subject of needles, look closely at this sock.



The needles are square. Yowsa. They are made by Kollage and I need some. Yarn Market has them. Come payday, they will be mine.



I worked a bit on the Kide, but my mind was elsewhere tonight.



There's something mysterious going on and here is the first clue.

Second Sleeve Syndrome

I hate fiddling with sleeves. They are always too long or two short. Even if you get one figured out there is always the other one to consider. I can't measure knitted fabric worth beans so I never get the same measurement twice on anything. Making two of the same thing is near impossible. I could knit two at the same time but that is so slow that I am pretty sure I would go insane. I saw a blog post recently where someone (Mary Scott Huff) knit a giant sleeve in the round and then steeked it into two sleeves. I think that was brilliant but I am pretty sure I am too chicken to try it.