Dye Job Success!

I finally got around to dying the yarn I bought from Greenwood Fiberworks. Carolyn was fantastic- even offered to replace the pink with a different dyelot. I really do highly recommend her yarns- this cotton lycra stuff is amazing, and her variegateds look really fab.

I went to Village Wools, the LYS, and they hooked me up with professional fiber reactive dyes. I bought the "strongest red" and "navy blue" (decided to dye the blue, too, while I was at it...). I was paranoid that I was going to give myself chemical burns while spilling dye all over the house, but managed to complete the exercise without either... Yay!



Instead of the very mellow dusty rose and cadet blue, I now have a true navy and a fabulous red- slight blue undertones, but really vibrant. I'm so pleased!

I found some great dye-ing resources while I was at it:

• How to dye cottons in the washing machine from Colorado Whoelsale Dyes (click "Instructions")
  
• Another set of great instructions along with tons of other info from G&S Dye Co.
  
• Great tutorials from Paula Burch

.

Two Weeks of Happy

I just got back from two weeks with the BF. Don't we look happy?



Wait... What's that on my left hand? Why, yes, it is what you think it is....



Mr. C asked me to marry him two weeks ago, and I said YES. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! (And yes, I am driving- he proposed in El Paso and I had to drive back to Albuquerque the next day.)



I'm so very very very excited. Even more in love with him now than when we met. I'm so glad we found each other!

Lucky 13

Oh yeah- Add one for Becky.

Oy Vay. Anyone one else want to tell me they're pregnant before I publish this post?

Crazy

Sorry to have gone silent...

I survived finals, there has been knitting, and dyeing, and a WHOLE LOT of other stuff...

I even have pictures, but I'm in Austin and my laptop won't talk to the wireless network so I can't post them. (AURGH).

The next few days are looking pretty busy- C's sister's graduation from Pharmacy School, complete with influx of his family, is happening AT THE SAME TIME as my best friend's wedding, and we have some of our own stuff to celebrate, if we ever get the time!

Eventually, we will return to your reguarly scheduled knitblogging. Until then, hang on! It's going to be a wild ride!

Beee-yutiful

Have you seen january one's palette for a Mason-Dixon style log cabin? All Socks That Rock Heavyweight. And amazing color sense.

If I could only knit one thing before I die, this might just be it. Garter strips. Whooda thunkit...

Gimme a Break!

gimme a break!
gimme a break!
break me off a piece of that....


IT'S SUMMER VACATION- time for a break! And, incidentally, time for an adult beverage to celebrate the end of a horrendous finals session.

Catch ya in a few days....

OUCH.

I just got completely blindsided by an exam. Oh well- no time to linger- time to cram for the next one. Oy.

Internet Shopping!

The internet, iTunes in particular, make impuse buys WAAAAY too easy.

I just bought (well, technically, I just "licensed" from iTunes) KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope album. Wowza.

Gotta love this whole instant gratification thing. No need to go out to various music stores searching for a copy of the CD- I can just download it. RIGHT NOW!

I Heart Greenwood Fiberworks

I broke down and bought some of the cotton/lycra sock yarn from Greenwood Fiberworks that Grumperina was raving about the other day. Apparently I ordered it right before her most recent post because she promptly sold out of the cotton/lycra blend shortly after I ordered.

Take a look:



I love it. It's stretchy, thin, fabulous, and should make GREAT SOCKS. BUT, the pink looked a little more vibrant/raspberry/magenta in the photo on etsy; in person, it's a dusty rose. Me no likey as much as a louder, brighter, clearer color. Perhaps this is my chance to dye?

(Note: I will be ordering from Greenwood Fiberworks again- the shipping was lightning fast, well packaged, and totally professional- I am WAY impressed with her and I think this was more error in judgment on my part than anything else).

Some preliminary research indicates that kool aid dyes do not work on cotton. Damn. Any suggestions? And, color experts, is it even possible to overdye this in such a way that the color is deeper and more vibrant (ie not dusty)? All thoughts are much appreciated...

I'm A Sheep

Like everyone else in blogland, I have cast on for Green Gables (I love these knitalong blogs! So many great tips in one place!). I have also ripped it out to start over, but that part comes later in the story.

I'm using stashed organic Pakucho Cotton from elann last summer. YAY for stash yarn! I started with a knitted cast on (scroll down), and I hated it! SOOOO floppy. Also attempted to use size 8s, cause that's what I had on hand.

Yeah. Bad cast on + wrong gauge = rip!

Apparently the designers have recently indicated that a backward loop cast on is the way to go, but I don't much care for that... So I'm going to follow this advice and use the German cast on, which I frequently use for SOCKS.

Hopefully I'll get to restart tonight (as a reward for studying at all today...)

ETA: DO check out this post on sizing issues- saved me the heartache of a totally too big sweater.

A dozen....

Yep, that's right, it's ANOTHER baby update... This time an unkown babe for Carin in December.

Anyone up for lucky 13?

Hmmm. Finals.

I'm suddenly feeling much less panicky about my upcoming finals... There's still plenty to do, but I am elated by this feeling that it is all manageable....

Makes me want to knit something really complicated.... Or schedule my massage for tomorrow instead of after it's all over in a week....

I am not normal.

Albuquerque Favorites: Cake Fetish

Albuquerque has a cupcake store! Hurrah for Cake Fetish! Someone else has summarized the scoop, but I want to share.

Cake Fetish is located in the Encantada Square shopping center on the north west corner of Louisiana and Menaul (right across Menaul from Coronado Mall). They make FABULOUS cupcakes in really great flavors- Peanut butter chocolate, grasshopper, velvet evlis, sleepless in albuquerque, german chocolate, lemon, etc etc etc. The frosting is fabulous- exactly the right consistency- and the cake bases are wonderful as well. So fun!

Pirates! (ARRRRRGGGGH!)

I finished the We Call Them Pirates hat. It's a giftie for my baby brother, and it FITS! A little snug, but doesn't cut off the circulation. He's got a big head, so I'm relieved it fits.




(Camera appears to be on the fritz again- apologies).

This is an incredibly well written pattern. The chart is great- large enough to read (law school has inflicted me with bad eyesight AND dyslexia AND alzheimers- I never realized these were contaigious diseases), with bold grid lines every 5 colums and 5 rows to make reading the chart easier. I used stashed Brown Sheep fingering weight (maybe it was sport weight?) in navy blue and white, and lined it with stashed Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. The great thing about having a (seemingly) bottomless stash is knowing you have exactly the right yarn!!!

Anyway, bro assures me he loves it! YAY!

In fact, he likes it so much he's refusing to give it back to me so I can REALLY give it to him later. It's over 80 degrees outside, and the goofball is wearing his double layer WOOL knit hat. Quite the compliment, I must admit....