The socks for the Artist just flew off my needles. I’m not sure if it was the vibrant colors, the simple sock pattern, or my knitting Mojo.
I cast on sock #1 on July 28 and finished sock #2 Monday evening…except for grafting the toe as I try to do that in the morning when my brain is rested.
The colors remind me of tropical fruits: pineapple. mango, papaya, and coconut. Refreshing colors on hot summer days.
The pattern was a basic top-down sock in plain stockinette stitch that really showed off the colors and an Eye of Partridge heel flap.
Once again to save as much of the hand-dyed yarn, I knit the toes in a contrasting color. This time it was Knit Picks Stroll fingering weight in Scarlet.
These two pairs are off to Colorado to the Artist and the Princess.
The ArtistThe Princess
Next up are socks for the Karate Kid…just as soon as I finish a sewing project.
I finished the Princess’s socks last week. She decided on the Double Moss stitch since I already had a finished pair using the stitch.
To stretch her hand-dyed yarn I added pink toes.
I used exactly 53 grams of the 106-gram skein of yarn so I could possibly get a second pair for her. The pink is Rouge in Knit Picks Stroll and I used 6 grams for the toes.
I love how the purple broke into blue and pale red. I like both the double moss stitch texture as well as the plain knit sole.
Our Colorado family visited us at the end of June. It had been 944 days since we saw them in person. That’s just too long.
The ArtistThe Karate KidThe Princess
Besides going on a hike to Blackwater Falls, visiting Geroge Washington’s headquarters, eating ice cream, having a picnic, painting rocks, celebrating our wedding anniversaries (Daughter and S-I-L 15 years, Mr. Atich and myself 48 years!), and rock painting, we also dyed yarn!
Blackwater Falls – The RockBlackwater Falls – The SwingHappy Anniversary!
Surprise, surprise!
Using the Crockpot method, we dyed six skeins (100 grams each) of fingering weight yarn in total, the most I’ve ever done at one time. [I did purchase a small microwave (specifically for dyeing/setting the dyes) the morning we dyed but didn’t have time to get it unpacked and ready to use.] For the most part, we used food coloring and Easter egg dyes but I did use some Jacquard dyes in Brillant Blue and Jet Black to add colors. I’m getting low on the Easter egg dyes.
The Karate Kid chose greens and blues.
The Princess chose red and purple. I didn’t add enough white vinegar to the water so as soon as the purple dye hit the wet yarn, it broke into pink and blue. She loved it so we continued.
The Artist wanted reds, oranges, and yellows. The red wasn’t as intense as we thought as a lot of it washed out.
She also used some leftover red and black and a mixture of those for a black cherry hue for this skein.
My daughter used red, blue, and purple with a few spots of lime green.
Lastly, the Karate Kid and I dribbled all of the leftover dyes down the sides of the Crockpot and just let it sit in hot water until all the dye was absorbed.
The final group all in a row.
Each will get at least one pair of socks. That’s a lot of knitting time for me!
I do have a question for any dyers out there: How much dye do you use in what amount of water to make your dye stock? I think I use too much dye and/or too little water as I’m seeing too much color go down the drain while rinsing.
My sister and I helped our mother clean on Saturdays. That included dusting, vacuuming, and sweeping and scrubbing the kitchen floor. There might have been more but I just don’t remember. And we might not have done those things each week. Again, I just don’t remember.
I do remember that our mother had a system on whether to dust first or vacuum first. But which?
Dusting first would cause any dust to fall to the floor and then be vacuumed.
Or did vacuuming first cause more dust to settle on the furniture so dusting was done after?
Or does it matter as long as both get done?
Or is the real question: what is this chore called “dusting” and why should I care?
I dust and vacuum (occasionally…don’t judge) but not always on the same day. However, we are having people come for a few days and I really need to clean!
Knitting In Flashes 