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.
A long, long, long time ago Mr. Aitch had gifted me an origami kit as I was obsessed with this cool art form using a sheet of paper. This kit included a great booklet that showed the basics of paper folding. The last project in the booklet was the flapping bird. This is different than the famous crane. The crane is a stationary object and the flapping bird can move. I still have the original kit but loaned the booklet to a friend…and never got it back.
Last October I taught one of the twins how to make an origami flapping bird as she had learned how to make some shapes. We made several birds and she got quite good at it. So I emailed her yesterday with a suggestion of something to do every day during this unusual period in our lives.
This is the flapping bird.
You can see that by holding it at the base of the neck and pulling on the tail…
…the wings move.
Here is a short video of the flapping bird in action.
There are several videos and written instructions on the interwebs that you can find but I made my own instructions based on how I learned how to make it. If you are interested, click here. Warning, you will need some basic knowledge of origami folds that I do not provide.
With many schools closed for a few weeks, children will get bored. I know my grandchildren will be home for an unexpected vacation from schoolwork though some will have access to remote teaching, online classes or whatever the counties/school districts are calling it. Not all children can think of something constructive to do with their newfound “free time.”
I’ve come up with some ideas for my grands when the “I’m bored” statements happen to escape their mouths. None of these suggestions include looking at a screen and most of them can be done alone.
This list includes:
1. Paint nails or do nail art on your toes. Acrylic paint will work for nail art as long as a clear coat of polish covers it.
2. Clean the top of your dresser.
3. Clean under your bed.
4. Make a bracelet.
5. Make your bed.
6. Write a note to someone you haven’t seen for a while. Friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents.
7. Make a card…birthday, holiday, get well, thinking of you.
8. Practice a new language such as sign language or Spanish.
9. Walk 1,000 steps.
10. Do 30 jumping jacks.
11. Do 30 sit-ups.
12. Write in a dedicated notebook or journal about gratitude.
13. Relax with a cup of tea or hot chocolate.
14. Paint or draw a self-portrait.
15. Color a picture.
16. Write a book report about the last book you read.
17. Ride your bike/scooter.
18. Draw on the driveway with chalk. Ask Mom or Dad first.
19. Pull weeds from a flower bed or garden plot.
20. Play hopscotch.
21. Jump rope 100 jumps.
22. Make a paper chain to count the days till an upcoming event: party, birthday, special trip, last day of school, vacation.
23. Clean your bathtub or bathroom sink area.
24. Learn how to sew a zipper pouch.
25. Knit a scarf, hat, mitts.
26. Work on a jigsaw puzzle.
27. Play a board game.
28. Build a Lego house or castle.
29. Learn a new origami figure or teach someone how to make one.
30. Measure something: the back porch, your bedroom, or any room or furniture in your house.
I’m sure you can think of other activities as well. Do you have a game plan for “I’m bored?”
Knitting In Flashes 