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I started this on the way to Michigan last week. It’s the Noro striped scarf inspired by Brooklyn Tweed but with Kureyon instead of Silk Garden. I’ve had to fudge the colors a bit to make it work. This has been something I’ve wanted to knit for years and I love how it is turning out.
Me: How are you doing? A little nervous?
Her: Yeah.
Me: Is it because you’ve never been to a march before?
Her: Yeah.
Me: Does it help to know that I haven’t either?
Her: Really?
Me: I never felt like I had to before.
I finished knitting around midnight and put the hat on my head. It looked ridiculous. I figured I’d take it anyway and maybe give it away. The next morning my daughter encouraged me to wear it. Pictures came in from all over the world: a sea of pink. I live in a small blue dot in a very big red state. It feels lonely sometimes. Today it did not.
Lots of people are uncomfortable with the name of this hat. However enough people were comfortable electing a man who uses it to the highest office in our country. I did a quick search on Facebook for the word vulgar. It’s amazing how many Trump supporters did not like women using the word pussy today. I can’t quite figure that out.
This week I heard something on the radio that has stuck with me: marches don’t change policy, but they create a movement, they start a conversation. I like that. And I’m glad I wore my #Pussyhat.
Last night at knitting group, one of our members brought two huge bags of yarn she was destashing. I told her I had a friend who would love it and brought it home with me. I’m pretty sure my friend doesn’t have a ball winder and lot of the yarn was from abandoned projects. So I sat down in front of the tv and started winding balls.
I forgot how fun it is to deconstruct knitted items, especially handmade ones. Everyone weaves ends and sews seams a little differently. It’s interesting to reverse engineer the process.
resources: I’m sure I’ve posted these before. Some of my favorite tutorials for unraveling sweaters are from Neauveau Fiber Art. Photo tutorial here and video tutorial here. Also, here’s a short video on finding the “little v stitches” to unzip a seam super fast.
If you live in Lincoln, this weekend is the Goodwill 99 cent sale. A sweater’s worth of wool for under a dollar? You can’t beat that!
Last night I was knitting while watching a movie and didn’t pay too much attention to my yarn. Today when I pulled my project out at soccer practice, I found I only had a tiny ball left. Luckily, I had a second hank in my bag, but it needed to be wound before I could use it.
I learned this trick from a fellow knitter, and it works like a charm. Untwist the hank and put it around your neck like a necklace. Untie the threads holding it together and find the end. Start winding it into a ball, unlooping around your neck as you go. There may be times where it feels tangled up, but don’t take it off your neck. Just keep winding and unlooping until you’re finished.
I can’t tell you how many times this little trick has helped me. I hope someday it will be helpful to you, too!
I had a hard time figuring out what to do with the Easter egg yarn. Once I saw the colors, I immediately wished I had dyed more. I wanted to use every last bit of it, so I decided to make something that I could start from the bottom and go until I ran out.
I love, love, love how these turned out! They were a lot of work, and I don’t think I’ll make them regularly. The pink one with flowers is my favorite.
These are too pretty to just sit around in my “finished” pile of projects so they’re available for sale in my etsy shop.
I also spent the weekend working on a crochet pattern for tiny flowers. Stay tuned!
I have never considered myself a yarn dyer. I have so many odds and ends in my stash, I can’t imagine ever needing a specific color for anything. But while I was cleaning up from Easter egg dyeing last Saturday, I decided to dunk a few balls of yarn in the leftover dye just for fun.
It was a really sloppy attempt. I soaked my yarn under the kitchen faucet before plopping it into the cups. I let them sit for a long while before I remembered to microwave them. Some of the mini-hanks were wound too tightly and are pale on the inside. The colors, however, are absolutely beautiful! They make me want to try my hand at dyeing a larger amount.
I’m not sure what I’ll do with this little bit of yarn. Maybe I’ll crochet some eggs.
details: The white yarn is from my stash of unraveled sweaters. I didn’t follow a tutorial for dyeing the yarn. If you google “easter egg dye yarn” you’ll get a bunch of links.
I haven’t been spending a lot of time in front of my computer lately. Thanks for putting up with all of my instagram photos.
This week was Spring Break and all productivity was tossed out the window. The weather was beautiful, so I guess if you had to toss something outside, at least it was warm and sunny.
Most of our days were spent hanging out with good friends for park dates, thrifting dates and lunch dates. My daughter and I even had a movie date. (The Lorax — it was ok. She would have preferred more screen time for the little orange guy.)
Wow. After reading all that, it seems like I was pretty darn productive after all. I just need to get something back on the needles. Now that my sewing table is clear, maybe I’ll dust off my machine, too.
What have you been up to this week?
I don’t have a plan for this yarn yet, but I really do enjoy unraveling sweaters. These colors are so nice together. Any project recommendations? I’m open to suggestions!
In my creative space today is a big plastic tote’s worth of odds and ends. Literally. My friend Tana has saved all of the leftovers from her projects since she started knitting. (There’s a lot more than what’s pictured.) She was planning to donate them to the thrift store, but thankfully called me first.
All sorts of possibilities are running through my head. I’ll admit a lot of them are filled with some type of granny square. Can’t wait to dive in!
What’s happening in your creative space today?
In my creative space today I’m untangling this beautiful mess of yarn. It’s not as bad as it looks, at least I hope it’s not. There are three hanks that are loosely tied. If I can get them on the swift properly, it should be smooth sailing.
Where did I get such interesting yarn? I got a phone call yesterday while I was shopping for groceries.
kelly: I’m at the thrift store and there are huge tubs of beautiful yarn that are only 99 cents each.
me: Thanks for thinking of me, but I have so much yarn.
kelly: Yes, but some of this stuff looks hand dyed. It’s really beautiful.
me: Can you send a picture?
I think she sent four pictures, actually. One of those “tubs” was a large bin on wheels. I felt weak. A little defeated by my desire for pretty yarn that I really don’t need. I drove up to the store.
I exercised tremendous restraint and bought only six skeins. The pink/purple/blue skein is for my daughter. I let her pick out one because she was so patient while I dug through that big bin. I also bought her some stickers.
I’m a little early posting my creative space today. Make sure you check out Kirsty’s blog later today for more spaces.