FO- Norweigan Snail Mitts

I've always had a fondness for snails.

I grew up near a big, sandy beach that had areas of rocks and tidepools. This was the perfect location for plucking snails off rocks and watching their rubbery bodies retreat far into their nautilus shells.





It doesn't hurt that they are also delicious in a butter and/or cream sauce.





I love these mittens. They took some time to complete but I kept plugging away at them. They seemed like they were about 4" long for about a month, and then I got determined and completed them in three days.



I made these two at a time on two size US 1 circs. I had to stop and untangle every few rows- having four balls of yarn to keep track of seemed exponentially more difficult than two. I kept telling myself that if it got too hairy, I would put one aside and finish one at a time.



I used two skeins of Artyarns Ultramerino 4. They both started out light blue, but I threw one in the dyepot and got a deep marine blue. The green on the cuffs and the duplicate stitch is some Shibui sock yarn in "Seaweed" that I had leftover from a pair of socks I made last year.



I love these and I'm keeping them. They are tucked away waiting for the first icy arctic blast to hit, or perhaps a trip to Patagonia. The stranding makes them double-thick and quite warm.

The specs: The pattern is by Adrian Bizilia from "The Knitters Book of Yarn". I used two skeins of Artyarns Ultramerino 4 (Color 121), which is a 4-ply fingering weight 100% merino sock yarn. It was 380 yards total, and I had just a little bit of each color leftover. They were done two at a time on two circs- I used size 1. No pattern modifications except that I did a provisional cast on so I could line up the first welt smoothly. They weren't difficult, just a bit fiddly with the cuffs, and the colorwork requires constant attention.

These are also part of my ongoing A-Z stashdown challenge.

FO- Biggie Smalls Sweater

I finished my Baby Cables and Big Ones Too sweater a few weeks ago.

After making and gifting a Cobblestone a couple of winters ago, I really wanted to make myself one...



Finding a pattern that was a bit prettier and feminine seemed like a better idea though:



After my run-in with the sharpie, I lost heart for a bit but finished it with duplicate stitch in mind. That's a whole 'nother story, as duplicate over garter stitch is not easy. I will be needing help.

I love the top-down raglan construction and the cables gave me a lot to do before an endless bit of plain old stockinette stitch. Round and round we go, and not a seem to sew except for a few stitches under each armpit.



The back isn't really that lumpy- I threw it over a shirt that had a tie in the back. I love the color I got from the Eucalyptus dye. I got a lot of variation and subtlety darker stripes throughout the fabric.



I had trouble getting gauge but with my trusty calculator I was able to figure out that I would be okay if I just made the smallest size.



I also changed the pattern to make the cuffs a bit asymmetrical by starting one cable a couple inches lower than the other.



oooh i need a haircut badly. Next week.



Despite my lingering anxiety over the little muddy spot and subsequent felting on the neckline, I'm really happy with this sweater.

The specs:

Baby Cables and Big Ones Too by Suvi Simola. I made the smallest size (32 1/2") but ended up with the 40" size with my gauge, which is pretty much exactly where I wanted it. (PS, a friend of mine who is much smaller than me couldn't get gauge either and she made the Large size but ended up with a perfectly-fitting small.) I used a size 5 needle.

The yarn is scrumptious- Valley Yarns Northfield. I bought two of the 250 gram hanks for a total of 1300 yards, dyed it in Eucalyptus with and alum mordant...and I still have quite a bit leftover despite the yardage the pattern calls for. I even split the yarn up when I got to the sleeves with the thought that I could make them 3/4 length or even elbow-length if I had to. The yarn is a DK weight 70% Merino, 20% Alpaca, 10% Silk. Its tightly cabled structure means you won't have the pilling a Merino/Alpaca blend usually will have. It also means it's great for cables- they really pop and have great definition. Plus, there is no itch at all to the sweater. Ooooh I love it. I'll be using this yarn again in future projects. It's pretty damn luxurious without the vertigo-inducing price tag.

I might go around the neck with a crochet stitch of some type- where the cables gather the fabric it leaves an obvious pucker. Not a huge deal, but it bothers me a little bit.

Lucky me: it's been dreary and cold lately and I've been able to wear this despite the advancing of the season. It's bright and kind of cheery without being nauseatingly happy.

FO- Double-Thick Mitts

Here are the mittens that kicked off my A-Z Stashdown project:



I finished them more than a month ago. We had an unseasonably chilly spring day yesterday and for the first time in weeks, I felt like donning a pair of mittens for a few minutes.



And boy, they are toasty. The entire mitten is double-stranded throughout and I used size 0 needles for some dense fabric, but with very little bulk. They are a bit snug on my hands, but they are destined to be gifted to someone with slightly smaller paws so they should fit perfectly.



The Arlan Aarwetta yarn is not terribly soft. It's a nylon/superwash wool blend that was splitty and it dried my hands out...I went through a lot of hand creme while making these. I took a half skein of the beige yarn and overdyed it a dark, saturated red so I could do the colorwork. These should last forever- the yarn is super sturdy and not a pill or weak spot in sight. This yarn would make excellent socks as it seems like it would be years before a darning needle would be needed.



I loved the braided details and picot edge on the cuffs. It was a little finicky, but it really makes the mitten.

The specs: I used a bit over 2 skeins (440 yards total) of Arlan Arwetta sock yarn. This is a Swiss yarn that is rumored to be discontinued but in department stores in Switzerland it seems to be the main sock yarn choice still. I did these on 2 circs that were size US 0 after much trial and error involving dpns. The pattern is by Adrian Bizilia from "The Knitters Book of Yarn", which has a plethora of great patterns and sage advice regarding choosing the right yarn for a project.

I'm off to the post office now to mail these out. Unseasonable, yes, but I'm sure they will get some use in six months from now.

My first Brazillian

No one ever forgets their first Brazillian.







The yarn I dyed in Brazilwood shavings came out a brilliant pink-orange shade. It reminds me of a tropical sunset:



I have a few projects to finish up before I cast on for the Owls sweater, but I'm tempted to sneak it in. I love the way this yarn came out. Over the weekend, I dyed some more yarn and some roving in the exhaust bath and got progressively paler shades of pinks, all of them lovely.

Natural Dyeing with Brazilwood: Dyeing Kills Me

Did I mention that natural dyeing is a two-day process? I don't do it too often because I rarely can find two days to devote to this. I'm afraid that I'll start a dye pot and then have life get in the way...days later, I will return to a stinky moldy dye pot. Bleh. It's nice to be snowed in sometimes.

If your natural dyestuff comes from bark or roots, you're going to want to let it steep overnight to get the most bang for your buck. I filled my dyepot halfway with water and added 8oz of sawdust. My yarn came to 7oz total weight, and for Brazilwood you want to have pretty close to 1:1 ratio. I would rather not have 1oz bag of woodchips lying around, so I just threw the whole thing in. Ahhh, the exact science of natural dyes.



I wear a mask while adding the shavings. You get a lot of dust coming up before the wood gets soaked, and it's not really all that good to breath that in. Natural dyes usually have mysterious warning labels of not being FDA approved- do not breath, ingest or touch. Or what will happen? I'm kind of curious to find out, but I tend to take these warnings seriously.

Bring the dyepot to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Let it simmer for at least an hour. Cut the heat and let the dye steep overnight.

The next day, you have to get all those woodchips out. I used a mesh strainer. I make a mess.



You can save the chips, let them dry out and re-use them if you would like. You won't get as strong of a color out of them, but they will give you more.

Throw the strained dyestock back into the pot. Add your mordanted yarn. Add water to cover. Once again, you want to gently bring this to a simmer while occasionally rotating the yarn to promote even color uptake. Heat will set the dye, so you want to simmer this for at least an hour. Once that it is done, cut the heat. Throw the lid on. You can take the yarn out in a couple hours when it is cool enough to handle and rinse, or you can leave the yarn in the dye overnight if you want a darker shade. I took the overnight route with this batch.



The next day, I then fill the bathtub with warm water and soap. I carefully rinse the yarn to get as much excess dye as possible. Some dyes will leech more than others and you might have to repeat the process. This bled hardly at all. However, I did find that the strainer did not get all the wood chips out and they ended up in the yarn. No worries, as soon as it is dry it can be shook out.

I give the yarn a final rinse in a little vinegar and then hang to dry. Voila!

I've been dealing with crap lighting and stormy skyes all week, so no FO picture yet. I'll keep you in suspense for a bit.

The Dyepot finally gets some love

Sunday morning I awoke to the pitterpat of a torrential downpour gently lulling me out of my slumber. Cool, rainy weather means only one thing: time to stew up some dyes.

I pulled out my long-neglected dyepot and the acid dyes and begun to mix colors. Whatever my mood is tends to be reflected in the final product...and for whatever reason my mood was purple that day. I feel bruised, perhaps? Naw, more like hungry for plums and eggplants and grapes. Oh, and squash as well.

Here are my victims:



I went stash-diving and pulled out some boring white wool I had tucked away. 4 oz of BFL, 2 oz of a nice Falkland and 2 oz of kid mohair.

Mohair sucks up dye brilliantly. It has high luster and it absolutely begs to be something flashy.



I had a squash on the the countertop and a huge sugar pumkin from the food share that made do this. Now if I can only figure out what the pumpkin wants to be. Please, don't say pie. We don't need pie.

Another victim of the dyepot was a bag of white Icicle.



I had an 8oz bag that came along with my carder. It's a little sparkly but not too glitzy. It's made up out of nylon, but I was cautious with it- i was afraid that I might melt it into something toxic, or worse, uncardable, so I really kept the heat down. I applied dye and really had to press it to convince it to soak up the dye. Even after soaking it in the dye jar, i was still seeing a lot of white in the center. Nylon does not wick like wool does, and it is far from absorbent. Since this was going to be thrown on the carder eventually, I didn't take too much time worrying about it.

Here are the end results:



OH my MOHAIR. That is bright! And I'm very happy with the falkland and the bfl.

And here is the Icicle:


The purple I used on the Icicle was the same that I used on the BFL! Crazy, right? It's completely different on the nylon.

I still have a bunch of silk and some faux cashmere (don't ask. or go ahead and ask. I'll tell you about it later) and some more white wool that needs its turn in the dyepot, and also some lovely cashmere and angora and cashmere silk blends that need an extra special day in the dyepot when I'm feeling especially brave.

It's almost enough for me to wish for another rainy weekend.