Multiplying like bunnies

Posted in Crochet by

Look! I made a bunny! I didn’t realize how far this, ahem, rabbit hole goes…

Another grey amigurumi bunny

El Prototypo Bun #1!

It was a little tough the first time around especially when it came to sewing the body parts on. My favorite part was embroidering the face. Those french knot eyes look so adorable!  After the first one, I immediately wanted to make another one.

I switched it up and instead of a two piece head and body, I combined the two and made it all in one piece.

Grey amigurumi bunny in a pencil cup!

Bun #2 – Codename: Mustache-bun

He ended up surprising a co-worker Tuesday morning hanging out in her pencil cup. Now he watches guard over her keyboard.

What about Bun #1? She was still on my desk at the time.

While waiting for her papa to finish up work, Little Mels came to my office for my colored markers. I keep them just to entertain her. She saw Bun #1 and loved him immediately! Since she first picked up bun to cuddle, she just kept talking about him! I think it was the first time she realized that a person could make toys instead of buy them at the store.

Soon she started wondering if I make one just for her. In pink, of course. Hell, how could I say no? I had some decade old Red Heart acrylic I could use up.

After I agreed, she kept going… asking for a smiling bun, a bun with eyelashes and biiig eyes and… and… and… I told her she needed to draw me a picture otherwise I’d forget.

My very first commission! Pink amigurumi bunny

“Her name is Flowery… how do you spell that? And she likes pink and purple. And she likes hearts!”

Challenge accepted! I made Mels her dream bunny. My first commission ever! I gotta say though, Red Heart is a pain in the ass to crochet tight. It squeaks like a mofo but I kept going. By the last round on the last leg, I was really ready to throw the yarn away and never see, hear or feel it again.

I tucked the Pink Bun in my top desk drawer and waited for Thursday to roll around. I knew she’d be looking forward to it. As not-a-parent, I really don’t have a lot of experience with kids and I was blown away by how excited and happy she was about this bun. I wonder if she wore her pink and white dress especially to get Pink Bun today. What a sweet girl 🙂

Pink amigurumi bunny

 

Learning crochet leads to coaster-bombing

Posted in Crochet by

I noticed that I have a distinct learn-to-crochet spot on the floor where I like to sit. After spending a whole weekend there,  I am confident to say that I can crochet. It feels weird to say it. (My butt feels weird too. The floor is hard!)

I finally know how to count how many double crochets I’ve done instead of keeping a count in my head. I know where to put my hook when the instructions say in the 3rd ch. I have finally crested over the learning curve and now I’m just surfing along in hooky bliss. I can read and understand crochet patterns!!!

At first, I picked up the crochet hook to entertain the idea of yarn bombing something in my local community. I wanted to use up my icky Knitpick’s made in China Brava and also be a urban yarn artist. To test out my skills before I take to the street, I bombed the closest pillar-like item I could find.

Yarn bomb - niddy noddy cozy

Yarn bomb 101 – a.k.a niddy noddy cozy!

As I waved my hook around, I started to realize why I could never get the hang of crochet when I was younger. I was too rigid and self conscious back then. Knitting appealed to me because the process is very logical. Each stitch is one unit and you either knit or purl it or a variation thereof.

Crochet on the other hand is the wild sister to knitting. Knitting is carefully coloring yellow into Goldilocks’ hair while Crochet has five rainbow crayons in her fist giving Goldilocks an epic afro. Crochet just doesn’t care. She’s fearless, lawless. And I love it.

I’m more forgiving of my work now. I used to freak out and rip back ten rows just to fix an accidental purl. Now, I might fuss about it in my head for a few rows, but I keep knitting and eventually, there’s enough knitting and time away from the mistake that it doesn’t matter anymore. When I cast off on a project, the mistakes diminish over time and eventually they’re invisible.

Crochet fits with where I am creatively right now. The freedom, the play with colors, the instant gratification…. ohhh yes! I love the feeling of being able to finish a little something during my lunch break.

Super easy crochet flower

Sooo easy to make! Pattern is from Carolyne over at The Party Artisan

On Monday, I coaster-bombed one of my co-workers with a granny square I made the night before. Just a two color little thing. I snuck it under her mug while she was out to lunch. She had asked around to find out who it was and I couldn’t keep it a secret because I was so proud of my little square. I really like the idea of coaster-bombing my buds at work. Today I snuck this one on the office manager’s desk because the color scheme matched her mug.

Crochet Coaster - African Flower in Surf and Conch

I love this color combo! Knitpick’s Cotlin in Surf and Conch

The pattern is African Flower Square by Barbara Smith. I see myself making tons of these in the future. It was easier the second time around. You can see the first one I made in Knitpick’s Shine sport Buttercup and Green Apple underneath my lemonade.

It feels great to expand my horizons. Crochet has always been insurmountable for me. My earliest crafty memory was being frustrated at learning crochet. I thought that I just wasn’t clever or dexterous enough. Turns out, 20 years later, I am plenty clever enough to work a hook!

Travel delays? That’s OK, I’ll just knit.

Posted in Knitting by

I did a lot of travelling the last two weeks. First, St. Paul and then Cabo San Lucas. Of course, I’m knitting everywhere I go.

 

St. Paul, MN

Minnesota History Center as a wedding
First, I went to St. Paul for my friend’s lovely wedding at the Minnesota History Center. The venue was a gorgeous place for their nuptials. We toasted, danced and drank all night. The photo is taken from the upper balcony looking down onto their reception and the hanging airplane.

To get there, I took off from LGB (the best airport to fly out of in the Southland, btw!), I cast on for Purl Soho’s Cap Sleeve Lattice Top in Cascade Ultra Pima Fine in Sage. There was an inch and half of ribbing by the time I was waiting for my layover in Phoenix. A lady with a friendly smile came by and asked me what I was making. I wish I wasn’t so shy and chatted with her more. I pinned her for a knitter, totally. Her Vera Bradley tote gave it away!

The yarn is really smooth to knit. It will have incredible hand after blocking!

The yarn is really smooth to knit. It will have incredible hand after blocking!

After this flight leg is when the travel gods turned their backs on us. From here on out, both JJ and I would suffer the worst in bad weather, aircraft change delays and diverted planes. Every nightmare travel story sounds the same, so I’ll just focus on the incredible amount of knitting I was forced to do. (Ha, forced and loved every minute)

On my way back from MSP, I missed my connection in Phoenix and had to catch the early flight the next day. I opted to take the early shuttle from my vouchered hotel back to the airport. The reward was a glorious sunrise over the tarmac of a very appropriately named airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor.

It was impossible to position to show the lace, but here it is anyway!

It was impossible to position to show the lace, but here it is anyway! I love how the beads turned out.

I sat in front of a huge window and use the morning magic light to snap some quick shots of my recently finished Knitpick’s Sock Garden socks and ongoing Malabrigo Lace Annis shawl.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Next up was my cousin’s bachelorette party in Cabo… Cabo woooo! I feel like I can’t say Cabo without wooing.  I did absolutely zero knitting while beachside. The heat, sweat, salt and sunscreen made me feel sticky and the idea of yarn fibers getting stuck everywhere seemed like too much to fuss with. Ok, I admit, the daiquiris, talking with several nice men and flinging myself into the waves every chance I got cut into my knitting time.

I don't ever want to go home!!! The sunsets are beautiful and the water is warm here.

I don’t ever want to go home!!! The sunsets are beautiful and the water is warm here.

On the way back, my flight was delayed three hours in Mexico. Well, that’s not too bad. I was at SFO once for 5 hours once. Between shopping the retail stores, having drinks at the bar and walking to every terminal to check them out, it was bearable.  Nope, at SJD there was one terminal and 8 gates. The handful of restaurants and the Corona bar closed after 1 hour into the delay. The terminal was empty except for the gate agent, a security guard and my fellow travelers. Even the duty free shop was closed. This was the worst part…

No WiFi!!!

Never in my life have I been more thankful that I’m a knitaholic because I’m sure I would have drowned in boredom and started doing things like count all the chairs or rearrange the World Cup signs. Instead, I got a lot of stockinette done.

Lots of ginger ale consumed on this trip. Light colored liquids are safe for airplane knitting!

Lots of ginger ale consumed on this trip. Light colored liquids are safe for airplane knitting!

Finally, we boarded and I met JJ for a very tardy anniversary dinner. I was relieved to be home finally and my travel woes were over. My next trip is to Aptos, CA for my cousin’s wedding in a month. Alas, no. The very next morning, on our morning commute from downtown LA to our office, JJ’s car died in the middle of La Cienega Blvd.

JJ’s car is not a beater car. It is a well cared for, waxed monthly, brute of a machine. It is also lowered to the ground than most vehicles and requires a special flatbed tow truck which took 3 hours to reach us. We waited at a diner around the corner, drinking lots of free refill coffee and chatting with the owner.

I had been knitting the same summer top in plain stockinette for two and a half weeks. I  desperately wanted a change. I didn’t touch my back up sock yarn throughout my hectic travels but in the cushy booth of a classic greasy spoon, I pulled out my Knitpick’s Essential in Spruce kettle dye and cast on for some socks.

I really needed it.

Back to my regularly scheduled lunchtime picnic knitting!

Finally home! Back to my regularly scheduled lunchtime picnic knitting.

 

 

 

My low commitment experiments in solar dyeing yarn with Easter egg dye

Posted in Dyeing by

The way I dye now is no longer a huge endeavor like before.  I used to take up a whole Saturday and cover my entire kitchen in protective plastic. I’d have to mess with the stove and stress out about getting the water temperature just exactly right between simmering and boiling. Dyeing in the summer was the worst. Who wants to turn on the burners more than you have to in heat?

Now, I use the heat to my advantage with solar dyeing.

Handdyed wool for handspinning - Green, yellow and orange

That’s my dye box in my sink!

 

 

I didn’t invest in any special solar ovens or go all DIY crazy and make some contraption. I just kept it simple and used this clear plastic box that used to hold our various teas and hot chocolate packets next to the electric kettle.

When dyeing wool, these 3 things must be present along with your wool, whether its raw fleece, prepared roving, spun yarn or a finished garment:

Dye

Of course! I’ve been using Paas Easter Egg dye but you can do Kool-aid packets or even those really nice professional acid dye powders.

Acidity

I’m not scientist, but I think this makes the wool suck in the dye pigment and bonds it. Vinegar is the way to go here.

Heat

Again, no doctorate in dyeing here, but I think this just accelerates the dyeing process. As in, if you dyed at room temperature, your yarn will still dye but it would take much longer (days longer!)  The heat source can be from your stove, the sun, steam and so on. It needs to be hot.

For the last few weeks, I take about 30 minutes in the evening preparing my yarn. I’ve only done it a handful of times so far and I’ve been trying to refine it each time.

Measure out the wool. I’ve been dyeing anywhere from 2 – 4 oz of the wool/alpaca I have around.

Fill my plastic box a touch of hot water from the electric kettle and tap water to get a slightly lukewarm temp.

Throw in the wool to soak. I like to push the wool all the way to the bottom of the box and squish out the air bubbles.

Leave it for a while. By a while, I mean, go brush my teeth, wash my face, check Facebook, text my boyfriend, etc.

Handspun yarn - Natural - soaking for dye

One night, I totally forgot I was soaking yarn!

When I come back, I drain most of the water out then pour a few glugs of vinegar in. If I feel like I need to, I’ll add back some water to help disperse the vinegar. I swish the box side to side gently.

At this point, I take note on how much water there is.  The amount will contribute to how the dye disperses. Less water means that dye will disperse less and where you pour will have a stronger color. More water means the water will disperse more, giving a more even spread of color.  When I add the dye, it will raise the water level also, so I keep that in mind.

I pour some of the water out from the box into three disposable cups. I add a touch of hot water and then drop the tablets in.

Then I wait around for the tablets to dissolve because they take forever. Meanwhile, I kick myself for forgetting to crush the tablets before putting them in!

Handspun yarn - Handdyed - Green, blue, purple

The fun part is next! Yay!

I pour the dye that goes down the center first then I pour the colors on the sides. Watching the colors swirl with the movement of the water is mesmerizing. After everything settles, I put on a latex glove and carefully squish the yarn around to make sure the dye reaches everywhere, especially the bottom of the box, otherwise the underside of the yarn will be white.

To finish, I put the clear plastic cover on the box and set it outside next to my pool for the next day!

Handspun yarn in Easter Egg dye - Solar dye - Green, blue, purple

Come on California heat, do your thing!

Handspun socks in brilliant orange!

Posted in Knitting by

I met up with an former beau for coffee last week. Memories of being long-time lovers surface in my mind in bits and pieces. I think my brain doesn’t allow me to remember more for the sake of it’s sanity. All the better really.

He said something that I hadn’t remembered in a long time. “Have you been using that spinning wheel? The one I bought you?” I answered, “Yeah, I use it pretty much every day.” Up until that moment, I had entirely forgotten that he had bought it for me. It was a pricey acquisition for us at the time. He’s a very practical guy who doesn’t like to see money spent languish in the corner. Like that ice cream machine he bought… and we only used once.

I really love my Kromski Sonata and I’ve made a good amount of yarn with it. When I first felt confident in spinning lightweight singles, I made 2-ply sock yarn to crown my achievement. Being able to spin the singles consistently felt like I leveled up in spinning!  It probably could have used a tighter ply for sturdiness, but I was just happy that I had made something fairly consistent, and so thin too!

For years it sat with the rest of my stash because of its orange color. So garish! I had picked the roving I liked least for my first go at making sock yarn. Who knows what made me change my mind at the beginning of May this year and say “oh, fine! I’ll knit some socks with it!” I would have never imagined getting compliments on it from my Friday Night knitting group, but I did and I was happy to hear it.

And so I knit starting at the toes…

Handspun socks in brilliant orange

I put in Fish Lips Kiss Heel (the absolutest bestest sock heel there is!)

Handspun socks in brilliant orange

Nearing the end…

Handspun socks in brilliant orange

Then after I finished the cuffs, I gave it a nice bath and the yarn bloomed to an amazing level of softness.

Handspun socks in brilliant orange

I really can’t believe that I made this yarn with my hands and my feet treadling up and down on the wheel.

Inspiration gallery: Striped Socks

Posted in Knitting by

Those orange socks that I posted up earlier are done!  The yarn was a bit rough when I was knitting but after a few baths, it is much softer. The dye bled a bit, but after about the fourth or fifth water change it was fine. I’ll be posted pictures when I can catch some good light!

I want to knit more socks now and I’ve been so inspired by these lovely striped socks.

Hawthorne Sampler Socks (by JaimeK on ravelry)

Hawthorne Sampler Socks (by JaimeK on ravelry)
I really need to use up my Hawthorne sampler too!

 

Patons Kroy Ragg Shades socks (by kkspac on ravelry)

Patons Kroy Ragg Shades socks (by kkspac on ravelry)
I love identical pairs! I need to take the time to do that next time!

Hand-dyed Knee Socks (by sivert on ravelry)

Hand-dyed Knee Socks (by sivert on ravelry)
I really want to try what she did to dye this yarn. You must read her project notes!