Azul Es El Color

Another dyeing experiment produced this:


Approximately 12 drops of food coloring, 2 oz. vinegar and 4 c. water.

I'm liking it. It's much more variegated than the Kool Aid colors, and the blue reminds me of gorgeous azure skies.

Gotta hustle - I'm off to the Catherine Lowe lecture.

Snaggle Rock

Two down, eighteen to go...

We Are So Kool

It's been a crafty weekend around these parts. On Saturday, we stopped at the Crack...er, Craft Warehouse to pick up some beads and string for Miss N to make herself an eyeglass chain. It is a thing of 9 year old glory (including a giant sparkly snowflake bead that is almost as big as her head). She's giving it a wear test today before tomorrow's big debut at school. Pictures to come.

While we were there, Mr. T and I picked up some supercheap bulky wool yarn to play with. Below is his first attempt at Kool Aid dyeing:


Turned out pretty good, eh? I helped a bit (COUGH*alot*COUGH), but he chose the colors, stirred it up and mushed it about. I was in charge of the microwaving and handling the hot yarn.



I am in love with these colors. I think they suit him (pardon the pun) to a T.
So much so, in fact, that later that afternoon I picked up more discount yarn (some blah colored wool from Twisted's sale bin) with which to experiment.

And don't think little Miss Z was left out of the crafty goodness:


Her project? Devising ever sweeter smiles to convince Mama to pick her up right away. ;-D

All Along the Swatch Tower

I've been swatching like a fiend for the last week, so haven't had enough time to properly blog, or much to blog about since I can't show you these. But the first of three (!) batches of swatches is out the door, and I have a moment to breathe before starting the next bunch. So the quick update:

First, and most important, the ghost of a smile, finally captured on film:


With the crazy hot weather we're having this weekend, our little Michelin Muffin will be spending much of her time dressed just this way.

Next: Colourlovers, one of my favorite web sites, is featuring an excellent tutorial on Kool Aid dyeing. Since we have the kids, that's the method I'm most comfortable with for now. I may branch out into acid dyes when they are older/less clutzy/less likely to spill it all over themselves.

Finally, I still haven't had any time to take proper shots of Streamlined, so you're getting the quick 'n dirty ones from last week:



Post-surgery, pre-blocking: I snipped and added short rows to accommodate the Nursing MegaBoobs (TM), then grafted the piece back together.
Extra work, but the fit was vastly improved by the addition. I will remember to knit those in next time I make this one.


I love details like side vents. They add a feminine, floaty feeling to an otherwise straight-forward piece. The tubular cast on I used for the edges is my all time favorite. I find it most elegant.


I'm a big fan of the cap sleeve as well. It's about as cool as a sleeveless piece, but covers up that little er, wadge of flesh many of us have at the underarms (y'all know what I mean, I'm sure).

Back to the swatching...

Loot

...or, Happy Mother's Day to Me.

(A semi-local LYS is closing, and having a 30% off sale. Baby & I paid a visit this morning and collected a few souvenirs.
From L to R: green Venezia Worsted [cabled pullover], purple Felted Tweed [Elise from Vintage Knits?], Calmer in sunshiney yellow [summer top], grey and black 220 Wool [casual vest for either hub or me -- haven't decided yet]. We also picked up copies of Knitting Classic Style and Knitting Lingerie Style -- books I already know I love. All in all, a very pleasant morning's work.)

Oh, the Irony

On the list of things I find puzzling, this phone call currently tops it:

Me: Hi. I'm filling out your electronic form here, and it doesn't give me enough room to put my entire last name. But when I try to electronically sign the form with my whole name, it won't let me. What do I do?

Karen (the nice lady who answered the phone): Oh yeah. You'll need to electronically sign the form the same way you filled out that first page.

Me: So, wait: even though that's not legally my name, I have to sign that it is in order to finish this form.

Karen: Mmm-hmm. Or you could start over and take out the [maiden name] so that the last name matches.

Whaa? How is this right? Why don't the folks who code these forms just do it the same way on both pages? I know it's do-able, since (a) common sense tells me so, and (b) this is what my DH does for a living. (See, honey? I am listening when you speak.)
****

Anyway. Yesterday's weather was glorious. Sunny, breezy and perfect for a stroll down the bluff:






Z, as always, was fascinated by the juxtaposition of nature and industry:


We stopped for tea and cookies, and a thrilling game of "but why can't I have mama's water glass?"




Later, we took the big kids down to Columbia Park:









Once again, Z finds it all so stimulating:



(You will note Streamlined making its debut. I will report on that later this week.)

OPK, The Sequel

As I mentioned last time, Z was gifted with some lovely knits. Above is one of the most adorable items: a pair of sweet socks from Kim. These are Sky Architecture socks from Cat Bordhi's latest book of sock madness, in Ultra Alpaca, which is yummy and soft.

Baby has worn these once so far, but they are still a dab too big - they kept slipping off. We expect she'll get some good use out of them this fall. Thank you, Kim!

Streamlined version 1.5 is blocked, but hasn't yet had a wear test, so the update on that will happen next week. The new fit looks quite promising!