Yarn Clubs

Hoota thunk !

Certainly not me.  But I have.

Yep, I joined my first Yarn Clubs

this year.

Bare Naked Yarn Club

by

knitspot

My first shipment ARRIVED ! ! ! 

This club is knitspot's club by Anne Hanson the

designer of my les Abeillies Shawl from Camp Loopy this past summer.

Here's a blurb taken from her description of the purpose of this club:

"in this club we’ll knit with a variety of fibers in their natural, undyed state to learn about and appreciate the unique characteristics of each. yarns will be a surprise each month but will include a range of animal and/or vegetable fibers (sheep, goat, camelids, yak, silk, and cotton are some possibilities) in shades from cream to khaki to gray to chocolate—”sheepy” yarns if you will. some will be soft, some will be lustrous, some will have stout, sturdy character that softens over time with long use (like vintage blue jeans). yarn weights will vary; projects will focus on accessories, scarves, and shawls (possibly including a sock or baby item) that feature lace and openwork stitch patterns. "

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

AND

this week I received the second of three shipments from

Fibernymph Dye Works'

[here's the link, just in case you've a hankering for beautiful yarn]

Knitter's Choice Yarn Club

My little purple-y Owlie Delight came from 

Ocean Patch Creations.

ETA: And, now I just placed an order this morning.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Not certain when these two yarns will be knit up into some lusciousness because tomorrow is March First.

What's special about March 1st, you ask.

Why it's a start of a new month of kals.

i.e., Knit-ALongs

I'm joining at least two this month and I think it is doable.

*************

Diane at Knitabulls is having March Monster Madness That is - any monster knit between the first and the thirty-first.

Diane's podcast is great!  Lots of enthusiasm for knitting and spinning.

Plus, if you've a love of English Bulldogs - - -

Take a look, see if I'm right about enthusiasm.

My designer of choice 

for the Monster Madness

is 

Amy Spinler of Stockinette Zombies Podcast

I'll be knitting her design of

Zombie the Podcaster

[there, I did it, THREE links in one sentence]

-   -  - 

A new-to-me designer of knitted monsters 

is

Jenna Krupar a.k.a. RetroLemon on Ravelry

Chelsea the Chatterbox Monster

-  -  -

My all-time designer of Monsters

is none other than

Rebecca Danger

[you'll recall Gort the Gym Bag Monster and 

Angus from last month]

I'm going to attempt yet a third monster

for this kal

and that would be Rebecca's

Penelope the Empathetic Monster

using some very special yarn.

I certainly hope that Penelope is understanding 

when she is third in line for this kal . .  . :*)

and may or may not get finished in March.

>  >  >  >  >  >  >

Must run, time to sharpen my needles ! ! ! 

♥  ♥  ♥

hugs

Blogger's A-Changin'

Have you noticed how many blog's word verification has changed to the two-word verification?

Half the time the 'blurred' is near-impossible to decipher.

There are many unkind thoughts being bantered about in blog world about this change.

Thankfully, my blog Comments haven't been effected.

I removed word verification some time ago.

All Comments for my blog posts arrive at my Gmail mail inbox so that I can catch spam right there and then.

I  delete it  from appearing in my Comments.

It's that simple.

That's the only more-or-less-negative change.

**)(**   **)(**   **)(**

The Positive change, IMHO,

is the change in the Comments portion of my blog.

You've noticed at the end of each Comment there is a

'Reply' button.

By utilizing this Reply button anyone can reply to any Comment.

  Best of ALL !!!

I can

Reply to each of your Comments right on the blog Comments.

Oh, how I love this ! ! !

You can read visitors' Comments and my Reply to it.

You can Reply to any Comment!

All that is necessary to be able to keep current 

is to go to just beneath and to the right of the Comment Text box area 

find the Subscribe by email 

and click.

Any Reply posted to that blog post will arrive at your email inbox

to be read by you and deleted from your inbox. 

 Easy-Peasy.

hugs

♥♥♥

Put a Smile on Your Face

Katwise Sweater Coats

click on this link ^^^^

This never fails to gladden my Heart.

hugs

♥♥♥♥♥

No Guts, No Glory

Intagliata Henley

designed by Connie Chang Chinchio

Madelinetosh 80/10/10 fingering

merino wool/cashmere/nylon

in the Briar colorway

*******************

hugs

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

Busy As Can Be

Okay, okay.

Maybe not all that busy.

But I have been having FUN ! ! 

I've joined a couple of KALs on Ravelry

so have been knitting right along.

opps, for those who don't know,

KALs are when a group Knits ALong together on a common project.


Oh, there are a number of links.  To follow the link,
just click on the colored text.

I've joined Diane at her Rav group

Knitabulls

I chose to knit the Valentine Scarf

by Shui Kuen Kozinski

It's an easy pattern,

even if it's been slow going for me.

However, it's moving along.

You may recognize the yarn from my previous post.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

Another KAL I've joined is at

Sockbunny Knit & Fit Rav Group

We're knitting the

Citron Shawl.

I'm using Malabrigo Lace Yarn

in Garnet.

It's a brownish-orange.

Kinda the color of a,

well, the color of a Garnet.

Honestly, the lace weight yarn is easier to work with than I originally thought.

I'm up to the Fourth Section of Five,

though I think I'll make it at least a couple of sections beyond that 

since it's still pretty much a shawlette size and I do have more yarn remaining,

guess I'll keep knitting 'til the yarn runs out.

It's designer,

Hilary Smith Callis

describes as such:

"notice a resemblance to a slice of citrus due to its semi-circular shape and increases subtly radiating from the center. With its bit of ruffle and ruching, "

Her description is spot on.

<^><v><^>

I couldn't leave the dye pot on the shelf,

had to pull it out

along with

three dyes:

brilliant yellow,

deep magenta

and bright aqua.

And came away with this:

This is what I've been up to, what about you?

Brrrrrrr,

oh, baby, it's cold outside.

hugs

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I've Been Dyeing To Do This

You may remember my yarn-dyeing ventures.


 First there was Kool-aid dyeing.
Then Wilton's Cake Icing Dye.


Since then I've been entertaining the idea of using 'real' dye;  
i.e., acid dye


Kool-aid and cake icing dyes aren't exactly 'real dyeing'
Their color-fastness is not exactly of an archival type.


This past week The Garden Bell blog 
has gotten me off the fence and into the fun of dyeing.


Take a look at Kate's blog
here
and here
and here

How inspiring Kate's yarn can be.


She graciously responded to my query re: dye


and 
here I am posting my first adventure with acid dye.

I purchased six colors to work with 
as well as a dye pot.
Yep, was able to find the kitchen department in our local Wal-Mart 
to find just the right stainless steel pot.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


First, I soaked by Knit Picks Bare yarn, but not before adding several additional ties to keep the yarn skein from tangling during the dye process.


I used inch-wide fabric stripes wrapped several times 'round so that it covered that area very tightly so the dye would not penetrate that area.


After a very long soak the yarn was ready
and so was I.


 I assembled my measuring spoon, a cup of hot water and a stirring utensil which is real life is a spatula.


And put my yarn on to dye

The pot/yarn was left on the heat 'til the water cleared of dye.

After the water cleared of dye

and after rinsing out the excess dye from the yarn

and after it dried.

Here's my first skein of acid dyed yarn.

Once it was wound into a 'cake' it looks this.

and this

Just wanted to share this with ya.


&&&&&&&&&&&&&


Now to cast on for the Knit-A-Long
with Knitabulls Podcast
Her podcast name reflects two of her loves
knitting
and bulldogs! 
Diane's podcast is a hoot to watch.
If you have a few minutes, I invite you to view her most recent podcast.




I'm knitting with this KAL



This Valentine Scarf will be the project I'll be knitting.


X#X#X##XX##XX#


hugs


♥  ♥  ♥

A Quick Visit

Not certain what this post should be titled.

Perhaps that'll come to be just before I publish.

I'm here to show you another one of my finished projects.

Knit in the total of six days.

Yikes, am I nuts???????

I love the feel of this yarn combo.

The red yarn is a blend of 55% Merino wool, 25% silk and 20% Nylon.

The White is a blend of Merino wool and nylon.

So, So,Soft.

Love it next to my skin.

* * * * * * * 

Rest assured that's almost the last shawl on my list of projects.

Maybe just one more shawlette/scraf with a heart pattern in time for Valentine's Day.

More on that a little later in the week.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now a word about our weather.

Mild, almost balmy, sunny, warm

and not at all wintry.

Everyone is enjoying this

and waiting for the other shoe to drop

thinking perhaps 

Mother Nature

has some sort of surprize in the wings

just waiting to say, 'boo ! ! '

But 'til that happens

we're enjoying.

Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow.

Spring-like thunder storms perhaps.

This rain is much needed since we've have only a measly 3 or so inches this season.

+++++++++++++++

Thanks for the visit,

I love having you stop by.

hugs

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥