Pink Shibori, Small Project Bag

Pink Shibori, Small Project Bag
Originally uploaded by acornbud

This is my first project from fabric dyed in Shibori Class. This piece is the itajime technique. The screaming pink Kona cotton was fan folded and clamped, then indigo dyed. This is a synthetic indigo dye.

Over dyeing the Red-Orange Alpaca

Over-dyed alpaca
Originally uploaded by acornbud

I kind of suspected this yarn would be more red-orange then is comfortable for me, but it was baby alpaca and I was in the market for red yarn. I have since found out that scarves for the Red Scarf project do not have to be red. Duh.
My whole dyeing adventure began with a desire to tone this colorway down...going more toward the rust side.
Since I was very happy with my Koigu experiment with Wilton cake dye, I started by dying the yarn red. Well big surprise, lol, it turned red. I imagined that it was toned down and little, but the visiting niece and sister brought me back to reality. It was still screaming red and just a touch less orange. Having only blue left I added just a smidgen to the dye bath, and squirted some around. I was terrified it would all be totally purple or even worse, felted.
So I'm stopping here. It still screams a bit but is more to my liking.

Coconut Cream pie

Coconut Cream pie
Originally uploaded by acornbud

My sister is town and baked this thing of beauty. My neighborhood natural food market with the wonderful shredded coconut closed:( so we are trying this other stuff from Down to Earth.

Kiko

Kiko
Originally uploaded by acornbud

My parents cat Kiko. I thought she was sleeping but she was keeping her eye on the weirdo with the camera;)

Koigu One Skein Fingerless Mitts

Pattern: Koigu One Mitts by botgirl. Free!
Yarn: Koigu, red/orange colorway, over dyed with Wilton's blue food dye.
Needles: Size 1 DPNs
Mods: none
Comments: This is a great, fast easy knit which makes a lovely pair of fingerless mitts for a women.

I took a day trip to Paia, Maui to check on my dad's property with my BIL and niece. While we were walking up Baldwin Ave, a couple of my knitting buddies, blogless Dayna and Barbara, flagged me down. What a small world! They were visiting relatives in upcountry Maui. This is the wonderful Maui Yarn they gave me for my birthday last month. It's is very squishy and soft! The chocolate bar did not last long enough for a picture:) Thanks, ladies!

Fun with Yarn and a Crockpot

I love Koigu and when some free Koigu fell in my lap I couldn't say no. Never mind it was peachy pink and peachy red! It has marinated for quite a while in my stash. Another yarn that I bought online for a nice price, was some worsted baby alpaca for the red scarf project. It was much more orange then I hoped. I have been plotting way to tone down the red-orange so decided to try and over-dye it. The Koigu became my practice yarn.

MsKnottyKnits, Zinlizzie and Znitter on Ravelry were all so encouraging and helpful. Thanks! They shared some wonderful links to get me started as well as their experiences.

Knitty
PieKnits

I liked the Wilton's cake gel idea as it was readily available and non-toxic. My first try with the darker red/peach yard in a pie plate in the microwave oven was a bust. I used too little dye and too little water, so I dug out the crock pot and did all 3 skeins with Wilton's blue.


The lighter peach/pink turned out a very nice shade of blue. The dye did not sneak under the figure eight ties, but the small amount of pink left is fine with me.

The darker skein came out definitely purple, with more pink showing through. I only have one skein of this, not enough for a pair of socks.

The alpaca is skein-ed up and ready to dye. I'm not sure what color I'll try. Perhaps black cherry koolaid or the Wilton's in red. Or maybe black and red. From what I read, the resulting colors are somewhat unpredictable.

My niece from Manhattan is visiting and the sun came out for her!
The cel phone camera isn't the best but Diamond Head still looks classic:)

Chicken Little Pincushion 3

Chicken Little Pincushion 3 Originally uploaded by acornbud

Pattern: my own Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted. Bits of eyelash yarn. Needles: size 4 DPNs Stuffing: wool roving in natural Embellishments: wired ribbon leaves, ready-made silk and satin ribbon flowers. Thrifted object for "nest". Roses: grown by my mom, and what a wonderful fragrance they have! 4/17/2010: Untested pattern available on Ravelry.

Updated version:  Sept 6, 2020.  Only tested by me.  

Strawberries and Chicken Little Weird

Pattern: Strawberries by Pezdiva.
Yarn: Knitaly in red, some handspun and Encore in green.
Needles: size 4 dpn

What a quick, addicting little knit. I made a total of nine since yesterday for my walking group. I stuffed the strawberries with wool so they can be little pincushions. I know I will make more of these, perhaps adding the leaf by Robin Hill on Ravelry.

Chicken Little Weird, a pincushion, was inspired by a strange stuffed animal I saw in Safeway. He is knit of organic wool by smallest friend on Etsy. I glued him in the basket lined with ribbon leaves.