Dyleot madness

Here I am, just knitting away on my first project.  I began winding the 2nd ball of the Mini Mochi and noticed that things just did not look the same.  I mean the colors were very different.  I grabbed the labels to verify that they were the same colors. And yup all three were color #105.   But the dye lot on one was different.

I didn't verify the dye lots when I purchased them or before I started this project...duh!

What are dye lots, you ask?  Dye lots are used to indicate the batch that the yarn was dyed in.  Why does this matter if you are using the same colors for dyeing. To insure that colors are uniform across the skeins of yarn, they are dyed on batches.   There are many factors that can affect the dying process, such as temperature, dying time, the phases of the moon, the groundhog seeing his shadow...yada, yada, yada.  (When I started dying yarn, I learned this the hard way.) It won't matter if you're making a project that only uses one skein.  But if you are using more skeins, dye lots will be very important to you.

How different are the colors of the skeins I'm using for this project? Have a little peek the picture below, the little fellow on the left is the odd ball dye lot.  That's a huge difference in color from the one on the right.

So what do you do when you have different dye lots?

1. You could try to find additional skeins/balls in the same dye lot.  In my case this would not be worth it. I purchased these over a year ago and the store no longer carries this yarn.  I could start a search on-line.  Ravelry would be a good source. If you are going to find it, the ISO and Destash group would be the best bet.  But this project is just not that serious.

2. You could frog the project.  If I were to consider frogging, I'd rip it out but start over and cast on with fewer stitches, to make the scarf longer. Not in a ripping mode right now.

3. Throw it in that UFO (unfinished object) corner we all tend to have and dread. The corner is not as crowded as it was last year, so I'm not trying to add to it.

4.  Keep going as is and make it work with what you have.

I'm going with #4. I really like this scarf, but not enough to rip it out and start over.  I think the two balls will be enough for a short scarf that wraps nicely around the neck.  Once finished, I'll figure out how to wear it to make it look it's best, despite the fact that it is shorter than originally planned.

Oh well, things happen, life goes on and so do my knitting needles.

Toodles!

Project 1 of 13(actually 39) in 2013

And we're off!

My first project of 2013 is The Erika Scarf  from Sock Yarn On-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant. This is a fast knit and I LOVE the stitch pattern.  It is one of those projects that you can carry around easily. The stitch pattern is easy to remember.  If you are a social knitter, this one will work while you sit and chat with your knitting and crochet buddies.  At this rate, I'll be done in a couple of days.  I'm not sure if I'll block this or not. I guess I'll wait until I'm finished to decide.

I choose Crystal Palace's Mini Mochi in Tapestry Rainbow for this project. I love the  long striping  of this yarn.

Kraphti's Ericka Scarf

Toodles!

13 projects in 2013 equals 39....is this new math?

I signed up to take the 13 in 2013 challenge over on Ravelry.   Now a normal person would pick 13 projects and make that a goal.  But somehow, I'm in a challenge to finish 39 projects in 2013....yeah I understand that blank stare you are giving  your monitor trying to figure out how 13 equals 39.

Blame those 39 projects on my ambitious, un-employed muse.   Kraphti has nothing to do all do but sit and come up with creative things for us to do.  Dez is a working individual that spends at the minimum, 9 hours 5 days  dedicated to non-creative duties that earn money for Kraphti to go spending willy nilly on creative stuff.

Um why is she speaking of herself in 3rd persons...as in more than one?  Because there appear to be two symbiotic beings living in my head.  Dez, the logic responsible one and Kraphti...well....yeah, she's creative but knows no limits.  

So about these 39 projects I've come up with.  Both my creative and logical sides love books....of all kinds.  And since I have taken up fiber arts, my knitting, crochet, spinning, felting, etc books have grown at an alarming rate....thanks to Kraphti.  And while I buy these books...and actually read them, I rarely use projects from them.  Now I know better than setting the unrealistic goal of not buying anymore books, not gonna happen.  Instead my initial challenge was to knit 13 projects from 13 different books.  Normal and rational right.  Of course, I couldn't stop there.  I also love magazines, but rarely use them for projects.  So this leads to 13 projects from 13 different magazines also.  Still not bad...26 projects in a year...doable.  But then here comes Krapthi feeling guilty about her over purchase of patterns on Ravelry during black Friday (the logical Dez has to admit the deals were awesome).   Hey lets throw 13 projects from those purchases in also.

Wait...what...that's 39 projects?  Are you nuts?  (I really did have this conversation with myself)  I debated about it...Dez lost and Kraphti is in some creative euphoria. So the past week, Dez has been using her organizational skills to line up the projects for the new year.  I've got the 1st 12 picked out and yarn allocated to those projects. I'm sure I can get the 1st 4 completed this month.

January's projects:
The Erika Scarf
Sarai
Downtown Clutch
Dyade

Look for future blogs on each projects since one of my other challenges is to blog at least 13 times a month. Oh...this just gets crazier and crazier...right.


I've been asked if I will actually make these goals.  To be honest, I'm not sure, it is a big challenge to finish 1.3 projects a week.   Instead of thinking that I've set myself up for failure, I look at as a way to motivate me  to use the resources I have.   Even though this is quite a challenge, I plan to have fun as I race to the finish line.  I'll probably set up some rewards along to way, for a pat on the back.


Well back to the daily grind. Toodles!

LYS....can be a dirty word

When I first started knitting, I purchased my yarn at chain stores like Michaels, Joanns, WalMart...etc.  Now there is nothing wrong with the yarn purchased in these stores.  And I was content to stock my stash from the lovelies found on their shelf.

But hanging out with a bunch of enabling yarn lovers (yes my lovely ladies of the Wednesday night knitting and crochet group, I am referring to you), I soon learned a new dangerous term....LYS, short for Local Yarn Store.  Yup as whole store for yarn.  Well most have other fiber related goodies, but yarn is the star of the show. And the yarn, well you don't get these goods at the big box chain stores.

Now I'm not a yarn snob, and the yarn in the chain stores has a happy home in my hoard stash cabinet.  But the first time I visited a Local Yarn Store, I lost my ever-loving mind.   My oh my....who knew such lushness  could be found stocked is these small retail locations.  I'd done some web surfing and even jumped out on a limb and made a couple of on-line purchases.  But there is nothing like stepping into a brick and mortar  yarn shop.  The colors and textures sweep you and your wallet up into a euphoric frenzy...in a good way...I think.

The good....hands on interaction with lots of fiber goodies.  I mean really, there may be something very wrong with fiber lovers, the way we moan and sigh as we touch and pet a skein of yarn.  In a yarn store, such behavior is overlooked. If we did this on the street, people would likely give us a wide berth.

The bad...at least for me...there is no calculator automatically keeping a running total of purchases.  Talking about sticker shock when my total gets rung up.

So how does one go about finding and LYSs in the area:

1.  Enablers....join a knitting or crochet group and I guarantee, they'll help you out there (see paragraph 2 for an example)
2.  The Internet...do a search of "local yarn store".  You can limit the search to your area or do a city, state, country or global search.  Google, yahoo, yelp and other such sites are great ways to locate LYSs
3. Ravelry.....the mecca of yarn related arts.  Yup you'll find out about yarn shops there...but be warned, once you get into Ravelry, you can't get out :)
4. Smart phone apps....um-hmm.  There are a number of LYS related apps for both Android and iphone. I am not sure about Windows phones, since it's been eons since I've played around with one of these.
5. Old fashioned yellow pages...I guess you could use this.  But since it's been eons since I've used them, I'd probably have to use the internet to look up tips on how to use the yellow pages.  Sad, I know.

In some upcoming posts, I'll talk about some of the LYSs that I've had the pleasure of visiting. I'll also talk about LYS crawls.  OMG....what's more fun than visiting yarn stores...taking a friend or friends and hopping to several in a day!

Where does the time go

Well it's no secret that I pretty much suck at blogging.  I sucked at keeping a diary, so it's no surprise that my blogging would suffer the same fate.

Good grief, it's been 365 days since my last post.  Ha...I actually started this post a couple of days ago, can I get points for almost sliding in under a year?

So what have I been doing this past year....no I mean 365 days that has kept me way too occupied to even stop in and say hello?  Well I've been knitting, crocheting (minimal) and I picked up two new fiber arts...dyeing yarn and spinning yarn!  Yup I'm a fully fledged fiber junky. I'll catch you up on all of those new fun activities in future posts.  (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...suck at blogging...blah, blah, blah). I am trying to get better and hopefully my 2013 goals will keep me on track.

I joined the 13 in 2013 group over on Ravelry and made some pretty aggressive goals:
13 knit or crochet projects from 13 different books
13 knit or crochet projects from 13 different magazines
13 knit or crochet projects from 13 different pattern purchases

Wait...that's 39 projects...in one year...{glup}....I think I may have finally lost my mind. But as a craft book and magazine hoarder, I have tons of books. And that Ravelry...whoo, you'd think I would be happy with the kabillion free patterns. Noooo....I have to go buy patterns.  That said, I need to start using these purchases and nows the time to do it.   Will I get all 39 projects done?  Who knows...I plan to give it my best, but keep it fun while doing it.

I plan to add one more goal, to blog at least 13 times a month (rolls eyes at self and falls out of chair laughing at this one.) Yeah...trying to figure out when I'll have time to blog, when there should be a hook or needles in my hands during all of my free time.

In the mean time, while I get prepared for my 2013 goals, here are a few pictures of some of my hand dyed yarns and my first handspun.  Enjoy!

Toodles for now!

Knit on...knitter!

A few months ago I learned to cast on and do rows of knit stitches...about a week later, I forgot how.

I have picked up the knitting needles again. But I think they should be registered as a deadly weapon in my hands.  How it happened, I couldn't even begin to explain...but somehow one of the needles went sailing behind me. YIKES!  I was home alone, so there was no victim in my deadly assault with pointy objects.

But I would not be deterred. I picked up the needle and bumbled on....and guess what....I'M KNITTING!  And not just making random swatches. I'm working in this cool scarf. It's all knit stitches. But once the stiches are finished, they will be ripped out to make a cool fringe.

Wait...what? I know, sounds crazy to do all that work and rip it out.  But I saw this done at our crochet/knitting meetup and knew I had to make one.

Besides, I'm very familiar with ripping out stitches.

Knit on!

Make 'em say um....she's a knitter

Just call me the Master P of knitting.  When Master P "danced" on Dancing With the Stars, it was clumsy, awkward and painful to watch...but he did er...um...dance.

Well, this is what I think I look like while knitting...clumsy, awkward and painful to watch...but I am knitting.

My first stockinette stitch swatch

Bustin' Out

So I think we have established the fact that I don't have sense enough to start out with simple projects when taking on a new craft....this is both good and bad. The good...my CADDed (Craft Attention Deficit Disordered)  muse can be entertained for a hot second before her mind wonders elsewhere.   The bad...I usually have not grasped the basics and have to learn them as I navigate through the project.  Well, that's not always bad, just challenging sometimes.

After only crocheting about a good 3 weeks, I decided I wanted to take on a more challenging project than the market bag. I decided take on what I thought would be a simple top.

WRONG! It really should have been simple, but I found out that I really really really needed to learn to read and understand patterns...in the event I would come upon a pattern that wasn't...hmmm not quite right.

I found a neat summer top on LionBrand's site.  The Light n' Lively Tank was a must make for me. 

I should have taken the hint when I couldn't get the gauge right. I went down two hook sizes and was still off by two stitches.

Things started out ok.  The cups were a breeze to make....er...they were a little on the small size. But since I would be wearing another top under it, that was cool. But after getting them attached to the bodice...I knew I would surely have to increase their size)

Well knowing that I would need to go up a cup size, I decided to rip out the stitches....and would do that 4 or 5 more times. (Note: I have found out that this is a frustrating act.  Demolishing all the work you have done...not fun.)

I went up a size on the pattern and was somewhat comfortable with the cup size...they were still on the small size.  But I decided to go ahead and work on the bodice.

I finished some of the bodice and to my dismay, it was waaaaaaay too big.  After ripping out a couple of more times and consulting others, it was decided that the pattern was not well written.  The cups ran small and the bodice ran large. After all was said and don, I ended up removing almost 30  stitches from the bodice.  Which according to the pattern would have made this thing and XXS...no way I can squeeze into anything with S in it.  But whatever. I was ticked at this time and determined to finish this top. So stubbornly I went along. I decided to do the back and straps earlier in the pattern than recommended...it certainly made trying it on easier. 

I also decided to stop doing the increases. I was not pleased with the way the thing was blossoming out.  I now wish I hadn't done any increasing because it looks like a freaking maternity dress. 

I was so frustrated and tired of seeing this color that I had to put the project down for a couple of weeks.  Now I'm at a cross roads.  I can for the life of me figure out what the larger holes are that appear...I think they are the increases.  Also I hate the way it fits.  It does not fit close to the body like the pattern picture shows.

Believe it or not, I am really considering ripping it out yet again....grrrrr!

Yarn dropping at my door

I'm sitting on the couch minding my own business, when I hear a knock at the door. Hmmm....I'm not expecting company.  It turns out that it's the UPS guy, well one of the guys (not that I know a lot of them because I have stuff delivered on a regular basis...well...er...um {whistles and moves along}.

Mr. UPS guy has a package for me....really it was for little old me.  How nice of him, to bring my new yarn...wait I don't know that it's yarn since according to the beginning of the post, I was sitting there minding my own business...well...er...um {whistles and moves along}.

I open the package and what a surprise....it's yarn, my newest crafting supply obsession.  It's a lovely Cotton/micro acrylic blend from an Italian yarn maker named Berlini named Peppi . I ordred from Numei  Now being new to the yarn game, I did some online research before ordering.   I didn't see very many reviews, but none of them were bad, so I figured why not.  

{shhhhh}Come closer...just a secret between you and me.  I may be new to the yarn game, but I know a bargain when I see it.   The yarn comes in 191 yard balls and individually run $5.99...but for they also have them a bag of 10 for $14.90.  In the words of Sheldon....."BAZINGA!"  Now that's a deal. And they quite a few yarns at closeout prices.  Even better, it looks like you can get most of their yarns as a bag of 10 for at least 50% of the regular price. Plus the shipping was super fast. It's a winner for me...but {shhhhh} don't go running off and telling everybody.

I need to interject, I really had no idea what the yarn would look like, I was basically trying to find a lightweight yarn to begin practice on some advanced crochet projects I want to do.  Yeah, I know...beginner crocheter/knitter and all...but remember I like doing things the hard way. But don't worry, you'll be hearing more on  those projects later.



Peppi in Island Blue and Firecracker

Stashing...hording....nope I still like stashing better.  My growing pile of yarn needs somewhere to grow....um I mean go.  (Please excuse my craft supply hording tendencies for showing themselves.)  Really, I have no idea where I am going to keep this growing pile of yarn.  Oh well I'll ponder that later. Right now I'm off to play with my new yarn.

I knitted...and no one got hurt

I always pictured me and knitting needles as an accident waiting to happen.  Plus no matter how many books, articles or videos I viewed, it seemed so complicated.

The crochet group I  recently joined, frequently meets with a knitting group. This combo makes perfect sense to me. I don't understand that beef between the two fiber groups. Are they like gangs or something. Do they come across each other and ask "What set you claiming...needles or hooks?"

Anyway the week before, Deb was assisting some new knitters and i asked if she would be willing to teach me. I gave her warning...I knew nothing of knitting, didn't know a knit from a purl and what the heck did "cast on" mean.  She said no problem. And she was right....no problem.

In less than an hour, she'd taught me to cast on (I'm not sure what the on needle cast on method is called) and the knit stitch.

Whoopee! I've got the hang of it...and I managed to keep the needles in hand, no injuries to anyone.

I will become a fiber artist yet.