Part Two: A Gal and Her Goat...

Just a quick update to let you know how my goaty goals are coming along!

(For a recap about what the heck I am talking about, check out my other blog posts here and here).

I have spun over half of my singles now. I started plying a few skeins because I needed to free up some bobbins for the rest of my fibre!

Spinning up my mountain goat fibre is taking me a little longer than I expected it to, mostly because I have been distracted by all the pretttttyyyy colours I have made dyeing! However, I do wish to get this done soon! I am hoping to have all the fibre spun and plied by the end of May. I also hope to have a swatch knitted in the next few weeks.

Fingers crossed!
-Grace

A Little Off Topic... Saturday Night

 

I had a hot date with my husband this weekend.

It involved pizza, Lego, watching Star Wars Episode 2, and having an awesome time.

Cameron treated me to the Jabba's Palace Lego set as an Easter present, and he bought himself the Rancor Pit (which fits right beneath the finished palace). We watched an episode of Star Wars we haven't seen since it was in theatres, ordered in some pizza, and spent the evening building away.

Magnum helped.

Afterwards, Cameron found my old Lego Stegosaurus he bought for me ages ago, and worked on that up while I finished up my own Lego.

So. Awesome.

Ok, back to yarn now.

Dyeing... Touching Base

In the last few weeks, I have been REALLY into dyeing my own yarn.  I have played a little with roving, but most of my experimentation has used wee little samples of DK or worsted weight super-wash wool yarn. I bought the entire spectrum of colours available in one fantastic line of acid dyes, and I set about dyeing little samples of each colour. I want to establish my own colour palette, and I need to see what my base colours look like before I can do that.

First I created one litre bottles of stock in every colour... now I have a wonderful supply in my cabinet that I can pull out whenever I need!

Then I set about working my way around the colour wheel, making both light and bold samples of each colour of stock.

I have been making precise measurements and recording notes as I go. I have been taking care to make sure that all my results are completely "re-creatable".

I have been dip-dyeing and steaming my results... for these tests, that seems to be the quickest and most efficient way to get through ALL those colours at once in my tiny little work space!

I played around just a LITTLE bit with colour blending... mostly to see if I could make my own green.  I wasn't very happy with the first results, so I over-dyed it again with a stronger solution, and I am quite happy with this new shade. However, I have decided to complete my studies of all the base colours before I start a separate study of my entire pallet - making samples of all the blending options I have between dye stocks!

When all my samples were steamed and dried, I wrapped small lengths of yarn around index cards so I have easy access to a visual record of each colour. Now I can pull these out to see with my own eyes what each colour looks like before I set about designing a future colour combination.

Next stop: To create samples of the entire palette available to me. This will include tests with black dye and weak solutions so I can see all the tints and shades of my base colours. I have already got a start on it now, and will share the results as soon as I have them photographed!

Special thanks to my lovely sister Michelle for helping me take photos of the process!

Cheers! 

-Grace

East Van Doc Toppers

I have another new FREE pattern to release! My East Van Doc Toppers - they look like a full pair of socks, but they aren't! These thin little leg-warmers are a great way to tackle some of those single skeins of sock yarn you have in your stash... 

From the pattern notes:

"I created these leg-warmers as an easy way to add a splash of colour to my wardrobe; I had three-quarters of a skein left over from a sweater project, and I wanted to make some easy, feminine matching leg-warmers. Don’t even have THAT much yarn? Just make them shorter! After all, they are just supposed to poke out the top of your boots! They will look like nice long socks, but with a fraction of the knitting time!"

You can download the pattern here!

Or nab it in my Raverly Store.

I hope you enjoy!

Cheers!

-Grace     

Now On Twitter!

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@ThinkSweetGrace

...or "Like" my page on Facebook to be updated on all the latest news!

Cheers!
-Grace

Terminal And Main - Cowl and Hat Pattern

Today I have released my first paid pattern: Terminal and Main, a pattern for a slouchy hat or cowl.

From the pattern notes:

"This pattern is designed to finesse our intermediate knitting skills while creating a fun and funky cowl or hat. By the time this project is completed, the knitter will be well-practised in multiple varieties of increases and decreases, working in the round, and creating textured patterns involving simple lace and seed stitch. This pattern can be easily adjusted as well; with a little math, it can be made larger or smaller, or completed with a different weight of yarn."

This pattern can be made larger or smaller by adjusting the amount of stitches cast on in multiples of 4 or knit in a different weight of yarn.

This is the pattern I teach how to complete in my Knitting 202: Beyond the Scarf class at Bird On A Wire! Want to learn in person? Check out more info on here.

This pattern can be purchased here for a special introductory price of $2.99 (Canadian) until March 31st 2013. As of April 1st, it will be available for $4.99, so scoop up your copy soon!

And please check out my other patterns in my Ravelry Pattern Store.

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers!
-Grace

Happier Than A Pig In... Pink!

This weekend I tried dyeing some yarn! I have had a little experience with acid dyes under the instruction of my good friend Jo Anne, and I have been craving to give it another go for a while now. So last week, I bought some acid dyes from Maiwa on Granville Island and started to play with some different hand-painting techniques. I have only cracked open one colour so far - but even playing with different dilutions of a single shade has provided me with lots of inspiration and experimentation!

I tested out a few different strengths of one shade of fuchsia - just by adding more water, I got paler shades of pink.

Than I hand-painted two skeins to try to achieve a "tonal" look. The first skein is purposely lighter than the other.

I was fairly happy with the lighter skein, but I thought the colours in the darker skein were too broken up. So the next day, I decided to try to over-dye both skeins in a diluted shade of fuchsia to see if I could even out the colours a little.

The bottom skein in the above photo is my first/lighter skein and top skein is my second/darker skein.  I was VERY happy with how the first skein turned out. I think the second skein is now a little too dark overall and is still has too much contrast between shades.

So just for kicks, I dyed a third skein, with a different technique to try to get the subtle colour shifts I was looking for. I wanted just a little bit of variation, so the yarn would look like a solid colour from a distance but still have a little bit of contrast to add some interest.  I believe I had success with this third skein! (Featured on the bottom of the photo below.)

I knitted up a little bit of each skein to see what the swatches would look like! In conclusion, I was equally happy with the results from skeins 1 and 3, but the third skein required less steps and gave me a more consistent look overall. If I was going to recreate a slightly-tonal yarn again, I would use the same procedure I tried on the third skein. I took photos of the swatches, but the photo for my second skein turned out HORRIBLE, and I frogged it before I checked it properly on the computer - my bad! So I apologize for the crappy comparison photos below! In order, they feature skeins 1, 2 and 3:

I can't wait to try out some more dying! Next, I want to create a lighter tonal pink yarn, then start to play with some purple.. I'm going to work my way around that colour wheel :D

Cheers!
-Grace