Minor Sweater Surgery: Fledgling Featherweight

This year, I've decided my goal is to knit and spin through all the yarn in my stash before I buy anything new. First thing on my list is to finish any unfinished objects hiding out in my closet. Last May I started knitting the fledgling featherweight by Hannah Fettig of Knitbot. This little cardigan was top priority as little people grow rather quickly, and who knows how much longer Sadie will be able to wear it. I knit the size 2, and the pattern is sized from age 2 to 12 years.

I put it away months ago when I only had one sleeve cuff and the collar band left to knit. I was frustrated because I didn't like the way the cuffs were knitting up. It was so sloppy and uneven and I was dropping stitches all over the place. The gauge was so loose that it was difficult to easily fix mistakes, or see them for that matter. I knit the body of the garment with size 6 Addi Turbo Lace needles which seemed to work well with the looser gauge the pattern requires. The problem happened when I switched to my Clover bamboo DPNs (double-pointed needles) to knit the sleeves in the round. You can see from the picture above a distinct line on the sleeve where the stitches begin to look a lot sloppier than the rest of the garment, especially the cuff ribbing.  

After washing and blocking the cardigan, I realized there was only one solution: re-knit the cuffs. 

I picked up stitches in the row directly below the ribbing.

I cut off the bind-off row and carefully unraveled back to my needles. This was not easy as the yarn, Malabrigo Lace Merino, is extremely sticky, especially after washing it. I then reknit the cuff with size 3 DPNs from Knit Picks in their rainbow wood. I used fresh yarn to knit these as the yarn I unraveled was felted and fuzzy and no longer very pretty. Not a big deal as I had plenty of yarn left. 

Huge difference, and I'm much happier with the result. 

Both cuffs re-knit with the waste yarn I cut off.

Oh, what a difference 3 needle sizes makes. It also had a lot to do with the slickness (or lack thereof) of the different types of needles. I have to say that at this point in my knitting journey, I definitely prefer nickel-plated needles to wood. Knit Picks rainbow wood needles aren't bad as they are a lot slicker than some of the plain bamboo ones out there. 

Great fit on my 28-lb 2-year-old. 

Yarn is Malabrigo Lace Merino in Damask Rose.

Finished Object: Eole for Girls Cardigan

Earlier this summer, we visited Guthrie, Ok and made a stop at the local yarn shop, Sealed With a Kiss.

They were having a sale.

This tub was filled with knitted samples, all discounted. Some gorgeous stuff in there. Can I climb in?

The bench outside the shop.

I got to browse the shop while he kept the little one occupied.

I found some discontinued yarn that was 70% off, so I bought a toddler's sweater's worth, and a sweater's worth for me. It's 100% wool, 8ply, DK weight. This should be a hard-wearing wool that won't pill easily. The only downside of buying a discontinued yarn is that if I run out, it will be really hard to find more. I bought all the remaining Lilac and Grey balls that they had left.

Four months later, I cast on the Eole for Girls cardigan.

It has the cleverest design; I love the unique increases on the sleeves, with its windmill pattern.

The sweater is finished with an I-cord bind-off around the entire edging. It took some fiddling with a lot of different needles, but I managed it.

Here it is finished and blocking.

And on my happy little model.

Dyeing Yarn with Food Color and Kool-Aid

Hello, all.

I've been doing a bit more spinning lately, and so I've been stalking some Etsy shops for their hand-painted wool tops. Some of the color ways are so gorgeous, if I had an unlimited cash supply, I would be lost somewhere under a huge pile of wool.

By far, one of the best shops I found is SpunRightRound. Her colors are amazing. I love the sock yarn she has in the colorway called, "Graffiti."

I had to wonder if I could create something similar myself. The results: I did not even come close to the yarn I was coveting, but this is what I did create with some Lion Brand yarn and food coloring:

Although my finished product looked nothing like what I hoped, it didn't turn out too bad. Here is what I did:

I started out with this Lion's Brand Fishermen's Wool. 

I wound about 1/4 of it onto my homemade niddy noddy. Here is a tutorial to make your own. It cost less than $5 to make. 

Picked up some McCormick Assorted food coloring in standard primary colors + green.

Since I used food-safe dye, I simply used a large cooking skillet we have. I filled the skillet with enough lukewarm water to barely cover the yarn, then soaked the yarn thoroughly. 

Some other supplies I used: plastic wrap to protect the countertops, glass jars for mixing and I also decided to use this Grape Kool-Aid on another skein of wool.

Once the wool was soaked, I turned the heat onto medium high.

I used a tablespoon of water per glass jar, and started mixing some of the primaries together in an attempt to create pink, purple and turquoise. Just a few drops of color in each. 

As the wool heated up, I started dropping in the food coloring, starting with yellow. Don't ask me why, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I then layered other colors, only dropping in a a drop or two at a time. As the water heated, the colors began to run.

I used this medicine dropper for the dyes I pre-mixed, rinsing it between colors. 

I think I should've waited until the pot was simmering to add dye. Maybe the dye would've set faster, creating less mixing of colors.

Probably less water next time too, so the dyes can't run so easily. Water is simmering here, not boiling. 

This was the Grape Kool-Aid pot. I stirred in the Kool-Aid first and added the wool dry, so it would soak up the dye unevenly.

Almost forgot, I added white vinegar to both pots in order to set the dye. I let the yarn simmer for about 30 minutes, then let it cool down before removing from the dye pot. Here it is rinsing in the kitchen sink. 

I hung it up to dry overnight, hanging over the washer to catch any drippings.

And here are the finished products.

You can see here where the purple dye separated a bit into a light blue.

I'll probably use it to knit up a bag then felt it. What do you think?

Qiviut Haul

This summer we took a trip to my husband's home town of Nome, Alaska. 

While there, I got to see the prehistoric musk ox that roam wild over the tundra.

Luckily for me, it was the time of year that they begin shedding their downy undercoat.

Called qiviut, it is eight times warmer than wool and softer than cashmere. 

We spent an afternoon, braving the mosquitoes, collecting it from the willows.

My mother-in-law brought me to visit a local woman who is an expert spinner and knitter of qiviut. She sends hers to a mill to be processed into roving and also spun into wool yarn. These skeins were so squishy soft. They were about 80% qiviut, 20% wool.

She taught me how to spin with a drop spindle and was kind enough to give me one.

When I got home, I washed the qiviut by adding a little soap to some very hot water and squishing it around. I rinsed and repeated a couple of times. A lot of dirt came out of this stuff, as you can probably imagine. Another great thing about this fiber is that it doesn't felt, no matter how hot the water. 

Hand spinning with a drop spindle does take practice, but I'm determined to learn. 

I doubt I'll attempt to spin all the qiviut I collected this summer with this spindle. 

(Santa mentioned something about a spinning wheel for Christmas.)