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We are now one month away from Sock Summit, and preparations are definitely moving into high gear. Base yarn is on perpetual re-order, and I mutter grumpily about how Kraemer’s Sterling yarn is out of stock until too late. The near-constant use of equipment is taking its toll in the studios of indie dyers from coast to coast. First, Jennifer’s second best dye-pot blew up, then one of my Rubbermaid soaking tubs developed a crack that slowly leaks water.
The thin grey line in the middle of the picture? Leaky crack. I can still use the basin for soaking and washing dyed yarn if it’s in the sink, but next time I’m at Fred Meyer’s Wall o’Rubbermaid I’ll need to get a replacement.
And what have I been dyeing? Sock Summit and Ravelry are sponsoring a contest for dyers selling in the Sock Summit marketplace, called Dye for Glory, and I’ve worked up a couple of colorways to enter. One goes by the catchy name of Clown Barf, a term of affection that knitters apply to particularly BRIGHT colorways. This is my version:
Available in my Etsy shop, of course!
We had a run of lovely warm weather, so the roses have been happy. Here is a bloom of Just Joey, a lovely apricot rose with a delightful scent that thrives in the Northwest. No black spot!
I finished the small sock that I started on World Wide Knit in Public Day. It’s another Wee Tiny Sock, done with no changes this time, just simple and easy.
Nothing quite matched it in the garden at the moment, but it goes nicely with this purple something-or-other.
I now have three tiny socks. Sock Summit lasts 4 days, so perhaps I need a different sock pin for each day?
The pink striped rose is now in quite full bloom, and it scents the whole front yard.
You don’t even have to take time to smell the roses, they come and get you! But taking a moment to stick your nose into a bloom is just divine.
These small socks are quite addictive to make! Since one was clearly not enough I made another one, in some test yarn from when I was developing my Pink Tulip Tree colorway.
Best picked in the morning hours
This is the Wee Tiny Sock pattern by Emily Ivey, and features a wee ribbed cuff, and a wee heel flap. I added the wee cables.
The rose is either Fernand Pichard or Honorine de Brabant — there has been discussion in the comments about this.
And why didn’t I like using the removable zip ties for skeins of yarn being dyed?
Their tails, or maybe snouts, got tangled up in the yarn, making extra work to get the skein to lie nicely. See left, below.
Also, they tended to fall to the bottom of the skein when it was lifted up, and then stay clustered together rather than being nicely spaced around the skein. See right, above.
Additionally, they weren’t easy to reopen — the tab to press down to release the zippy part was tiny, tiny. I spent more time fussing with them that it would have taken to tie a piece of string. to begin with. Sometimes one just wouldn’t release at all, forcing me to cut it, which negated the whole point.
On the plus side, I now have a supply of nicely dyed zip ties I can use in the garden.
I can dye some for you too — they don’t even have to be green!
I’ve been working on a small shawl, to demonstrate that my Sterling Sheep yarn doesn’t have to be used for socks, and also that you can get a nice sized shawl from one skein.
Finished!
Here it is, done at last. It’s the Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn Clark, which I’ve done before. A lovely design, well written pattern, adaptable to many yarn weights. I did an extra row of the border lace to make it as big as possible . . .
Last scrap
and ended up with this much yarn left over. About five and half feet. I’d say that’s an efficient use of one skein!
Splish splash, I was taking a bath
Of course, a piece of knitted lace isn’t really done until it’s washed
Pinned!
and blocked
And an arty picture taken of it.
On the weaving front, it is only weaving in the most generous sense of the word — there is warp, three strands, and weft, six strands.
No blocking required
I hacked back some bamboo and trimmed the leaves off the canes. Then I pulled out the old bamboo X that the hops vines were climbing up and used the trimmed bamboo to make this woven trellis. I also yanked out the dead Cape honeysuckle that the hops were tangled up in, but that’s growing back from the roots, even though the very woody old growth got killed off this past winter.
