Emptyknitster

After the kiddos finished their Easter egg dyeing we started in on the sock yarn dyeing! I was surprised how much everyone enjoyed it.They understand the socks will be fraternal and they don’t mind a bit. Sarah painted five sunflowers with blue sky in the background on her sock blank. Socks are done! The Flying North Pattern was perfect for this busy yarn! As these socks were progressing I sent photos to the artist/dyer and she loves them.    We couldn't wait to wind the yarn up into cakes. I knit one sock from the outside of the cake toward the inside and then I started the second sock from the inside out. I did this because of the different shades in the yarn, ending in a fairly close match! Pattern: Flying North by Maria Montzka, Fish Lips Kiss Heel Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Stroll Strand Sock Blank Colorway: Sunflowers Needle Size: US Size 1

Last month I dyed some yarn using ice cubes . What started out as a disaster was over dyed into some pretty nice yarn. Not wanting to knit a vanilla sock and having used the usual male patterns I went on the hunt for a new one to try and Syncopation Socks fit the bill. I like the look of the unworn sock but when worn the pattern stretches out a bit and loses the unusual texture. Pattern: Syncopation by Mary Henninger Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Colorway: Blackberry Cobbler Needle Size: US Size 1

The Chick That Flew The Coop and NorDakFamily arrived last Tuesday and soon the Easter Festivities began. I had discovered a new game for the kiddos called Tenzie .  The rules and supplies are simple: Each player needs ten dice in an individual color. Everyone rolls the first roll at the same time, decides what number they are going to collect, and after the first roll there are no turns - just roll the dice to collect all of the number decided upon. When the player has collected  all ten of the same number he calls out "Tenzi!".  The kiddos liked playing, there was no pouting from anyone because as soon as one game was played (it took about two minutes) another started! Fun!! I also had some spring sun catchers for them to paint they loved doing them after running around outside and visiting the neighbor's horses. We had Easter early as the NorDakFamilly had to head home Easter morning so egg dying happened on Thursday: This year we used Koolaid to dye the eg...

This weekend my creative juices were really flowing. I decided to try a new dyeing technique I'd read about, ice cube yarn dying. I froze concentrated grape, strawberry and apple-kiwi koolaid into ice cube trays. Then I placed the ice cubes on the moist yarn. I placed the yarn in a low temperature oven for about an hour. The results were horrid, blotchy yarn in dull purple, BRIGHT red and splotchy green. Today I used a technique called tonal dying in an attempt to over dye the  yarn. I used blueberry koolaid and placed the dry yarn into a pot to simmer. I like the result...