je m'occupe

I have been going places and seeing things, in addition to sitting in class and wracking my brains for French expressions. Last week I went to Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap, in Trois Rivieres.

The place is huge and slightly terrifying. In addition to a basilica and a small original church, there's a massive park with artificial rivers and symbolic bridges.

To take pictures of the stained glass windows, I played with my camera's manual settings and used the wall and pews as steadying devices in absence of a tripod. It worked pretty well!

Yesterday, I went to Quebec City, and ended up with a load of mediocre photos. Seriously, none of them turned out the way I'd hoped. Ah well, I'll share some anyway. I'd been before, several years ago, and I'd forgotten how beautiful Vieux Quebec is.



The whole city smelled like lilacs. (Des lilas, en français.) Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I love lilacs and to have the smell wash over me as I wandered along made me happy.


Samuel de Champlain, you swashbuckler you!

I spent far too much on food yesterday, but it was worth it. I ate crêpes, answered in French to the serveuses who spoke to me in English, learned some new quebecois expressions, and encountered some interesting people.

Tomorrow, we have a much needed break - it may be Victoria Day in the rest of Canada, but here in Quebec it's the Journée nationale des patriotes. Ah, Quebec!

Des mots de jeudi

J'essaie d'écrire en français un peu aujourd'hui. Si quelqu'un parle français et trouve des erreurs (qui sont inévitable), corrigez-moi!

Ne paniquez pas: je n'ecrirai pas en français toujours...

(I'm trying to write in French today. If anyone reading this speaks French and finds my inevitable mistakes, please correct me! Don't panic: I won't write in French all the time...)


un autre fleur qui s'ouvre sur le campus

éclore

1. (Oeuf) S'ouvrir
2. Se dit d'une fleur en bouton qui s'ouvre
3. [fig] naître, paraître

~Le Robert Micro


1. to open out, to blossom; to hatch ; [fig] to develop
2. [fig] to dawn

~Larousse

WIP on Wednesday

Thanks for all the supportive comments. I'm already learning so much, and I'm glad I came. Damn, speaking/thinking/listening in French all day and night is exhausting, though.

I don't have enough projects to warrant a WIP Wednesday feature like some blogs have. But today is Wednesday, and I do have a work in progress to share.

Lavalette, by Kirsten Kapur


lumpy pre-blocked lace

This is my first lace-weight project, and it was a struggle to start. I botched the garter tab cast-on several times because of the tiny, slippery yarn. It's still not totally right, but it looks fine if you don't look too closely.


Stretched out

Demain je vais essayer de faire mon post en Français car j'apprend beaucoup de mots nouveaux ici. :)

Bonjour, etc etc

I'm safely settled in Trois-Rivières... and last night, along with about 350 other participants, I swore to speak French all the time and everywhere for the next 5 weeks. Right-o. I suppose the internet counts, but I don't think anyone is watching. Nonetheless, I'm trying to be conscientious about it since I really am here to learn - and I won't improve if I don't constantly speak French. So there it is.



Turns out that I have access to the internet in my room. Wahey! Another surprise is that the residence apartment I live in is clean and new - not at all grimy, dirty, or sketchy. Bonus. Though as the photo above shows, the view from my window is... spectacular. Ha. It's all good, and so far not too noisy.


These lovely, cute blossoms grace my walk to class. I don't know what they are, but I like them a lot. Anyone recognize it? It's a bush.

Tomorrow, a WIP on Wednesday.

Always packing.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the wilds of la belle province to do a 5 week French course. I'm excited since this is a great opportunity that costs me almost nothing, but I'm also nervous. The main reason that I'm not fluent in French yet, despite years of exposure through school, university, living in the nation's capital, and most recently working for the government, is that I don't practice speaking because I'm too scared. Until now! Or so I keep telling myself. I'm hoping this course will provide me the kick in the ass I require to use and improve my French. (I'm also hoping it will be super fun. We'll see!)

I'm going to miss watching the garden change through summer.


Nothing to do with anything, but the other day I opened the door and was overpowered by the smell of lilacs. Mmmmm.

So I'm packing. Whenever I try to fit things into a suitcase, I'm reminded of how much unnecessary crap I have. I'm a failed minimalist, since I don't WANT to be a person that owns a lot of stuff, but somehow I collect it and I have a hard time letting go.

I'm trying to pack as for a 5 week vacation, but I keep thinking of this as a packing dress-rehearsal. I have a huge trip coming up a few weeks after I return from Quebec.

In July, I'm going to the UK for an extended period of time. I'm actually moving there, although saying that still sounds impossible. But an extended stay of 2 years + counts as moving, right?

Seriously, that's a logical trajectory. Learn French - Move to the UK. Haha. Whatever. I've been planning this for literally years -- ever since I went on exchange, fell in love with a local boy, and realized that this relationship is worth much more than two or three visits per year. Until now it has been a distant hazy future sort of planning. Now that all the paperwork is sorted, it's starting to feel real, and there are real details to line up. It's all very serious and life-changing, and whatnot. But mostly exciting and terrifying. This is the trip I'm really excited about. And this is the trip that is looming in my head, even though I have a significantly shorter trip coming up tomorrow.

There will be time to sort through my entire collection of worldly possessions when I get back from Quebec, so I don't really need to think about that now. And yet, whenever I look at my suitcase, I start dreading that process, instead of worrying about what I'll need for 5 weeks of university accommodation, cafeteria meals, and weekend excursions.

Not sure what the internet situation will be for my time in Quebec, but I'm bringing my laptop along and hoping for the best. I'll aim for some travel blogging, but not going to make any promises.


Violets are my birth-flower, and we have lots of them in the lawn now.

Sigh. Packing beckons. Enjoy your May/June, everyone!

An FO? Yes! An FO for reals!

It's been too long since I finished a knitting project. I've been knitting a lot, but man. I feel like I'm not getting anywhere on the Noro socks. So, I started these two at a time socks last month to break things up a bit.


Green / Camo Maple Socks

Pattern: Sugar Maple by Melissa Morgan-Oakes

Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks

Mods: I knit the medium size, but didn't knit the full length for the ankles. I got bored and stopped at about 6 inches. I added length to the foot, to fit my 10 inch long feet.



This was my first try at knitting socks two at a time (henceforth abbreviated as 2AAT). It was... interesting. The 2AAT method described in Morgan-Oakes' book seemed intuitive up until the gussets; at that point, I messed something up and I didn't find the instructions helpful to get me out of the mess. Although I was able to sort it out to some degree, it never really recovered. The toe on one sock is a complete mess as a result - but I fudged the grafting a little so it looks okay. Anyway, it's good enough. Now that I know how it works, I think I'll be able to do it right the next time I try.... but I plan to try a different 2AAT method next time, anyway.

On the plus side, I like the mock cable pattern, and I love how the heels turned out.


Heel flaps are my friend. Short row heels, not so much. More on that later :P.

This is a difficult yarn to deal with, and I wasn't sure which pattern to use. This one looks okay, except the mock cables get lost in the black. The weird colours were the main thing that bothered me about it. From the ball, I had no idea there would be such extended runs of yellowish olive green. On my feet that's no problem, but it's not a colour I generally choose to wear. It's also rather splitty, which is too bad. Things aren't all negative, however: it's very soft and comfortable to wear, and the fit is great. The yarn was a gift, but now that I've tried it I don't think I would buy it for myself.

woolly words

I meant to post these words last week during Knit and Crochet Blog Week, but I totally forgot. So, a week late, my words are vaguely fibre related.

pannose
like felt
The Phrontistery

capric
having a goatlike smell; of, like or pertaining to goats
The Phrontistery

To avoid a pictureless post, here is some seasonal flora from around my home.

The crabapple trees are in full force.


The tulips were early and they may be all gone by the time the Tulip Festival gets going.


There is a forest of forget-me-nots on the lawn! My favourite :)

Too subtle?

I've run out of white sock yarn to dye at the moment, but I still had some Easter Egg dye mixed in the fridge, so I dyed some gray sock yarn.

The yarn, Fortissima Socka mit Bambou is 25% bamboo, which doesn't absorb food dyes. I knew this going in, and was interested in seeing how the yarn would absorb the dye. That said, I definitely didn't use enough dye, although I supplemented the green/blue Easter egg stuff with some Wiltons Royal Blue and Leaf Green.



The result is a light sage-greeny-blue. Very light. Possibly too light. I contemplated adding more dye or overdyeing it again, but it's growing on me. It's definitely more interesting than plain old gray, if you look at it closely. (Not that I have anything against gray; I just wanted to dye more yarn!)

I dumped the leaf green in when the dye bath was already hot, and I didn't stir, so it stuck in uneven places - this was kind of intentional. You may be able to see some light green traces.



I think the blue took unevenly as well, in some places.



I'm curious to see how this knits up. Next time, I'll probably use more dye and go for a brighter/deeper colour, but an experiment in subtlety isn't a bad thing.

What a Yarn: Knitting and crochet blog week, day 7

I am a yarn coveter. (coveteuse?) I gaze longingly at pictures of pretty yarn on the internet. In particular, I'm drawn to rich semi-solids.

Here's a short list pulled from my bookmarks that I go back to and ogle every so often:
SweetGeorgia
Madelinetosh
Sanguine Gryphon
Stricken Smitten
PrimaFiber
Tanis Fiber Arts

I'm also intensely curious about yarn made with Blue Faced Leicester fibre. It sounds like a miracle fibre! Long stapled wool resistant to pilling, yet super soft? sign me up. Unfortunately, yarn from this wool is elusive. While I can find examples on the internet, I haven't found much in actual yarn shops. I know, this is what the internet is for, and I'll get on that as soon as I have a disposable income :P. For now, I'll remain intensely curious.

Have you used yarns with BFL? Got any recommendations?



This blog week has been a really fun experience, and I'm happy I participated. Thanks to everyone else who participated - I enjoyed reading all the stories and looking at all the pictures. And thanks for commenting! :)

Liesl Revisited: knitcroblo6

Liesl then, September 2008

I finished Liesl in September 2008, and it turned out to be much more versatile than I had expected. I've worn it in every season. It works as a cover-up on chilly summer nights, and as an extra layer to make tank tops viable in spring or fall. Any layer is a good layer in the winter, and Liesl does nicely. Seriously, I think I wore this once a week at least this past winter.

The yarn I used is Zara Plus, a sproingy merino that has pilled a little, but not as much as expected. The sweater has gone from being slightly fancy, to worn-looking and comfortable, and back to presentable - pilling was worst at the middle stage. Miraculously (or, you know, this might be how yarn works), the pilling has pretty much stopped now. Hurray!


Liesl now, May 2010

It has definitely stretched, and it sags a little more in the back than it used to, but I don't really mind. I actually like how the neckline has stretched; when I knit the wide-neck version, I had expected it to turn out wider than it originally did. When it disintegrates, I know I'll be making this one again!


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Location, Location, Location: knitting and crochet blog week, day 5

I'm getting to the point where I am comfortable knitting most places. I'm kind of shy, so knitting in public didn't really appeal to me at first - having to field questions from curious strangers! Ack! But I've mostly gotten over that now.

This past semester I used knitting as a relaxation tool more than I ever have before, and carried around my Noro knee sock project to get a few calming stitches in before classes and during breaks. Pretty soon, some of my classmates and even instructors were keeping tabs on my progress. Too bad I still haven't finished the socks! I also discovered a few more knitters among my library school classmates - there were at least 6 in my children's literature class.


I knit on the train, or on long car journeys.

Knitting often happens in front of my computer if I'm using youtube to figure out techniques, or if I haven't printed off the pattern I'm using. Also, I tend to knit when talking on Skype. Skype is an important communication tool for me since my boyfriend lives excessively far away. I'm not sure he's always impressed when I say, "See! I'm making a sock!" and wave it in front of the webcam, though.

Now that I'm back home and the weather has been usually warm for spring (other than the snowfall the other day pffft), I have been doing some knitting on the patio!


The project on the chair is Sugar Maple from 2-at-a-Time Socks, by Melissa Morgan-Oakes - my first socks done two at a time. (Disaster stories forthcoming.)


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A New Skill: knitting and crochet blog week, day 4

There are loads of knitting and fibre-related things I don't know how to do yet that I'd like to try. Designing/writing up a pattern is one. Steeking, instarsia, needle-felting, and double-knitting are others.

However, I suspect I'm not alone in wanting to learn to spin.


This is a load of handspun that I received as a gift. I've been gradually dyeing it and using it, but one day I want to be able to make something like it.

One thing that attracts me to crafty pursuits in general is the idea that I can produce beautiful and useful things myself. I like being able to make something from scratch. Since becoming a committed knitter, I decided that someday I want all my sweaters to be handmade. I'd also like to become a better sewer to be able to produce more of the rest of my clothes - but that's a whole other blog post.



The logical progression of these thoughts is that I'd love to be able to make yarn to knit with. Being involved in another step in the creative process is really appealing to me. If (when) I learn to spin, I'll also have access to a variety of fibres that don't seem to be quite as available in mass produced yarn.

What is stopping me at the moment is fear of accumulated a fibre stash. But some day I'll get a drop-spindle and sign up for a spinning class.




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One Great Knitter: Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 3

When writing today's blog week post, I realized that I was gushing over not only this person's knitting greatness, but her many other inspiring qualities. I guess I could call this "An Inspirational Knitter," as a nod to yesterday's inspirational pattern post.

Kate Davies, designer of the popular Owls sweater and other sweaters and accessories, is also a writer, academic and a keen walker. All these things intertwine resulting in varied, interesting, and eloquent blog posts. I look forward to reading about her walking adventures in picturesque parts of Scotland, or investigations of textile history as much as I do her unique knitwear designs.

Kate recently had a stroke, and is now documenting her recovery on her blog. She has also set up another site to archive the cards and items she has received from friends, including many from the fibre-blogging world. It is scary for me to think about losing mobility, but Kate's writing about her own experiences learning how to walk again (and knit again) make for very inspiring reading.

I'll admit that I haven't knit any of her designs yet, but owls and Lyttleton are definitely on my list, and I know there will be more to come.



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An Inspirational Pattern: Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, day 2

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

The inspirational pattern I have chosen is Sylvi, by Mari Muinonen. I love the cabled vines on the back of the coat, and the relatively calm front design. Having never knit a coat before, this would be a massive project for me. But look at how awesome the results are!

Some of the many beautiful Sylvis out there


1. Jess Yarnmonster's Sylvi, 2. SpoK Bags' DSC_0013, 3. Anna's FlickrCorner's Front of Sylvi, 4. Litter Box House's sylvi back 3, 5. evelyn1969's Sylvi, 6. WoolPower's Sylvi, hood..., 7. impostinator's P1010547, 8. embla_2000's sylvi13, 9. orlinj02's DSC_1134

What is stopping me from casting on right away is the level of commitment needed to finish such a big project, and the hefty yarn requirements. In addition, I'm not sure if a knitted coat would be at all useful in my life, since I live in a land of extreme temperatures; however, I am planning a big move across the Atlantic to a place with a different climate, so maybe I'll make it when I get there!

I want one in green.

Thanks for the comments on yesterday's post. I'm having lots of fun perusing everyone's stories!



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Starting Out: knitting and crochet blog week 1

Today is the first day of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week.



For today's topic, "Starting Out," I found some objects associated with my knitting past to illustrate my reminiscences.

I've written about my knitterly beginnings on this blog a bit before, but chances are nobody has read that old post, so I'll reprise it here. Apologies if this seems like repetitive navel-gazing; this is a blog, after all!


baby sweater inspired by Knitting Without Tears, by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Knitting happened sporadically in my family growing up. My grandmother knit all the grandchildren intarsia animal sweaters - I remember giraffes, lions, and dinosaurs in sturdy acrylic. My dad even knit me the above sweater from Knitting Without Tears when I was a baby, although that may have been the first and last thing he knit.

My mom is primarily a sewer, but she is also a process-knitter, and she was the one who taught me to knit when I was a child. I can't remember whether I approached her with the request, or whether she offered to teach me, but I was probably 8 or 9 when I first learned. Then I forgot. Then she taught me again. Then I forgot. Then she taught me again. At some point it stuck. Conveniently, I've just moved back home, so I had a hunt for evidence of early knitting, and found a few things.



In between the learning and forgetting, I knit swatches from variegated acrylic yarn, almost exclusively. (Hello Red Heart!) That one could produce finished objects with a use or a purpose never seems to have occurred to me in my early knitting days. I was content to swatch away. I remember experimenting with beads, creating knitted pouches beaded on in inside: treasure pouches! I couldn't find any of these pouches, but I did find an early swatch that served as a doll blanket, pictured above.

My dad built me a knitting spool from a dowel with some nails with which I happily produced a family of snakes. No snakes remain, but I still have the spool:


One Chanukah, when I was 9 or 10 I received Sunny's Mittens, by Robin Hansen. This is a picture book about a girl learning to knit her own Lovikka mittens, including instructions for felted mittens from lopi yarn. This book eventually lead to my first proper FO, and I must have realized that knitting could be useful. It took me a few years of knitting on and off to finish them, and I grew out of the resulting mittens pretty quickly once they were finished.


But I made them, and I was pretty excited about that.

I dabbled in crochet in grade 7 and 8 after our Family Studies teacher taught the class to crochet, with the aim of producing an afghan for a homeless shelter. A friend of mine made some money crocheting squares for some recalcitrant boys who considered crocheting a threat to their 12-year-old masculinity, but were still required to hand in a square. I enthusiastically crocheted a lopsided rectangle for the cause, and went on to experiment. My favourite FO was a purse that I made without a pattern: it was sort of orange-y brown and cylindrical, and I was totally in love with it. Unfortunately, my locker got broken into in my the first week of high school, and it was stolen. I was heartbroken, and I basically haven't crocheted since. Haha. I'm not sure the two are directly connected, but hey. That's how I remember it.


Here's a weird crocheted pillbox hat thing from that era.

After that, I didn't knit much until university. I got back into knitting with Debbie Stoller's Stitch and Bitch, and got back into it in a huge way once Ravelry came along as an enabling tool for all things yarny. The rest is history!

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word/symbol/blogging/yarn

First, a weekly word. Then some rambles about blogging. Then some yarn. Excited?

Octothorpe

the symbol #

~Merriam Webster

Much cooler to say "octothorpe" than "pound sign" or "hash key," in my opinion.

In other news, I will be participating in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week next week.



I'm a pretty quiet blogger, and I don't really feel like part of any "blogging community" - I read lots of blogs, and I comment occasionally, but I'm mostly a lurker. I'm looking forward to finding new and fun knit/crochet blogs over the course of the week (because I clearly need to follow more blogs! Haha).

Anyway, I think the exercise will be interesting. Unlike November blog posting month, this one has daily suggested topics. So you won't be getting any random stressed out rambles. At least, that's not the plan.

By the way, I'm finished graduate school. So that crazy stress? Should be lifting any day now... Stress has become habitual.

I promised yarn, so here we go:



This is Elann Sock It To Me 4-Ply - the last two skeins of the batch I ordered. I used PAAS Easter egg dyes (50% off, hurray), and I'm surprised yet pleased at the results.

I followed this tutorial, except instead of steaming the yarn to set the colour, I used the microwave.

It has been awhile since I dyed Easter eggs, so I had forgotten that dye tablets don't resemble the colours they produce. Hurray! Experiments with no idea how it will turn out! I'm pretty happy with it, and it reminds me a bit of rainbow sherbet. Mmmm childhood.

Thursday Word: Cachinnate

Tomorrow I will attend my last class of graduate school, which has turned me into a complete crazy person for the last few months or weeks. So today's word is appropriate.

Cachinnate
laugh loudly and in an unrestrained way
~Free Online Dictionary

I predict much cachinnation tomorrow starting at around noon. Possibly accompanied by consumption of fine ale, but maybe not. There might be cachinnation before that coming from various faculty members as I do one final group presentation... but that's kind of a worst-case scenario, since database design turns out not to be that funny.

What's a word for a mixture of excitement and trepidation? Because that's what I feel right now. So ready to be done this degree...

Word... Friday.

Fustian

n.

1.
a. A coarse sturdy cloth made of cotton and flax.
b. Any of several thick twilled cotton fabrics, such as corduroy, having a short nap.
2. Pretentious speech or writing; pompous language.

adj.

1. Made of or as if of fustian
2. Pompous, bombastic, and ranting

~Free Online Dictionary


Nothing to do with the word, but it was a lucky picture the other day. Anybody know what this odd rectangular beetle is?

Most of the new words I learn come from trawling dictionaries, but this one I learned from literature.

"A thief in fustian is a vulgar character, scarcely to be thought of by persons of refinement; but dress him in green velvet, with a high-crowned hat, and change the scene of his operations, from a thickly peopled city to a mountain road, and you shall find in him the very soul of poetry and adventure."
~Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens

magenta to purple: success!

Last night, this:



became this:


I used maybe a 1/4 teaspoon of Wilton's royal blue, and I could have used less.

The camera lies: the first yarn is a brighter magenta colour in unnatural light, and the second is really a deep Western purple: not navy blue.

The magenta yarn is the same I used for my Endpaper mitts two years ago. (TWO YEARS?! Gah!)



It's not really my colour, and I've been trying to find a project for the remaining skein ever since. This dyeing thing. It's addictive and terribly exciting. And now I have a colour of yarn I will actually use! This is only going to encourage me to dye more.

Twist Collective and summery weather

Twist Collective Spring/Summer 2010 is out, and the weather in London, ON is suspiciously summer like. I've been sitting on my tiny little porch brewing sun tea and knitting, listening to the birds, and avoiding my last few projects for library school. I'm waiting for the other shoe, as it were.

But anyway. I eagerly look forward to this online magazine for the usually beautiful photography as much as for the patterns and articles. Vivian is my only Twist project so far, but there will be more in the future, I promise.

I'm not really a spring/summer knitter, so I didn't expect to find much in this particular issue, but there are a few things I might make. Eventually. (It's a good thing I'm not in love with the entire issue, given how many Twist Collective patterns I have in my queue). Perhaps predictably, I've gravitated towards the more long-sleeved garments that I could see working for fall, rather than the airy summer tops.

Abrazo
This shawl is sweet and pretty. I will keep it in mind, but there are so many sweet/pretty other shawl/shawlette/scarf things in my queue, and I think these will take precendence.

Tanis
For me, this is one of the most wearable items in the issue. It's not super-duper exciting or groundbreaking, but it's totally wearable and I respect that. I like the button details.

Timpani
This strikes me as a good fall jacket, maybe in something 100% wool. I think it's neat-looking, and I'm intrigued by the construction. Never thought I was into faux marching-band styling... but hey! Looks cool.

Vym and Wallflower are both socks that I think would be awesome as fingerless mitts instead. I don't think stranded socks are particularly summery, since they would be so so warm! But I do love the colour patterns.

Word: Crepuscular

Crepuscular

1. of, pertaining to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct.
2. Zoology. appearing or active in the twilight, as certain bats and insects.

~Dictionary.com

I'm sure I've learned this word before. To me, it sounds like a word describing the exoskeleton of some creature of the deep rather than something associated with twilight, that mysterious, brooding, and romantic time of night. (note: I'm talking about twilight, not Twilight with a capital T :P).

spring greens / neon returns

Dyeing attempt #2 with the Elann Sock It To Me 4-ply. (Initially typed 4-play, whoops! Hello, Freud.)

I used Wiltons in Leaf Green and lemon-lime Kool Aid to achieve these cheery bundles. I hoped the kool aid would provide enough acid, but it didn't look like it would exhaust, so I added more lemon juice, which helped. I also added a pinch of salt to the dye bath; rumour is that helps with dye in which blue is involved. Hard to say whether it did or not.

In low light, such as is now shining in my window, the yarn looks very bright green. In these photos it's a little more subdued-looking.



I'm having a hard time deciding what colour it really is. The close-up shot above is not colour-accurate.


You may be able to see the subtle semi-solid thing happening in this picture. I dig it. I'm tempted to say it's the only subtle thing about this yarn, haha. But in truth I wasn't going for subtle.

I'm considering overdyeing this to try to get a darker green, but the more I look at it the more I like it. I envision Twisted in a bright green like this, so maybe I'll just go for it and save darker green for another day. Two more skeins of Sock It To Me left...

Hazards of kitchen dyeing, or: bundles of sunshine

If you dye yarn in your kitchen and you have housemates, chances are un-crafty housemates will think you are crazy. They might be right.

While I was soaking some white sock yarn in a big pot on the stove, this conversation transpired:

Housemate: I'm going to get some dinner.
Me: Okay, enjoy.
Housemate: Good luck with...er *eyes pot suspiciously* whatever it is you're... uh.. making.

I later found out she thought I was making an obscene amount of noodles. Indeed, white sock yarn in a pot might look a little like a crapload of vermicelli. Then she returned to find the big pot still full of "noodles," only now they were a vibrant shade of yellow... Good times.


Now I have bundles of sunshine and they make me super happy.

The yarn is Elann Sock It To Me 4 ply - a yarn so incredibly cheap, yet fairly highly rated, that I wondered how I'd never come across it before. This was my first Elann ordering experience, and it will not be the last. In a fit of madness I ordered 6 balls, which is enough for 3 pairs of socks. Plus shipping, it came out to just under $20 - the average cost for a hank of reputable sock yarn. At this rate, handknit socks are practically affordable. ;)



Now, I don't know how it will wear, although ravelry users suggest it's pretty good for the price. It's not the softest 4-ply ever - I won't be making any scarves out of it. But it dyed up pretty well, and I'm totally excited about dyeing more. (In truth, I dyed more today: pics forthcoming).



I used Wiltons icing dye in Golden Yellow. I didn't keep track of how much, to be honest. I kept adding until I felt like it was enough. This was also an experiment in using lemon juice as the acid. I've used vinegar before to set food colouring dye, and it has worked okay, but my current house has terrible ventilation, and my bedroom is right off the kitchen, and I hate hate hate the smell of vinegar... so I wasn't willing to try that in this house. I started out with the juice of half a lemon, and by the end I'd added the other half as well, so I hope that was enough. Apparently lemon juice is slightly more acidic than vinegar anyway, which suggests that I wouldn't need as much; I never measured the vinegar I used to use, so this comparison is meaningless to me.

Anyway. Fun experiment. Next time: green that may be slightly more neon than I intended...