My dye lessons - and a new pattern!

Good Monday to you! I know most people don't go by that, but looking at the calendar tells me we've pretty much just blasted through January and we're making some serious headway on winter. That's exciting for me - any opportunity not to have to haul firewood for a little while!

I thought I would share a little bit more about my dyeing. If you've been following along on my Instagram, you'll know that I sometimes don't quite reproduce the colours I have in my head. This isn't actually that surprising, but I've probably been too tough on myself about it. In reality, the last four weeks of dyeing have been a lot of fun because even if my colourways are sometimes a bit more a surprise than I expect, the actual technical aspects are coming off a lot better than they did when I started, and that's always exciting! And even if my colours are different than I might expect, they've actually all turned out very pretty, even my "brown" of the last dye day - that one is a beautiful pink with dark tones in some spots, and I might even keep it and knit it up for myself ;)

This "unicorn" colourway came out much darker than I expected and all I keep thinking of when I see it is the cover of this book, This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. Makes me think I should dye more yarn to match my books!

I've only got a bit of bare yarn left from this last order, but I'm looking forward to putting some colour on it. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of giving black a try, or at least grey; after that grim week of hoarfrost and fog, I was feeling in the mood for some neutrals.

Really, I've just learned that it's more fun to start out with an idea than an expectation. Flexibility is key, and as long as I'm happy with the final product, it doesn't really matter what comes out of the pot :)

And last but not least, it's New Pattern Day! I wrote a simple cowl pattern of my own after buying a skein of Olive Park Yarns' chunky merino; they're a mother-daughter dye team out of Morris, Manitoba and they've got a great eye for colour! I loved knitting up this yarn, although I did frog it a few times and started to get worried (ti's only a single ply) that I was being a bit hard on it! But it held up and made a lovely cowl: the Dovetail cowl, which is live on Ravelry now for only CAD$2 this week! Get your toonies out and get knitting!

Friday Dyeday and other new stuff

I'm not going to start off by saying I've been crazy busy - because that's pretty evident - so I'll just move right on to all the stuff I've been up to!
I've tried to get in the habit, after ordering a big box of bare yarn, of dyeing on Fridays (hence the title); if you've been following my Instagram, you've seen some of the results of this! My first dye day was a little off the mark of accuracy but I still love the products so I'm not too salty about it.

Today went even better: I had some colours in mind and managed to get pretty close to what I wanted. My main hurdle right now is that pot dyeing will never produce results quite the same as hotel pan dyeing (those big long rectangular pans), just because you don't have the same angle. That's not to say one is necessarily *better*, just that they're different. One of the things I'm having trouble with right now is consistency of colour coverage, but my colourways lately have worked in whites or light spots so it's not dire. It is something I'll have to keep an eye on though. I also dyed up the last of my worsted weight plain wool that I brought over from the UK and I was surprised (and also not hugely surprised) at the difference in colour uptake between that and some chunky superwash merino I did at the same time. Here's the blue-grey I did up; I had stormy skies in mind when I dyed it and today the sky was a very similar combo, so I feel like I got pretty close :) EDIT: The first shot is the worsted and the second shot is the chunky (I thought I'd taken shots of the two side-by-side but I think my camera died before that).

Other than my dye days, I've been working on getting some patterns ready for publication, here and there. Focus is one of my goals for the year, and I'll certainly need it! Lots to think about. That being said, I'll have a pattern ready to show you all by the end of next week, so watch this space!
We're also working on lots of farm things (of course); we have piggies now, we're looking at lots of other animals to add to the family, and my husband and father in-law installed some lumber racks in the woodshop so we're closer to actually reaching the lathes and tools again - that place is pure chaos so it'll be excellent when it's all tidied up! A good winter job for sure, and I'm really excited to get in there and start turning some of the hawthorn I've been clearing here on the homestead.

Last but not least, my extracurricular work (read: other people's patterns). I might have to finally face facts that although my gauge is loose, it's not loose enough for me to lie to myself and knit up the smallest size of sweaters anymore. I bound off my Camaro (a lovely Tanis a Arts pattern) and it's ridiculous. I can get it on, but it's an embarrassing piece of work; I'm sure blocking won't be THAT generous. I'll have to frog the whole thing, which is deeply disappointing, but I'm not going to forget this lesson any time soon. I also wound up some LottieKnits and Fyberspates to do a Keady wrap by Ambah O'Brien for the KAL going on in her Ravelry forum; I'm a little behind because I'm also working on a million other things (as it seems, anyway), but I love the colours together and I can't wait to put in some more time on this wrap! And last but not least, I'm almost finished the curling sweater commission (onto the back, at long last) and although it's been a bit troublesome with bad charts, I love how it's coming together and I can't wait to get it all together and see it finished!
Phew - and it's only half way through January! Just wait for the rest of the month ;)

I'll leave you with Pepper, perpetually surprised, and Juniper, perpetually salty.

Greetings from the Ice Planet Hoth - Projects for when it's way to cold to go outside.

First of all...Happy New Year! Here's to a happy and productive 2018. Over here in Manitoba, we've been locked into a cold snap for almost 2 weeks now, with temps regularly dropping lower than -30 C with a wicked windchill added in for good measure. My one out of town gathering meant I had to brave the weather - and was rewarded with 2 flat tires before I even got out of the city! Luckily our second car fared a lot better and we did make it out to visit my family AND go see Kaeleigh at her new digs in the country. That was a jolly good time, especially since I had been just dying to meet those kittens of hers.

Suffice it to say, I've been staying home A LOT. It's been a productive time, so I thought I'd put together a pattern and book round-up. Maybe some of these will help you stave off the winter crazies if you're trapped inside like I am :)

1. The Yarnspirations Summer Mist Throw. Ironic name, no? I thought it was time to whip up a new afghan for the living room, since the current crocheted afghan I have in use is the literal first crochet project I ever did. It was definitely time for an upgrade. I'm working it up in the same colours as my hexagon curtains and I'm about halfway through. Here's a shot of how it's looking so far...

Thanks to Tiger Lily for the great job modeling, haha. What made me choose this pattern is the way that the four colours alternate through the motif. It's so thick and warm already! I did alter the pattern by making my rows 199 stitches across instead of 109, so that it's big enough to share when it's done.

2. Hats hats hats! I've whipped up seven hats since my last post! The latest one I did was with some lovely Koigu yarn that Kaeleigh gifted me. It worked up beautifully - amazing how much more impressive it looks when it's off the skein and made into something!

The pattern is called the Watchcap Beanie and it was easy as pie. Fingering yarn is slow going though, especially when you knit as slowly as I do!

At my family gathering in Winkler, my sister in law was saying she wanted a slouchy toque, so I whipped up the Shell V Shell Crochet Slouch for her. It worked up in a few hours and came out lovely!

And finally, my other sis in law got gifted five touques after she asked me to make her one. She had lost her only toque and due to skin allergies can only wear natural fibres. I raided my cotton yarn stash and challenged myself to make as many as I could for her before I saw her for Christmas. She ended up with two Slouchy Shells hats, a Jayne Cobb hat (without the ear flaps), a The Blog Collection Beanie, and my personal favourite - a Diamond Pattern Hat, which I worked up in black and a white with flecks of blue, yellow and green in it. It looked lovely and was my personal favourite :) I'll be making that one again FOR SURE. It even introduced me to using 2 colours in knitting - new skill acquired!

3. Books books books - 2018 aspirations. I've been gifted a few books lately and they encapsulate my goals for this year.

Here's hoping that by 2019, I'm dyeing yarn, designing projects, and knitting Fair Isle motifs like a boss! All of these books are available on Amazon, and they do not disappoint. 

Phew - that's all for now. Coming up next for me, the reveal of my completed Done in Love Pullover...as soon as I can borrow Kaeleigh's photography skills for my modeling session ;)