indieknits

Yarrrn!

Who wants to see the yarns I've dyed up for the very exciting Socktopus London Shop launch??

You do? Okay!

Forage

Frost

October Beech

Elderberry

Horse Chestnut

Pumpkin Flame

Blue Harvest

I am SO excited that Alice is opening a proper bricks and mortar shop! Hope you see you at the grand opening this Sunday!

More dyeing

This weekend I dyed the yarn that I ordered from DT Crafts:

   

I really like this colourway! It reminds me of candy floss. It's got me thinking that maybe I should try my hand at selling some in the future...

The yarn took the dye well, but isn't as Koigu-ey as I'd hoped. It's lighter and fuzzier, but still very soft. It arrived in centre pull balls which meant I had to wind it into skeins before I could begin dyeing.

I think next time I will try the yarn sold by Violet Green (as recommended by Lyndsey-Jane) and see how they compare.

On Thursday a package arrived for me from Curly Custard:

Isn't it great? She stencilled it herself - it's the outline of Edinburgh castle. I've been using it all weekend for my shopping.

Oh, and on Friday my Sockapalooza pal Michelle got the package I sent! I'm so glad that it arrived (I was starting to worry a little) and that the socks fit her! I really enjoyed spoiling her.   

Happiness is undyed sock yarn

I just had to share my happiness with you all. I have found a UK based website that sells undyed 100% merino sock yarn! I've been on a mission to find sock yarn to dye that isn't Opal or Trekking - not that they're not good - but Merino is the Queen of sock yarn as far as I am concerned. There's a couple of US sites that sell it by the cone but I don't much fancy the threat of customs slapping on a hefty charge.

The yarn is described in the same way as Koigu - a tight twist for durability, good stitch definition and comfortable to wear. Obviously there is only one way to find out what this yarn is really like, so I ordered enough for 2 pairs of socks. Well, what's a girl supposed to do? I plan on dyeing some for my SITM pal so that's justified half of the cost anyway!!

I will report back to you once it's arrived and let you know what I think...

What else is going on? Oh yeah - Get Knitted are now selling Knit Picks needles and are in talks with them about yarn too. So whether they're planning on Get Knitted being their UK distributor rather than allowing us to order directly from them, I'm not sure...

More Pictures

Here's my hand dyed yarn, all dried and done. What a difference re-skeining makes!

By the way, do you like my new look?

Sockapalooza sock number 1!

My new camera arrived about an hour ago so I've been testing it out - it seems pretty good!

Here's my first sockapalooza sock:

 

If you asked for cables and muted colours, this could be yours! 

Here's the yarn I dyed yesterday:

It's drying at the moment  - once it's done I'll re-skein it and take another snap!

Oh, and I also wanted to show everyone a picture of what my Embossed Leaves socks actually look like, since the old camera had such a hard time with them:

What else? Ooh! The yarn that Alice gave me last week!

The new camera and I are going to be good friends :)

This weekend I will mostly be...

Last night I met up with Emmms and Alice and we headed to an I Knit meet-up, which this week was at Inn The Park. (Sharon, we missed you! Hope you feel better soon!) What an amazing venue! We knitted and drank wine for a couple of hours. As usual the more I drank, the less I knit. Well, it's better than making a mistake! Alice gave me some beautiful Fleece Artist merino in 'Spring' as a belated birthday present. Thanks Alice, I love it!

This Sunday, Ross is recording all afternoon so I think I'm going to fill my time by dyeing some sock yarn. I really want to try gradient dyeing but after reading instructions in Yarns to Dye For it does seem a little messy and I don't have any outdoor space to call my own :(

My dyeing attempts are pretty hit and miss, so if you don't hear any more on the subject for a while you'll know why!

First SP9 Package!

I got a package from my Secret Pal today:

2 skeins of Regia Bamboo sock yarn, in a gorgeous colourway, and a copy of Not Your Mama's Knitting by Heather Dixon. Thank you, Secret Pal!

I've also been dyeing recently. This is the result I got using Cherry and Pink Lemonade Kool Aid:

'Proper' dyes (as opposed to a drink) have been purchased from Omega Dyes, so next I think I shall try a grey and pink combination.

We're back!

The festival was brilliant - we had such an amazing time. The grounds were beautiful and the atmosphere was relaxed. The site isn't too big so you don't have to walk for miles to get anywhere, the staff were friendly and there was pretty much no litter (!).

My highlight of Latitude (apart from watching the Zutons) was the coloured sheep!

I think Henham Park is just filled with sheep the rest of the year - there were bits of fleece over every single field.This is now the wallpaper on my computer (and also my new logo!)

More pictures to follow once I've organised them a bit. I'm still revelling at the fact that I have a bed and electricity and a flushing toilet.

My yarn dyeing attempt last week went a bit wrong. The Kool Aid just didn't come out dark enough, so I had to overdye it a couple of times using Dylon multi purpose dye. I'm happy with it now - think it is perfect for autumn:

I also picked up a Knit Picks delivery just before I left last week and didn't get time to drool over it, so that's another job for today!

We have

• 5 x Andean Silk in Slate
• 2 x Gossamer in Sweet Peas
• 1 x Shimmer in Deep Woods
• 2 x Essentials sock yarn in Grass
• 2 x Essentials sock yarn in Ash

I think I am going to have to join Stashalong.

Hello

Saturday night we had some friends round for dinner. It soon turned raucous.

      

Oh dear.

I have been doing civilized things too, I promise! I have photographic evidence! This is the yarn I dyed recently:

I am rather pleased with the results.

I also bought some more beautiful earrings from Rachael Sudlow over at Etsy :

Check out her jewellery - and don't blame me if you spend half your wages!

EDIT: Oh yeah - I want to knit a hat out of worsted weight cotton for the festival - does anyone know any good patterns? I was thinking about this one but I'm not sure how it will look on me.

Yarrrrn

Here's the yarn I dyed the other day:

It's very orange, isn't it!

I think it will be too chunky for Picolovi and I can't be arsed to make any adjustments to the pattern, so will have to assign it to another project...