Despite having been completely exhausted yesterday, I managed to have a very productive evening last night.  I cleaned up the kitchen and got to work on a couple projects that I’d been wanting to do all week…

I made my first attempt at dyeing yarn.  Like most people (I think), I chose to use Kool-Aid for my first try.  The yarn I used is a laceweight merino made by Jojoland.  I picked the “Berry Blue” and “Lemon Lime’ flavors of Kool-Aid for my colors.

I really didn’t know what the heck I was doing.  I loosely followed the directions given here on Knitty.  But for not having a clue, I was fairly pleased with my results.

I wanted to try dip-dyeing one hank and handpainting the other.  I used three packets of the “Berry Blue” to dip-dye.  I visually divided the hank into 4 sections and submerged them 10 minutes at a time — so the darkest section was in the Kool-Aid mixture for 40 minutes, the lightest was in for 10 minutes.

I made an attempt at handpainting the other hank.  Wow was that messy–it made me very glad I was working with Kool-Aid and not acid dye for this first try.  (Then again, had it been acid dyes, I probably would have been smart enough to put on rubber gloves, duh.)  I had green fingers for the rest of the night till I took a shower and shampooed my hair.

For this hank I used 2 packets of the “Lemon Lime” and only 1 packet of “Berry Blue” and I poured a little of the green into the blue.  I painted on the colors and then zapped it in the microwave for 2 minutes, let it sit for a few minutes, and then gave it another 2 minutes.

I’m pretty pleased with how they turned out, at least for a first try.  I really love the semi-solid blue (but I’m also going through a “semi-solid-phase” right now).  I kind of wish I’d gone a bit darker with the blue on the handpainted hank.  Oh well.

Now I just have to come up with something to knit with these!  I had wanted to do one into a scarf and the other into socks, but I’m not sure if the yarn is a bit too lightweight for socks (it’s kind of heavy-laceweight).  Hmmm.  Guess we’ll see what I can come up with once the yarn is dry.

After I was done dyeing last night and got all cleaned up from that, I messed up the kitchen again with another project…

SOAP!!  I’ve quickly become hopelessly addicted to playing around with soapmaking.  It is just TOO much fun.  And the mold I just got (pictured, left)!!??  Check it out–knitter’s-soap!!  (Can you tell I’m excited?)

So I’ve been experimenting.  So far I’ve just done melt-and-pour soaps.  Last night I got to try out the new pigments, micas and glitter-colors that I just got.  I also tried handpainting the molds for the first time and experimented with some really awesome new fragrances.  I’m psyched.  These are going to make fantastic Christmas gifts.

I also downloaded the “hazardous materials” form to fax in so that I can order some sodium hydroxide (lye) and start doing some real soapmaking.  I’m very, very excited about that.  I sure which high school chemistry class had been this fun!

So I’ve been very busy… now I just have to get back to some actual knitting!!

I could have kissed the UPS-man today when he delivered this.  I simply adore all of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s books.  They make me laugh and cry and feel connected to all the other thousands of people who share the knitting obsession hobby.

I haven’t had a chance to start reading it yet (hopefully before bed tonight!) but just the inside-cover makes me smile:

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (a.k.a. the Yarn Harlot) returns to pen another hilarious, insightful, and poignant collection of essays surrounding her favorite topics: knitting, knitters, and what happens when you get those two things anywhere near ordinary people.  Free Range Knitter shares stories of knitting horrors and triumphs and knitting successes and defeats, but, mostly, it shares stories about the human condition that ring true for everyone–especially if you happen to have a rather large amount of yarn in your house.

Really, how can you not love the Yarn Harlot?!  And my husband wonders why I did a little happy-dance around the living room when I opened the box from Amazon.com?  Pfft, seriously.  I’m off to read…

Just a quick glimpse of what I’m working on at the moment …

The yarn is Knit One, Crochet Too’s Ty-Dy Socks in the “Tropicale” colorway.  It could very well be my new favorite sock yarn.  At least, one of my very favorites.  My friend Pam bought this for me at The Neighborhood Knit Shop.  (Talk about a super friend, eh!?)  I want to get the “Blueberry Field” and “Blue Pansy” colorways (not sure if they had the second one — may have to request it!).

The pattern I’m knitting with it is just something I’m working on.  It’s turning out nice.  I didn’t want to take away from the pretty self-striping colors, but I also didn’t want to knit a plain stockinette sock.  I think this was a happy in-between.  I’ll be teaching this sock (done two at a time on two circular needles) at the knit shop in October, so if you’re interested, call or stop by the shop to sign up.

Christmas-knitting is actually coming along well.  (Shocking, I know.)  I was able to cross two items off my list:

(One Row Handspun Scarf and the Amanda Hat)

The scarf is made out of some handspun corriedale from Sakina Needles and the hat is Malabrigo Worsted.  On the garter rows, I held together a single-ply of the handspun with the Malabrigo to incorporate the colors of the scarf into the hat a bit more.  I’m debating on using what’s left of the single-ply to add some fringe to the scarf.  Hmmm.  Haven’t decided yet.  Anyway, both are for my grandmother.  Hopefully she’ll like them.

I also started a scarf.  I’m knitting it up using some positively yummy Cascade Cash Vero DK that recently came in stock at my LYS.  The pattern is the Palindrome scarf, which is a reversible cable.  I added one extra repeat (4 cables instead of 3) to account for the yarn being DK weight rather than the heavy-worsted that the pattern was originally designed for.  I’m pleased with the results thus far and I’m shocked at how far I’ve gotten in a very short time.  I worked on it at a knitting get-together last night at Barnes and Noble and I made it well over halfway through the first ball of yarn.  I’m hoping that four balls total will be enough to amount to a reasonable length.

Oh!  Speaking of Barnes and Noble, whie we were there last night, one of the gals in my knitting-group got one of the employees to go in the back and pull a copy of the new Mason-Dixon book.  Oh my gosh is it ever fab-u-lous!  It’s now on my Christmas wishlist (*hint, hint*).

… AND, speaking of books — the new Yarn Harlot book, Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again, should be available any time now.  There was a post about it on the Yarn Harlot blog a couple days ago.  I’ve had mine on pre-order for what seems like months.  I’m so geeked about this book.  I enjoy Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s writing so very much.  I can’t wait to get my copy.  Yay for Amazon.com overnight shipping.

Anyway, aside from Christmas-knitting and stalking bookstores, I’ve been making soap.

Er — well, no.  Not making soap.  I’m more melting, mixing, and pouring soaps.  I haven’t attempted the actual making yet, though I hope to do so eventually (once I learn enough about it to get over my fear of lye-burns).

Bramble Berry has become my new favorite website to stalk and I’ve gotten several new books to read all about soaps and essential oils (Storey Publishing owns my soul at this point).

It’s all really, really fascinating honestly.  I might’ve been a lot more interested in Accelerated Chemistry I and II during high school had it been put in the context of things like this!  I think it appeals to me because it satisfies my geeky-technical side as well as my creative side all at the same time.  There’s a lot of precision measurement and science involved, but a lot of asthetics as well.  I have soooo many ideas for different soaps I want to make.  (Guess what everyone’s getting in their Christmas-stockings this year…?)  Honestly though, who can’t use a few bars of pleasent-smelling soap?  Yup.

Needless to say, I’m keeping busy.  As always.

More Baby Surprise Jackets!  They’re coming out my ears at this point…

Or at least, it seems like they are.  I had my first BSJ class this past Sunday and I have another one on September 21st.  I think (and hope!) the class went pretty well.  I can’t wait to see how all my students’ sweaters turn out.  That’s part of the fun with this pattern — they all turn out so differently based on the yarn and striping pattern that a person chooses.  It’s so much fun!

Now that my prep and samples for the BSJ class are done, I’ve been focusing on Christmas knitting.  I have a huge list of things I’m hoping to knit for Christmas gifts.  I’m not sure that I’ll finish them all, but I’m trying to start early so that I stand a fairly good chance of doing so.

One gift that I started is the Yarn Harlot’s One Row Handspun Scarf.  It’s a fantastic pattern, so quick and easy to memorize!  I’m knitting it with some handspun corriedale from Sakina Needles that I finished a couple months back.

I’m also making an Amanda Hat to match this scarf.  The hat is made from yellow Malabrigo worsted, and in parts I held it together with a single-ply of the handspun to tie the colors together.

I’m also knitting up Violet Green’s Wavy Lace Scarf using some Jojoland Melody sock yarn.  I added one more pattern repeat (an extra 18 sts) to the pattern to make it a bit wider.  It’s turning out really, really pretty.  The subtle variation in color is really what makes it, I think.

Again, this is a wonderfully simple pattern.  Originally I’d thought about doing something more complex and lacy but I knew if I hoped to have it done (along with all my other knitted gifts) in time for Christmas, I had to pick something a bit less difficult.  I’m not good at lace.  This still looks gorgeous but it’s easy to memorize the pattern.  It’s become my “lunchtime project” at work and lives in my bottom desk drawer.  I can’t wait to see it all finished and blocked.

Lastly, I wanted to mention, I have a new custom layout for this blog about 80% done.  I’ve got a lot of freelance webdesign stuff going on right now, so I’m not sure when I’ll finish it — but hopefully soon!  So look for that.