Kool-Aid Dyed Yarn

We're dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid to go along with this month's book "Died in the Wool". Here is my first attempt. I can't wait to see what it looks like knit up. Details are on my blog.

check this out

You all have to check out this website. I don't know anything about, tripped over it from another website (Yarn Harlot to Lettuce Knit to Mac and Me). I just think it is totally cool and wanted to share.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!

Mary Lynn

I am not losing my mind

What is she doing? What could this possibly be about????? Who are these kids??

And who are these kids?? Look the poor dear has to wear jeans with holes in the knees, poor thing. But why are they posted here on OUR blog????


And look at this beautiful tree . . . but what is that peaking out from the side . . . sockless feet . . . the poor man doesn't have socks to wear??

You may all wonder what it is that I am doing.
Hmmmmm.
Christmas pics in MAY???
Sockless feet?

It is May 23rd which, in knitting terms means that we (well at least I) have to start focusing on Christmas knitting.

The kids singing are students from my husband's school. Every year they do a mitten/hat/scarf/sock tree. The really cool thing about this is most of these kids come relatively poor families but without fail every student brings in hats and mittens for the tree. Last year, we knit (and crocheted) a couple of hats and scarves for the tree.

The kids in the middle are my two youngest . . . I just put them there because of the hats they had on (they are felt, not felted) and because they (the kids . . . not the hats) are so cute!

Finally, the sockless wonder is my husband. Why he was cuddling so close to our Christmas tree is anyone's guess . . . although I would venture to guess that it is because of all the relatives that were behind him! I would also like to say that he would be very upset with our kids if they were laying that close to the tree. On the other hand, it was one of the better pics I had of our tree. (NOTE: If you look to the left of the tree, there is part of my very large family (46 in attendance for Christmas) and to the right of the tree is a quilt with pics on it that my older sister made for me a couple of Christmases ago . . . gorgeous . . . I cried, she cried, our husbands shook their heads).

My Christmas goals (which I am posting because goals that are written down are more achievable than goals that are not written down . . . or at least that is what my WW leader said):

Make at least three hats for the tree, make Lindsey her GAUNTLETS (I actually have the yarn, pattern and needles . . . Lindsey on the other hand keeps changing her mind about the yarn and pattern).

Make Zachariah a hat and socks.

And, because my family does a Christmas gift exchange amongst the adults, a SHAWL. I don't know who will get it . . . but since my DH, oldest daughter and I all participate in the exchange, chances are really good that once of us will get a female recipient . . . plus, I can always put a "fix" in with my brother who is the one who distributes the names.

I would make Dave socks but I am not sure he would appreciate them. When he is not at work, he wears white tube socks. When he is at work (teaching first graders), he wears heavy (seriously heavy) black socks. He is always hot and would never appreciate wool and would, in any event, not think twice about throwing the things into the washer and dryer.

So, what are your goals for Christmas gift giving???

Dyeing with Kool-Aid!

I've been dyeing again! And this time I have made a serie of pictures as I promissed some of you, here in this blog: www.123hjemmeside.dk/VigdisMarieDesign

Look for Farg/ Dye Kool-Aid in the sidebar :-) It's explained in norwegian first, and then in english right after. Hope you can find it out......

Le me know if you have any problems....

Whoduknit Mystery Bottle Swap

Sign-ups are closed and partners have been assigned. Have fun!

Whoduknit Mystery Bottle Swap

What is a bottle swap? This is how it works. You buy a two liter bottle of soda. Then you drink it (or pour it down the drain). Wash it and let it dry. Then you take off the label and cut an X in the bottle. Here comes the fun part. You fill it with goodies for your partner. How do you know what to put in it? Well - you are a member of Whoduknit, right? You read mysteries? You know all about stalking? So e-mail your partner from an anonymous e-mail address, go to her blog and do some research, google her name - never know what you will come up with! Yarn, books, patterns, handknit items, knitting accessories,bookmarks, candy etc. But nothing breakable please! Then tape the opening shut, glue the top onto the bottle, tape a mailing label on it, and take it to the post office to mail it. This is very legal - Cathy, our bottle swap hostess, worked for the PO for 25 years and can vouch for it. So don't let the PO give you any grief about it!

The Rules

Sign-ups begin May 13 and end May 20
Partners will be assigned by May 24
Everything you mail MUST fit into a 2 liter bottle. No boxes, plastic totes, or 5 gallon containers allowed!
( Exception: If you are mailing international, you will have to put your bottle into a box or a padded envelope to mail it. Please check with your PO for size and weight limitations.)
Bottles should be mailed by June 30. You will need to get a delivery confirmation number and send the number to the bottle swap hostess. (For international mailing please provide the custom number).

This is a secret swap - the person you are sending to will not be the person sending to you. It's up to you if you want to remain anonymous - but it's really fun to do that.
Want to Play? Of course you do! Here is what to do:
Send an e-mail to our Bottle Swap Hostess, Cathy at tryin_ta_knit@yahoo.com with the subject line "Whoduknit Bottle Swap" and include the following information:
Your full real name
Your e-mail address
Your mailing address
Your blog address
Your telephone number (this will be kept confidential and only used in case of a communication breakdown)
Willing to mail international : Yes __ NO __home environment : pets___ smoke ___allergic to : pets ___ smoke ___other____

You will notice there is no questionnaire - that's because this is a 'mystery' swap, and you need to do the detective work. That means you MUST contact your pal as soon as you receive her name, and begin the interrogation. And when your pal contacts you, you MUST reply as soon as possible. Any failure to communicate with your pal in a timely manner will result in being eliminated from this swap. If you are going away on vacation - send a postcard! If your computer crashes - use that good old fashioned snail mail! But if you do find that for any reason at all you cannot fulfill your obligation in this swap - please e-mail Cathy at tryin_ta_knit@yahoo.com as soon as possible so that your partner will not be disappointed.
Are you ready???
Sign-ups begin now!

Another Beautiful Square!

I received another beautiful square from Janet for the

"Great Whoduknit Charity Blanket". This square is from The Great American Aran Afghan book and is just gorgeous. It's not to late to get in on this - click here for the details. Thank you Janet!

Look at my new hobby!!!!!

Boy did I have fun today! Dyeing yarn is really a lot of fun and not messy at all! I'm right the opposite of Vigdis tho, I have plenty of kool-aid and no more yarn. I dyed the two hanks I had and now need to order more. I have a bag full of kool-aid to send to Vigdis tho. I now know the excitement she has felt doing all that yarn. I am going to order more from Knitpics and also going to do a search to see if anyone else has bare yarn really cheap.



Here is a photo of my finished yarn hanging on my back porch drying as we speak. The top one has grape, orange, cherry and lemon-lime in four different sections. The second one is sprinkle dyed, with the same four colors, but when sprinkling you can mix and get more colors. I think they both turned out beautiful and can't wait for them to dry, so I can wind them and start knitting my scarfs. If you want to see the rest of the photos, please jump over to my blog and take a peek.

Another Square

I received another beautiful square from Doborah in Montana - thank you Debbie! I think it will be really fun to include the names and states of everyone who contributed to the blanket when it is finally finished.

Spring Mystery Swap Package 2

I received my package from Jane the other day. I hadn't had a chance to post it.

She themed my package to my "Oasis" we put up in the backyard. With the yarn I sent her she made me some coaster's to go around the pretty glasses she sent me. Each one is a different design. Which can be filled with some Raspberry tea. A parrot wind sock and a wind chime to put out by the gazebo. A some bubbles to blow!

She knitted a beautiful bag for me. She knows my weakness. She made it from Noro yarn she had in her stash. Isn't it gorgeous? She also gave me some Sugar & Cream that I can use to crochet around the flip flops above. And she even sent along a book with patterns to do so, and some crochet magazines. She also sent 2 books I haven't read yet. I have seen this author but never had a chance to try him out.

Hopefully, when all the wind gusts die down we can put the gazebo back up. We had to take it down about 3 weeks ago and haven't been able to get it back up. With the fires just down the road, the smoke is so bad you can't sit outside. So until then I will have some items ready to go when we put up the gazebo. (Which will have to be after "Andrea")

Thanks Jane!!!

Kool aid dyeing

I tried it. This is what I got when I tried to make some self striping yarn from knit picks pallet yarn. I think it's pretty, but I did get a few tangles when it dried and I was trying to wind it up. I had a few laughs and almost a few tears while doing it. Next time I will just dip dye rather than try to make the self striping. It was fun tho, and it's nice to learn new things.
Mary A

My Spring Swap Package Arrived

I received my swap package today from Patty today and I love it! I really didn't give her that much to work with - I followed the rules and sent her just one small skein of fingering weight alpaca yarn in a pretty shade of blue/green, that I loved, but didn't know what to do with. I can't believe what she did with it!!

She made me this beautiful crocheted collar, which I really love, a pretty smelling sachet, and a cute bookmark.

She also sent this beautiful crocheted doily - she does such beautiful work! There is no way I could ever make anything like this!

The books she included were Rumble on the Bayou by Jana DeLeon, and (I laughed when I saw this one) Murder Can Depress Your Dachshund. I think Marielle (her doxie) must have put that one in the package. There was also some yummy candy and chocolate, which I managed to get a picture of before sampling.
Thank you so much Patty - this was a great package - I love everything!

Mother's Day Project Information

Please check the following link regarding those women who have died in the current Middle East mess in which we are involved. No matter your political leanings, this may be something that might touch you. The Mother's Day project can be found here.

There are actually three posts. The original one (above). Please be sure and take a look at the more current posts too.

Thanks.

Spring Mystery Swap

Patty's package is ready to go. Here is the yarn she sent -two skeins of a beautiful Artyarns Supermerino handpainted yarn.

And this is what is going back to her - any guesses?

My Spring Swap Gift Arrived From Mary!

Hello Everyone! After a very stressful day yesterday I came home to a welcoming package sitting at my garage door. It was from Mary, my spring swap partner. Inside were some of the neatest gifts. The best of all was the shawl that she knitted for me. Now, you have to know that we cheated a little, just a little. We didn't send just one skein of yarn to each other, we sent roughly about 900 to 1000 yards of yarn to each other with big plans in mind for our projects. Then I get an email from Mary asking me if I really wanted something knitted from the yarn I sent her or would I mind having something that she already had started that she was knitting from her own hand spun shetland lamb yarn. What do you think my answer was? Yep you guessed it, I told her of course go ahead with what she already had started. And you can see by the photo, that shawl is absolutely beautiful! When she sent me her yarn, she sent the book, a calendar and a knitting magazine. Then with the shawl I got a manicure set, a sewing kit, and angel, that is not in the photo because she is already sitting on my desk at work, some foot exfoliating cream and some really cool stitch markers. Boy did I rack up! Mary is so awesome of a knitter. I took the shawl to work and had to keep retreiving it from different people and putting back in the box under my desk. It seemed to grow feet and walk all over the office....lol. Everyone loved the softness and the color is perfect, it is a soft brown with a tad bit of lighter beige here and there. The lacey pattern is so nice and I could just see me trying to knit it, I would have the holes twice as big as they should be and not even.

Thanks Mary for a wonderful gift. I am still working on hers. I keep changing my mind but still have plenty of time and am having fun collecting all the goodies to go with the knitted items she will get. The books are already picked out too!

Thanks also to Jane for coming up with this swap, we'll have to do it again next spring!

Spring Mystery Swap Package

Just to let you know I finish playing with the yarn Jane sent and packed up her surprise and mailed it her way. You'll have to get the pictures of the finished product from Jane. I forgot to take pictures!!!