Sunday 28 July 2013

Third Year of Projects Week 4

So I've had a busy week of playing with yarn. I mentioned last week that I was designing a chart for a Celtic Knot Hexipuff, which I have now done:

 photo DSCF3942_zps190f0ddb.jpg

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and if you're interested, you can access the chart for free here. It doesn't tell you how to make a hexipuff though, for that you will need the pattern for the Beekeeper's Quilt from Tiny Owl Knits, which I can highly recommend!

 photo DSCF3964_zpsab33a87e.jpg

I've also swatched for Arielle. No idea of my gauge yet though, because I followed some advice on Rav and let the swatch hang under it's own weight for a few days to see how the cotton would stretch, so that will be my project for next week.

 photo DSCF3971_zpsadb6cce6.jpg

The main knitting I've been doing is Tubby here. I've finished the tub itself, but if you look to the right, you can see two small bubbles. The pattern calls for 25 of these, and they all need eyes! I hope I can bring myself to knit them all, they're incredibly fiddly and not very fun to make. I think I've decided that I don't like knitting toys with lots of small parts.

 photo DSCF3972_zpscde6596c.jpg

And this is why I said I've been playing with yarn. I've been winding balls of yarn that I got from ebay into skeins for washing, and in some cases dying. This is 25 skeins, including 10 which were originally 5 balls of yarn, so I had to split the two strands apart before skeining. Not pictured are the 18 other balls that I wound into skeins, which are all either drying or dying.

 photo DSCF3956_zps2d674d08.jpg

And then this is what I've been doing today. As you can see, there is some very greeny blue yarn and one skein of yellow. I've been playing with different dyes and concentrations to see what effect I can get, and I'm sure that next week will be full of pictures. I've used 2 colours of icing dye (though one doesn't seem to have worked and overdying will be needed), as well as some acid dyes I got from Woolfest last year.

So that's my busy yarny week. I think I need to relax now!

 photo 5825787323_4738d46a99_z-001_zps2ca68ebf.jpg

10 comments:

  1. That tub toy is fun! I like the little bubbles. The swatch is so nice. The lace panel is pretty. Very cool how you designed a Celtic hexi. I like how it looks in that lighter blue.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the hexipuffs, anything Celtic at all and it's guaranteed I'd love it. The tub toy is so cute but I can see how the bubbles would be fiddly. Hope your swatch works out good and I can't wait to see what more dyed goodness comes from you next week !

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a lot of yarn - looking forward to seeing the outcome! I love the tub toy and the bubbles are lovely if you can persevere : )

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have been busy! Your comments about the fiddliness of Tubby have saved me from adding it to my queue. After knitting a pair of Shark Week Socks, fiddly is the LAST thing I need :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. My, my, you have been busy :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tubby is the cutest :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great progress this week. The tub is adorable but I agree about the bubbles. I would probably throw in the towel on those. (No pun intended) Love the Celtic design on the hexipuffs and the swatch is great. Can't wait to see how the dying comes out.

    ReplyDelete
  8. awww tubby is super cute, I love him!!! The celtic design is absolutely gorgeous, well done you. Have a knitty Wednesday xx

    ReplyDelete