Dyeing yarn

Last weekend my friend Louise and I tried something new - creating our own hand painted sock yarn. We started with ready-to-dye fingering weight 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon yarn from Knitpicks and used Country Classic wool dyes. It was a lot of fun, and we learned a lot. Our first efforts were not too bad, and the next time we do it, we will have much more control over the process. We can't wait to try knitting our new yarn!

fly fishing socks

These socks are knitted for a friend of mine who will be a fly fishing guide in Alaska this summer. Yarn is from a friend who raised the sheep, and did the whole process of creating the yarn herself. Yarn has no dye. I added wooly nylon from heel all the way to the toe. These socks are as natural and local as possible.

I hope he will enjoy them and I hope the socks will pass Alaska wilderness test.

I just finished a pair of socks from Regia Silk Color yarn, which is 20% silk, 55% superwash wool and 25% nylon. It is marginally more difficult to knit with, because it is not as elastic as the standard 75% wool yarn, but has a very soft hand. The socks are for my son Ian's girlfriend on the occasion of her graduation from University of Washington. Since I finished these, I started a pair on Opel yarn, 75% superwash wool. They seem very stiff and harsh compared with the Regia silk. I hope I haven't become addicted. What would I do with my Opel stash?

DVD Signing at Book People

Our local independent book store hosted a DVD signing and sock fashion show to introduce our DVD, The Zen of Socks. We had a great time, and sold quite a few DVDs. We also sold sock kits that included yarn, needles and the DVD. People bought the kits, pulled up a chair, and started knitting! Note the brownies.

My sister Barb decided to buy our Zen of Socks DVD and take up knitting socks. She has knitted before, but is not a basically crafty person. She took her needles and yarn with her on a vacation to Florida. It has entailed several cross-country phone calls, but she has persevered. Last I heard, she was past the heel and heading fast toward the toe. I suspect I might get another call when she hits the kitchener stitch.

I was reading Lida's post about her first pair of socks, and it got me thinking about the first pair of socks I made on fingering yarn. It was just when Opal came out with the computer dyed fair isle type yarn. I bought a beautiful skein and knit socks that I am still wearing today. However, I made several errors that I regret, mainly from ignorance. First, I made the leg portion all ribbed, like a crew sock. This does not show off the pattern the yarn makes to the best advantage. Second, I didn't think about making the socks identical so didn't pay attention to where in the pattern I started the second sock, so my socks are fraternal rather than identical twins. Third, I used #2 needles, and I have since discovered that for myself, socks made on #1 needles fit better. Last, I didn't do a good job of Kitchenering the toes.
So, imagine my pleasure when I found another ball of the exact same yarn that I had used all those years ago. Now I get a chance to knit that yarn again, correcting all my mistakes. How many times do we get a second chance like that?

I am working on a pair of socks for one of my students who will be graduating this spring with a DVM. In her chosen field, large animal medicine, her usual garb is a T shirt and jeans. Consequently, she likes to wear unusual socks to make thing a little more interesting. She has lots of unique socks, but no hand knit ones. I think she will enjoy these. The yarn is Opal, in their Rodeo series. They have several nice color variations in this series. I used # 1 needles and cast on 64 stitches.