socherryknits

I spent the Holiday Monday dyeing some yarn that I've meaning to do for ages with Kool-Aid , for the Urban Mittens - so I decided why not take pics of my progress and do a tutorial-type post. By the way Kool-aid isn't available in the UK [probably due to all the mean chemicals] but if you have an American friend they should be able to send you some. (Also - this tute is in 4 posts as Blogger would never let me upload so many pics into one post - plus they would be out of order) 1. The yarn - I'm using Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Aran in Cream. It's a discontinued yarn, but any animal-based yarn will dye. Acrylic won't dye, but acrylic-blends might produce some interesting results ... I found that merino makes a much more vibrant 'glossy' yarn - Coarser 100% wool tends to make a more matt result. 2. Prepping the yarn - I halved the balls into 25g each - the microwave is better for smaller batches of dyeing. I used a bookshelf to wrap the yarn around and left t...

3. Preparing the Kool-Aid - some websites are very exact about this, but honestly - if you put a little too much vinegar, water, Kool-Aid etc it's still going to be OK! I put 2 Kool-Aids in a pint glass and used a smaller glass (maybe third of the size of a pint glass) to add 1/3 glass of white vinegar and 1 full glass of warm water to the pint glass. This would make vibrant 'hot' shades. If you wanted a more pastel effect I would go with 1 Kool-Aid packet to the same vinegar/water mix. If you want the same vibrancy but a lighter tone than dilute with futher water and a splash more vinegar. Some websites state there being no need for vinegar as the Kool-Aid has acid in it. As I can find no definitive answer, I figure that adding vinegar when it maybe wasn't necessary is less of a catastrophe than not adding vinegar and having the dye all run out in the first handwash as it hasn't set right... Experiment! See what happens! 4. Painting the yarn. Lay the yarn in a mocr...

Figure A Figure B Figure C So Blogger is totally not playing with the order of the pics ... 6. Out of the microwave (Figure C) - once the water is clear tip it into the sink and leave to cool whilst dyeing the next lot. Once the next lot is ready the 'sink yarn' should be cool enough to pick up and place on a plastic bag around the edge of the sink. The reason for this method is to prevent felting - all the instructions I read talked about rinsing yarn in water the same temperature as the yarn. I have taps that run cold for a bit, then go roasting, then warm ... too many temperature variations could cause felting. I decided that cooling the yarn off then rinsing it in cool/lukewarm water in a basin was the safest way to go. If you can get a consistent temperature then put the yarn in the sink and rinse by running the (same temperature as the yarn) tap water down the side of the sink and through the yarn. Don't allow the water to run directly on the yarn in case of felting...

Et Voila! "Oh I love my ball winder, my ball winder, my ball winder. Oh I love my ball winder, It is utterly great!" That's my little song cos there's not much else to say in this final post, except to look at the Kool-Aid dyed loveliness and try and resist starting another WIP until I get the current mountain of WIPs at least a little bit under control. To make me feel better - are there any readers out there who have a bigger WIP progress bar than me? Or am I utterly lacking in the ability to finish anything? I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed making this little tutorial :)

Finally Blogger has let me upload some pics! Above - I took a trip to HK Edinburgh at the weekend and came out with some purple Noro Silk Garden, some more Clover stitch holders and some Addi Turbos. I think I very restrained (because I was rushing as the boy was parked on double yellows in the next street) HK Edinburgh was a really nice shop. What did it have that you can't get in K1 Yarns or Glasgow John Lewis? Well...there was lots of Lana Grossa yarns, which I was really excited about. They were mostly man-made yarns, or man-made blends which didn't interest me much, but it was nice to see something new and different. There was also some lovely Louisa Harding yarns and lots of (Lana Grossa mostly) sock yarns through in the next room. Tonnes of books and magazines that were interesting. They had some coloured aluminium needles in straights, dpns and circs which were so cool and they had made up the Rowan Tapestry scarf from this months Simply Knitting, which looked great. ...

A pretty pic taken on the way back from Inverness to Glasgow - I put my green-tinted sunglasses over the camera lense for more atmosphere [yes I was a bored passenger...] - pretty, no? Oops... I fell into K1 Yarns and stumbled over the Twilley's Freedom Spirit. Am gauging for a pair of arm-warmers. I had a nano-second of sensibility over the current mountain of WIPs and settled for only 2 balls realising that I couldn't create another heavy-duty WIP with only two balls... It's knitting up with a nice colour-change at the moment, although the yarn isn't very tightly spun so the stitches have a tendency to merge into each other as they 'spread out' over the needle. Another summit-type shot - it broke the monotony of arguing over whose iPod was better [mine obviously!] to try and take photos with a camera with dead batteries. (Take batteries out, rub vigorously in hair to create static - camera operates for a further one photo. Repeat) It's easier to win the i...

Some pics from the latest Miso Funky stall : a lovely day with lots of complements about the jewellery I had made :) Next one 21st Oct 2006, Hillhead library, Byres Road, Glasgow

This week I've been working on " Under the Hoodie " and " Central Park Hoodie " - and I've hit a bit of a snag with both .... OK - Central Park Hoodie - see my hand-drawn diagram below [click on the image to open a larger image, then click the image enlarge symbol appears in the bottom right hand corner] The pattern calls for me to "work even in pattern until the armhole measures 8 inches" So do I: a) measure from the edge of the piece (where the first cast-offs for the armholes began) 'as the crow flies' to the edge or, b) curve the measuring tape around the armhole and measure this way? My instinct is a) - am I right? The last thing I made armholes for ( Bella - still a WIP ) I just guessed... Help! And the 2nd problem : Under the Hoodie - shaping the pocket. Those who know me and were at Tuesday's Stitch n' Bitch will know how proud I was of the ability to pick up the stitches for the pocket - thanks to Kathleen's help. Tru...

My first cupcakes in a while: Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes from Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman . These are quite nice - but I've had better. The 'cream' bit involved constant stirring of mix in glass bowl over pan of simmering water again ... It went little better this time. Instructions were to stir/cook until mix boils. First the water evaporated ... much later [like 45 mins] ... I'm starting to lose it a little and overfill pan with more boiling water. Placing bowl in pan causes the water to rise over the pan, extinguishing the flame with loud 'hissy fit' noise. I get water level right and place pan lid over bowl to try and encourage mix to boil. Screams of "WHY WON'T YOU JUST [insert expletive here] BOIL!!!!" can be heard from a lower cottage flat in King's Park... an hour of stirring ... "You are going to [insert stronger expletive here] boil!!!" ... I angrily spoon mix out of bowl and into a pan. Turn heat up full and glare at cust...

Progress on the Under the Hoodie [from Stitch n Bitch] and Central Park Hoodie [from Knitscene - Fall 2006]. I haven't got particularly far with either this week however I will be motoring on as from tomorrow. Other news to fill the post - The Dulaan Project to which I donated some hats earlier this year has been extended to become an annual event. The blog of the organiser of the Dulaan Project [which has a post about her meeting with the Yarn Harlot ! amongst other topics] states that 12,085 items were received for the 2006 collection. 7,567 more than their goal - whoop! I love hearing when knitters give their all to their chosen charities.

G arter stitch scarf with Colinette Peach & Cream Point 5 from Woolfest - added a little pocket with the left-over yarn.

Presenting SoCherry's Fall Collection 2006! Cable-knit snug iPod cosies to keep your iPod toasty this fall, and to complement this seasons classic look - inspired by designers such as Alexander McQueen. Coming to my Etsy shop soon! Will fit iPod mini & iPod, or other similarly-sized gadgets. iPod - Rose Pink & Citrine Green / iPod mini Burgandy Wine iPod mini dimensions: height 9.1cm, width 5.1cm, thickness 1.4cm iPod Video 30GB dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.1cm. iPod Video 60GB dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.4cm. iPod Photo 20 & 30GB dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.6cm. iPod 20GB (4th gen. click wheel) dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.4cm. iPod 20GB (3rd gen.) dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.6cm. 30 degree gentle machine wash - 100% cotton. Can't wait? Email me to order with next day delivery [add one day for custom order / request colours available]

My weekend - well, I finished my tension square and had too many stitches to the inch again, however washing and blocking seemed to fix the problem. I am knitting one size up just in case. Thanks to India and Sue for their cable chart reading help. Even with India's helpful arrows added to my pattern I still managed to arse up the cables in the centre by reading the chart left to right instead of right to left. As you can see from above I did try and drop the stitches to pick them up and again and fix the cable. And I got it as well - I managed to fix the cable and start moving back up again. But the stitches were uneven and, although I figured I could probably do some tinking with a crochet hook, the whole process was so painfully slow that in the end I just frogged back to the end of the ribbing *sigh* I also bought Vogue Knitting and Knitsimple from K1 Yarns on Saturday - it's all about the cable this season so I guess I better get my chart reading up to scratch! On Frid...

The boy brought my iMac to life again by giving her a heart [battery] transplant with a heart donated from his machine. True love indeed :) And so I was able to print out more badges for the Miso Funky craft fair this weekend [Saturday 9th September 10am - 4pm, Hillhead Library, Byres Road, Glasgow, Scotland] Do come along if you're in the area! - tonnes of pretty craftiness from funky designer folks. "I love yarn" badges - £0.50 / US$0.95 plus postage [not much, probably about £0.60 / US$1.50] Designed for me by the boy - utterly fabulous! I love them! My latest iPod Nano mittens: Salt n Pepa and Retro orange with brown pom-pom £9.95 / US$17.00 plus £0.52 [UK shipping] / $3.00 [Int. shipping] Will fit an iPod Nano, phone or mp3 player of a similar size. iPod Nano dimensions: height 9.1cm, width 4cm, thickness 0.6cm Care instructions: 30 degree gentle wash. More fabby badges designed by the boy :) This is a tribute to the evolution of Playstation controllers - £0.50 / US...

The cutest t-shirt from Threadless entitled: Ambition Killed the Cat. Love it! A pressie from the boy. And my Cascade 220 arrived from Get Knitted - I tried to take the most colour-true photo. It's a lovely yarn - really cleans up stitches and makes everything 'shop-bought' neat. It's a bit 'sticky' though - I had a bit of a tangle get it wound with the ball winder. So I'm starting my tension square like a good little knitter and reading about other people's progress on the KAL [plus trying to find out about any pattern mistakes in advance, cos I think frogging this yarn maybe wouldn't be very joyful...] Other knitting news; I've been carrying on with my hoodie, and also bought the latest Interweave Knits plus the Central Park Hoodie circs from K1 Yarns . Lots of exciting things coming into the shop soon - yay! And a moth got in, so we all set about trying to smash it to death with rolled-up Knitscenes! It was allowed to live as it managed to...