Seeing Green

We had yet another failed dyeing experiment this week. We tried dyeing a large skein of tan-coloured fingering weight yarn - over 400 yds - in the microwave (using food colouring drops done by Abi, so I don't really document the ratios etc.) using 3 dishes to try and get three slightly different areas of colour.  All were green. Unfortunately, for several reasons, the dye was only affecting small amounts of the yarn. Those reasons include 1) too much yarn in each dish and not enough water to distribute the dye and give the yarn space to move and 2) probably too much vinegar in the yarn causing it to immediately absorb the dye before the dye had time to reach the rest of the yarn.  After every round I'd look and find huge areas still of tan, so we'd mix and add more dye after pulling up the brown so it would catch the dye first... Eventually I had to give up and say UGH to the yarn above.  Also, we'd run out of blue and green and red food colouring.
The next day we got more food colouring, a very large bowl, and overdyed everything in one pot to achieve the yarn below.  Then I had to rinse it about 20 times because of all the dye added over the last couple days - far too much to be absorbed fully by the yarn. There is still a lot of wild variation, but I'm hoping it will look great when knitted...  My friends son suggested it should be called Jungle yarn and would look good with some red accents. Sounds like a design plan...

Not all green was horrid this week. I did finally finish this project started last year.

And we had two boxes of gifts arrive this week for Abi.  Today was Nana's box, which included this adorable outfit Abi immediately put on.

And magnetic dress-up dolls and craft stuff. Earlier in the week she got more dolls (and she's very happy to have a boy doll) and roller skates and other things.  That was a snow day, so she had to test out the roller skates inside. She's very good at it.

Spring Equinox

Today I noticed our Snow Drops are in bloom - just in time for Ostara - the Spring Equinox.  The crocuses are not far behind and other bulbs are sprouting from the ground full of promise.  Let us hope the snow stays away.

 There are blooms inside and outside to enjoy at our house.
Snow drops outside. Violets from a gift basket over 3 years old inside. Seedlings planted by Abi and me. And Kalancho flowers from an old cutting.

 Abi had fun at a local playground this afternoon.

And while riding her scooter.

not all dyeing yields desired results

"Every skein is sacred.
Every skein is great.
If a skein is wasted..."
you know the rest (or should. and if you don't - your own loss)

I found myself singing this as I hung some recent dye experiments to dry.
It started with some blues and pinks-purple needed to finish Abi's new shawl.  The results of the first batch were lovely and what I expected from Abi's colours.  They  were used for the picot bind off.

Sharing some love

The large section of blue near the bottom is my handspun yarn :)

Remember the yarn Abi and her friend dyed? It was knit up into these:

However, not all of our yarn experiments are equally lovely.
Yesterday proved that...

Abi wanted yellow. It took a while of being dissatisfied with the resulting pale yellow to add a drop of red to make it darker / visible. For the last skein I thought I would transform the yellow dye bath into some orange. There was still plenty of yellow left from trying to make it darker. Maybe adding a drop of the neon pink wasn't a great choice. It didn't matter how much red I added after... the skein is doomed to be crazy-bright.
No idea what I'll do with these...

And then there's this pink and blue in the same yarn base.

It's rather meh in my books.

Getting my knit on

I was curious to see myself knitting (and purling), so with the tripod already out and the sun shining in the window, I took some video footage.
I'm going to use the longer footage to calculate my knits per minute. Just because I'm curious.
Aside from cutting out most of the footage, this is not edited. Ie, that is really my speed for knit stitches and purl stitches (slower). Plus on the knit row I'm slipping two stitches (for that row).  Not every stitch is so quick to do.

I also did a quick video demonstrating a decrease technique used in my shawl design that creates 2 mirrored decreases from 3 stitches. (Not actually made in the correct place because I had already completed that row of decreases.)

And, for a joke I video recorded as I frogged back many rows of knitting on the shawl after changing the pattern for better increases along the sides. (This video predates the knitting above.)

For the non-knitters, "frogging" refers to ripping back: rip-it, rip-it / ribbit ribbit. Yes, it's knitting humour. Like "tinking" is to un-knit stitch by stitch or k-n-i-t backwards. tink.

3ft in 3 years

In dawned on me this afternoon that Abi was due to be measured. So I pulled out the tape measure and the cardboard length I'm visually keeping track on.  She's just over 3ft tall. Checking the WHO height for age charts, I see she's in a low percentile, which doesn't surprise me considering she's always been in a low percentile, especially for weight - which I haven't checked lately. What I find more surprising is when people say she's tall. I think people forget what size kids are.
Today we were out with her birthday balloon. Inevitably, many people asked her how old she is today - but first they guessed four years.  Of course, she happily chatted at them and informed them she is three. And that now there's no more nursing for her.  <-- yeah right.  We returned home and guess what she was asking to do within half an hour.  Nevertheless, there is now a base for weaning.

In celebration today, Abi and I went to the Stone Crock for a late breakfast. Abi had a huge pancake - which is why we went out.  We also went shopping for sun glasses. She's been asking for a pair for months.  I kept suggesting she wait for her birthday.  However, since she didn't receive any for her birthday, we used some of her birthday money on a pair that she chose. They are pink and sparkly with yellow-green arms. Very flower/spring in colour.  Before finding the glasses at the mall (in Zellers), we tried shopping in St. Jacobs. It was a lovely sunny day for walking around.

Yesterday was her big party - full of friends.  There were many balloons. Plus one giant balloon that Abi eventually popped playing with (thankfully; there was no way that thing was coming home) and a special helium balloon - which she carried around today.  There was also delicious food (thanks to Robin) and a tasty chocolate cake (if I do say so myself).  I had some party games ideas, but the kids just played happily by themselves. There was much running and noise.  All in all, I'd say it was a successful party.

Abi's already looking ahead to the next family birthday - mine.  I made a circle calendar for her a couple months ago, marked the seasons, months, etc, and everyone's birthdays.  Each birthday is colour-coded - mostly for decoration when I did it, but the colours have also helped her memorize whose birthday is when. So she knows last month was Dorion's birthday, that hers came next, and that around here mine is next.  Later this month is the conglomerate of her Nana's, Grandpa's and Aunty's birthday (on the 21st and 23rd).  She'll point on dad's birthday on the other half of the circle. And Pa-Pere's and Coreys too.
According to Abi, there will be kids and adults at my birthday. Darn, I was hoping for no kids :P

(yet) Another day of dyeing experiments

Abi and Isaac and I dyed some alpaca sock yarn this morning. (Berroco Ultra Fine, washable). 
In the top photo, the purple (both kids) and the green (mostly Isaac) are ready to be microwaved.  In the second photo, the purple (mostly Abi) has just come out.  She had added the concentrated dye mixture to the yarn before I had added extra water.  The results are quite lovely though:

Purples and blues are so hard to photograph! This picture really does not do the yarn colours justice.

The bi-coloured yarn didn't come out as good in the green department. Especially when held against the bright purple. It was a muddy brown-green, with a lot of poorly-dyed areas.
So I mixed up some more green-blue and overdyed it.  Except, I neglected to add vinegar at first. I think I assumed there was enough absorbed by the yarn at this point. I was wrong.  The colour did not take.  Some of the dye bath had been transferred to the other half of the dish by wicking.  I added vinegar to the green side, microwaved for 2 more minutes, and voila - the water was clear! On the purple side, where no vinegar had been added, it was still bright green. (I'm pretty sure that purple wasn't planning to absorb any more colour anyhow!)  Thus I had an unintentional experiment with vinegar and dyeing.

If you're happy and you know it

If you're happy and you know it sing along.

Niagara Falls

We took a trip up to Niagara Falls yesterday to visit my grandma (Abi's Gam-Gam) in her new apartment.  While there, Robin wanted to find a few geocaches at the falls, so we took a long walk on a warm but grey day.

Saturday, Abi and I planted some seeds.

And later that evening we put together all of her train track pieces.

New Wheels

Maybe you already caught the drama on Facebook about our lousy Valentine's Day.  That would be the day that I was on my way to pick up Robin from work (so we could go out for sushi, which I suspected but was going to be a surprise from Robin for V-Day) when I met the lane-wide, car-eating pothole in front of the cemetery. It ate both curb-side tires leaving me with a flat, a bent rim, and two hub caps on the road to retrieve.

Granted, I didn't know about the flat. I first saw the hubcaps rolling in the rear view mirror, so I turned at the next street, parked, and got out to inspect the tires before walking back to retrieve the hub caps.  Having discovered the flat, Abi and I walked home - picking up the caps on the way - so I could try and messenger Robin to let him know we would not be picking him up! He doesn't have a phone number to call at work, and we don't have cell phones. Of course, he was no longer on-line. I'd hoped he might have wi-fi access and be on his tablet while waiting. Instead I had to wait 45 minutes for him to finally look for us at home!  He bused to the car with the intention of putting on the spare, but the bent rim made it difficult, so he had to drive the car home as is.
Bad bad day.
And no chocolate.
Not even since. Ahem. Robin!

Yesterday the car was fixed - new rim (maybe two, I can't recall, but the front was a little bent too) and four new tires.
Wish I could say the "new wheels" was more exciting.  Good thing it's tax-return season!
And I would like to add that I had just driven past that pothole the previous morning, so I knew it was there.  It was, however, much, much smaller the day before. As I shifted to the edge of the lane to avoid what I expected was a small pothole curbside, I ended up catching it worse because now the pothole was gigantic. No, seriously, lane-wide and deep. As we walked past I saw a few more hubcaps on the sidewalk and several more cars get caught.  I called the city to report it and amazingly I was the first to do so. Apparently people don't think to report them? Because I can't imagine I'm the first to have hit it that badly - the scattered hubcaps said otherwise.

I haven't been back (no car) to check on it, but I hope they fixed it. It's a major road. I am surprised it was allowed to get that bad, but if noone reported it I suppose the city can't know of every pothole, especially one that seemed rather innocent the previous day - as far as potholes go.  I imagine there were quite a few car-swallowing holes across the region because of the above-zero weather followed by freezing temperatures.

Recovering

This cold/flu thing still lingers in our chests. It was utterly exhausting, but I hear it's a common sickness right now.  We're not usually subject to the flu in this house.

Anywho, not much to write about. Feeling rather morose this morning. Browsed through the most recent issue of Pagan Moonbeams. The theme is death (and rebirth).  And that got me thinking about people and loved ones we've lost. And because it's February I was thinking of a HS friend who committed suicide one January (years ago), but I always associate him with February because of this whole funny thing where he'd told one of our teachers that he was a leap-year baby and she'd planned a special thing for him and then found out he'd made it up as one of his many jokes. I don't know why that story always sticks out in my mind, but he and his friends will forever be remembered as pranksters.  Oh, the things that were left in my yard... the things that were tapped under teacher's desks... the number of meter sticks broken... the stories I have for their children! (and they have children...)  Sometimes those days feel like yesterday, but the memories are over a decade old and being pre-Abi they're really more than a lifetime ago for me. Everything pre-Abi also feels like a lifetime ago (literally and figuratively). To bring Abi into the thought processes, the Moonbeams issue included stories about pets who pass over and that's one thing I'm always trying to prepare for - the inevitable day when one of our furry family members passes on.  I'm hoping that the current felines will have a longer life than most of my past cats. I've had bad luck with sick cats - all different forms of illness and all came on suddenly from out of the blue when the cat was otherwise very healthy. Recently vet-checked in some cases. Anyhow, I'm not emotionally ready to deal with another death soon, even though I know I can and I would and everything would be okay. It's draining.  If I might ask a favour of the gods - I'd like a death-free year (food-sources aside; and I mean death in the classic sense, not the metaphorical sense, because I know there will be plenty of endings and transformations this year).

On to more pleasant thoughts today.
Such as a picture of Abi modeling her adorable scarf I whipped up using the yarn she dyed and balanced by some plain white.  It's a very cozy, warm scarf. The dyed yarn is alpaca and the white is a wool-mohair blend. Warm! The stitch pattern is a double-ended, double-garter simple stitch - in case you were wondering. That means I knit across with yarn A, slide the stitches back across the needle (circular or a long double-pointed needle), then knit across with yarn B. Repeat to desired length. Incredibly easy and quick and great for on-the-go, chatting, etc. This scarf is nice and long - it wraps around and can then be tied.

The photo is from when she was sick. :(

Here she is outside, all bundled up, while Robin shoveled the deep snow. If only she was wearing her pink and purple knit mittens for this photo... she'd be knit-coordinated.

And here's a project I'd like to share. A friend of mine gave me a couple of balls of yarn last fall saying she saw it and thought of me and imagined I could make something beautiful with it. (Major Goodwill score! And she'd beat me to the store by 30 minutes.) I made myself a short-sleeved cardigan in the fall. And in January I made this, which the "knitting fairy" recently left on her doorknob (and almost wiped-out running away).  It was my first beaded project. And, technically, it is crochet work.

The second photo was taken before I steam-blocked the shawl. The yarn is an acrylic blend (Mary Maxim "Mohair"), so it should be permanently blocked in shape now. Oh, if you were wondering, the Ravelry link for the original pattern is: Festival Shawl.

Final photo shows the subtle bead work along the edging. Very subtle yellow and white beads, but they add a nice weight to the fabric and some extra shine (which the yarn already had plenty of). I'm looking forward (and not looking forward at the same time) to working the beaded edging of my Evenstar shawl. (Here's mine in progress. Slooow progress. Not something I often have time to pick up. Not for months now.)