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Monday, February 13, 2006

Olympic Update!

Day 4 is almost over with now, at least in my time zone. I thought I would post a picture of an update of the Irish Hiking scarf that I am working on for you to see. I only have about 14 inches done so far, not as much as I'd like but its good for the amount of time that I've had to spend on it. I'm hoping to get it done soon though.

Ok, for some reason the colour still isn't looking quite right, at least on my computer. I am thinking it must be the flash washing it out or something. It really is peach and not white or light pink LOL.


This picture shows the colour a little bit better, however my cat Tinker Belle decided she wanted in the picture and jumped on the chair just as I snapped the pic. I am just realizing that in both of the pics you can't see the details of the cables very well...but I am impressed with the way it is turning out. It is actually going quick, that is when I get the time to knit...and it's on size 5 mm, and after knitting socks lately, I am seeing more progress faster than with the socks.

Also for a challenge, I added to my personal challenge and attempted to dye some wool with Kool-Aid! The first time I ran into problems, mainly because when I was trying to rinse it I held it under the tap some and ended up with some large chunks of felting that took place. I was a little upset...ok more than a little...and after it dryed some I decided to see if I could pull it apart. Well, I did and it took a L O N G time, but I got it done. I don't know if that will weaken the fibers or not, but I did it anyway. Here is a pic of the finished results.


I'm really sorry that the pictures aren't really turning out all that well...the flash is washing them out I think. The flavour of Kool-Aid I used was Tropical Punch. It was in a blue package and silly me was thinking that it would be blue in colour (to be honest I didn't really think that the flavour was 'punch' and would probably be some shade of red), however I think it turned out pretty good. It all seems to be evenly dyed.

My second attempt at dying was today. This time I chose the cherry flavour that turns a different colour when it's mixed. On the package it showed a picture of cherries and underneath it was blue so I thought maybe that was what it would be...can you tell I want to dye some blue??? Anyway, when I mixed it it was a weird shade that I can't describe other than to say it would be similar to turquoise I guess. Unfortunately, this time the colour didn't take evenly. Some of it soaked up more of the colour and looks a dark shade, nearly green, and the wool that was towards the middle of the skein didn't get as much (I wonder if I didn't squeeze out the water good enough before adding it to the dye mix) and is a lot lighter and looks closer to blue. Oh well, might make for an interesting combination for whatever I make with it...lol

I tried to upload the pics of it, but it wouldn't post them so I must be over my quota of space allowed or something...if that is what the problem is. Oh well, I'll just have to post them another time.

Off to work on my knitting now. Good luck to the other olympians, and happy knitting to all!

9 comments:

Catherine Kerth said...

look how pretty! and the kitty is showing it some purring lovin'! :) i really like the color of that red you syed! perfect!

Anonymous said...

I just finished dying up a batch of hand spun using easter egg dye. I should have it posted on my blog tomorrow. I've done kool aid too but like the other better. It's way too fun!!

Anonymous said...

Try standing farther away from your subject -- at least 5 feet -- when you use the flash. Then you can crop closer before posting to your blog. Closer than 5 feet will often wash out detail and screw with your color. The other option is to take the photos in natural light, of course.

Kool-Aid dying sounds so exciting and unpredictable. Perhaps I will give it a try sometime. I hope you find yourself some blue dye soon!

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

Thanks everyone!

Rachel, I will keep that in mind about standing further away. The camera has a zoom on it so that would work...stand further away and zoom in!

Tina in Wonderland said...

It looks like your Olympic scarf is coming along pretty quickly, and it is really pretty!

I think the pink yarn you Kool-aid dyed looks really nice! I am dying to try that! I would be happy to see more pictures of how your dying project turns out, as I have never dyed anything that wasn't used on an egg hunt! LOL

I have this Kool-aide dye chart thing bookmarked and thought you might like the link.
http://www.thepiper.com/fiberart/koolaid/images/colorchart-high.jpg

Holly said...

Shelley, that scarf is beautiful!! I would love to learn how to do that pattern!!! Holy smokes that is an amazing pattern!! :)

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

Tina, thanks for that link...it's great! When I make something with the dyed yarn I'll post a pic!

Mustang, it is an easy pattern! It looks more difficult than it is, which is why I thought it would be more of a challenge for me. It has inspired me though, to learn other stitches and techniques to make my knitting look prettier rather than using straight knit, purl,and ribbed stitches.

amylovie said...

Looking good Shelley.

Amy

Unknown said...

Your scarf is looking really good! I love the color of your dyed yarn. . . I need to do some dying myself soon.