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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day



This Valentine's Day isn't at all romantic; it's windy and the sky is raining ice. Suddenly I regret not buying much of anything in the way of groceries last night. Seeing Manly leave to work today, I thought to myself, Manly needs a hat. And suddenly, I remembered a skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky I bought in November, how I planned a Valentine's Day hat for him and never did.

I finished my Kool-Aid socks over the weekend. I washed them in lavender wool soap and a bit of coconut scented conditioner. They smell very happy. These are my "Bed of Roses" socks for Socktopia. There are reds and pinks and whites and yellows, and why, yes, I do believe there are blue roses these days.


I was pleased with how the colors didn't pool and seemed to distribute well throughout the different sections of the sock.

Bed of Roses/Kool-Aid socks:
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare 100% merino, fingering weight
Pattern: Astrid's Twirls (modifications: size 1 dpns, cast on 66 stitches then decreased to 60 after gusset)
Timeline: cast on January 22 and finished on February 11
Recipient: these socks are for me

I've been toying with the idea of trying a dyeing enterprise to explore my love of sock yarn and colors and to also help the bank account. It's an idea I've had for a long time, and I think I should stop putting it off. So I'm placing an order soon for some professional dyes and sock yarn. Now I just need to think of a cute name for an etsy shop.

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Love,
Lone Knitter

p.s. I'll be playing around with my blog template over the next few days. I've been wanting a "cleaner" look to my blog & figure that customizing it and upgrading it to the new blogger would be a good opportunity to change my blog. We'll see how it goes.

17 comments:

Laura said...

It is such a coincidence that you're thinking of dyeing your own sock yarn - can you believe I was thinking the exact same thing on my way into work today? I've been browsing undyed yarn and dyes all afternoon!

Anonymous said...

Great job with those socks. I really like the colours too. Very spring time to me, made me long for warmer days.

schrodinger said...

Isn't dyeing your own sock yarn the best? Such a great feeling. Such spring-like colours.

Good luck with the template change, it's already starting to look very clean.

gradschoolknitter said...

why not just "lone knitter" for your etsy shop? It will make it easy for people to find you going from here to there and vice versa! :D

gradschoolknitter said...

thanks for dropping by... in answer to your question: this is just my first year of the phd here at Hopkins... but my second doctoral degree. The first one I started last year in Spain... it's a long story but I'm doing both at the same time. :S

My bf is in his 8th (and most definitely FINAL) year of his PhD... so don't worry. We're all in the same boat. We should start some sort of support group...

Sarah said...

Nice socks! Boy, is it nice to see some pretty FOs when I'm in the middle of a sweater.

Unknown said...

So did you start a hat for Manly? Sounds like you guys back there need all the warmth you can get. Out here, flowers are beginning to poke up and crocuses are even blooming.

I am always a bit envious of anyone who has handknit socks for every day of the week!

Knitting Bandit said...

Pretty socks! My monitor doesn't show the red, but what nice colors. It must be fun to dye them yourself, knit them yourself, and wear them yourself. Kinda sounds like Henny Penny!

JaneD said...

Henny Penny indeed! that made me smile, as did those beautiful socks. I think I should get a job as your PR agent since I'm always showing off your stuff and bragging about you to others. I'd love to learn yarn dyeing, too, so let me know if you're ever up for some in-person company--or maybe I should get back to my dissertation instead.

The A.D.D. Knitter said...

I agree that you should keep the Lone Knitter Moniker (sp?) for your etsy shop.
You have a serious talent for dyeing, those socks are a delight!!

Woman who knits said...

I love the socks! We're doing a Stitch'n'Bitch dye on Tuesday! Should be fun. I have some sock yarn to dye!!

Kayt said...

I have to ask.. how do you set up your stripes? they are beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Hi I'm visiting from SAM3 - I love your Kool-Aid dyed socks - What was your dye method....how did you get that lovely striping? The colors are happy and springlike - great socks!!

Chrissy said...

I love everything about this pair! The color! The pattern! I've got to try to make some like this!

Lazuli said...

Great socks! The colors came out really well! I've never dyed yarn, I suppose I should sometime. Kool-Aid sounds so easy; I'll just have to get over my aversion to K-A!

Coley said...

purdy layout. Purdy socks

Lone Knitter said...

Hey Kayt and Pat: The way the socks came out was purely by accident. I kind of just divided the skein into four and tried to soak the Kool-Aid into those quarters evenly. The striping looks more dramatic on the stockinette portion of the sock then in the ribbed section. Thanks for asking!