Dying Test no. 3, Random Picture of FO's

I finally got a picture of my latest dyed roving! Had some issues with my new digital camera and had to go exchange it. Ended up up-grading to next model up from the one I bought. Love it! I've had no problems with it so far. Here is my roving.

The fiber is superwash merino/nylon. I presoaked the fiber in a water/vinegar solution then arranged the fiber in a spiral in the dye pot. Poured and splashed the dye in a random pattern. Set in the oven at 250 for 30 minutes. The colours I used were russet, sky blue and brown. I added a few drops of russet in the blue to change the colour a bit. I really like the effect.

I've started to spin it on my spindle. I Pre-drafted it pretty fine so the singles are more consistent.

The next dye test I'll try will be blue and green I believe. I'll also try to saturated more of the fiber so that there is no white. I think that I'm scared of wasting my dye so I under dye. The effects have been wonderful but I have to get over it on just pour more dye on.

On a different note I have recently joined Ravelry.com and I took some pictures on some Fo's that I have knitted in the past. I have a bunch more but have not taken any pictures yet. So for now here are the first two.

The first is a pattern from Victorian Lace Today. It is called Scarf with the No. 20 edging. The title is actually longer but I shortened it to that. I knitted it with Roving's hand painted 100% Polworth wool in Brick. It was my most complicated project ever but so worth it. I could not memorize the lace pattern even after repeating it 50 times. But I love it.

Here is a close up of the scarf.

The scarf is really wide. It could also be used as a wrap. I feel glamorous when I wear it.

The next project is the Brea Bag from Berroco. It's a free pattern on their website. I use this bag all the time. I knitted it with South West Trading Company Bamboo yarn. I doubled up the yarn to get closer to the gauge. I also knitted a strap instead of buying a leather one like the pattern suggests. I lined both the purse and the strap with a red Asian themed fabric. The button is from AB Originals who makes hand made buttons. Here are some pics.

The lining inside the bag.

Handmade button by AB Originals.

It's been a week

So it's been a week since my last post. A few things have happened that are blog worthy so here we go.

I have been sick. I'm pretty tired of it. I've been sick since Monday April 21. I have a cold, my nose is stuffy and I have been coughing. My voice has been going through interesting ranges and of course I've had to work through it all. On top of all that I've had to train new staff which means lots of talking on my behalf followed by lots of coughing fits. It has not been a good week for work. This is the main reason why I have not posted recently. I'm was just too tired. I've been sleeping a lot which is good to heal but I 'm still sick. Anyway lets hope that I get better soon.

On a different note it was my Birthday on the 23rd. I had a great day even though I was sick. Had the day off work. Dyed some fiber, had dinner at my best friend house and had a generally good day.

I got a gift certificate from my friend to the Stitch Niche and I'm thinking I'm going to buy some yarn to make myself a summer top. I have the Fitted Knit by Stefanie Japel and I've been wanting to make the Drop Stitch Lace Tank. I check this pattern on Ravelry and it looks as though it is very flattering. Really looking forward to it.

I also got some money from my Mom for my birthday and she wanted me to get a DVD player with it and then get whatever else I wanted with the rest. May I say that it is hard to find normal DVD players. Mine died which it why I need a new one and I went shopping yesterday to replace it. I went to a few different stores and had a real hard time. All the DVD players they had were either Bluerays or HD which is way out of my price range or up-converting types which I was informed is a waste on my non-HD-TV. The only place that had a decent normal DVD player was Future Shop and they were of course out of stock. So no DVD player yet...

But I did get something else. I got a digital camera. YAY!!! I've been wanting one for a few years and especially since starting this blog. It will now be way easier to take pictures for this blog. I played with it last night and had a blast taking pictures of my cats. Here are a few of the best.

This is Tygra. She is so cute and cuddly.

I woke up Diamond for this picture. She is not too thrilled.

Was playing with the zoom and got this cool shot.

Now I was going to take some pictures of my newly dyed fiber but something seems to be wrong with my new camera. It's making a weird noise and the the screen is shaking and flickering. It was definitely not doing that last night so I'll have to bring it back tomorrow and see what is wrong with it. I'm recharging some batteries to see it that will solve the problem. So sorry folks no pics of my fiber. I'll post again as soon as my camera is working properly.

Mister Postman

So my doorbell rings at 8:30 am this morning... It's my package being delivered with my two fibers that were missing.

But 8:30 am... Someone must of been yelled at lol. I mean usually they just leave it outside my door when they deliverd it sometime in the afternoon. This time they hand delivered it first thing in the morning. Interesting...

Anyway I had just gone to bed actually since I had done another night shift so I was not too happy about being woken up just went I had just fallen asleep but it's OK because my fiber is here!!!

The fiber in the front is Polypay pencil roving. It looks like yarn it is so thin. I will definitely only be dying it after I've spun it. In the back is 1 lb of merino/nylon mills ends roving. I'm looking forward to playing with that.

On a different note I got my Ravelry invite today! So I will be busy taking pictures of my stash, FO's and WIP's. I hope my web cam can handle it. I really need to get a digital camera. I also need a cell phone so I might just look into getting a camera phone for now. Later I might invest in a good camera. I want my spinning wheel first. ;o)

Yesterday I also dyed some BFL. I tried a different technique then the first time. It's more of an immersed technique. I'm not too sure if I like it. I wanted a more blended effect then the first dye job I did but it's TOO blended now. It's way subtle. Which is not bad but not what I had in mind. Think I put too much water in the pot. I had poured russet, a mixed purple and brown in the pot. Now it just looks like a reddish brown colour. We will see how it dries. I would post a picture of it but it is drying on my table right now and my web cam does not reach that far. Once again I need a camera. I'll post it tomorrow when it its dried.