Skirty - All done!

I finished this skirty last Sunday on the car ride home from camp. It was then washed, and got mailed out on Thursday after it was all dry. It's a present for another online mama, I can't wait until she gets it!

It was knit on my Sweet Tarts, with matching trim. The undersoaker is made from the LTK Picky Pants pattern, with rolled cuff and ribbed waistband. The skirty I did without a pattern, doing increases by upping the needle size, with occasional kfab. The ruffle I did by doing kfab every other stitch for 2 rounds, knit a round, kfab a round, knit a round, then bind off. I love the way it came out, and it looked even better after washing and blocking.


Here's the skirty, that's all that was left of the Sweet Tarts -talk about cutting it close!

The undersoaker before picking up stitches for the skirt.

Here are Kaiden and my little sister modeling the skirt for me. (Before weaving in the end)

On the Needles - Skirty!

My first girly item! Woo! I dyed some more Patons merino to match my "Sweet Tarts", and decided to make a girly knit with it. It's a surprise for an online friend, and a very fun knit! I don't have a pattern for a skirty, but was able to get some help to figure it out.

Currently I'm ready to bind off the leg cuffs on the under-soaker, then I'll be picking up the stitches on the purl row near the waistband, and starting the skirt portion. I can't wait to see this finished! I tried it on K, so it should fit the recipient well. :)

Sweet Tarts and Blueberries...

After Easter, I bought a bunch of egg dye with the intention of dyeing some wool yarn. Friday night I finally got around to dyeing my two skeins of natural Patons Merino. The intention was to make a pair of shorts out of each skein, but the end result of one skein is too girly for Kaiden. I think I have a plan for it though. ;)

This first skein is "Sweet Tarts". I asked my baby brother and sister what to name them, and they came up with "Pickle Pumpkin", Mom and Nate came up with the final names for these skeins.

The first step was to soak the yarn in water and vinegar. I soaked it for about an hour, then squeezed out the excess liquid, and laid it out on top of plastic wrap. After mixing the egg dye, I painted it on with a sponge brush, then wrapped it up in the plastic wrap. To set the color, I used the microwave. Cook for two minutes, let cool for a couple minutes, repeat for a total cooking time of 10 minutes. After it cooled down completely, I spun it out (on gentle, of course!) in the washer, and hung it to dry. Saturday afternoon, when it was all dry, I reskeined it.

Pretty, no? Unfortunately, way too girly for Kaiden to wear!

Here it is in a center pull ball, and a swatch I knit up to see how the colors blend.


Next up is Blueberry Fields. Nate said he wanted something blue and green, so here it is! The bright blue and neon green are original egg dye tablets. The darker shades are ones I mixed out of various colors.

For this one, I followed the same steps as above. Here it is after painting and hanging to dry. Saturday it was all dry, so I reskeined it as well, then put it into a center pull ball and knit a swatch as well. This will become a pair of cargo shorts for Kaiden, though I'm not sure what color I'll use for trim yet. I love how the colors came out though, and I can't wait to see a FO from this yarn! Here it is in the skein, before I rewound it into a CPB.