Never Say Never

I don't usually do the same pattern more than once - unless it's something small or by special request. (I've done Calorimetry several times.) Well, I think I've found a pattern I'm going to be addicted to. I'm making a pair of socks for my mom - because I've been bitten by the sock bug - and I find them to be absolutely gorgeous! I'm in love with the pattern and I know I'm going to have to make a pair for myself. I've finished one of her socks (I used this pattern) and I hope to cast on the other today and have them finished by the end of the week.
I have a feeling that another family member might be requesting a pair of these as well...
I also love the yarn I used. I went to my LYS asking for some summery sock yarn, and found this bamboo blend and it is so incredibly soft! A bit splitty to work with, but worth it!

Rainbow Surprise

I've gotten into a sock streak with my knitting. I have several hanks of bare sock yarn (and other weights, too) that I bought to dye myself. I've done this before - with Kool-Aid and with icing tint. It's fun and I love the results. I decided today that I was going to try my hand at painting some yarn with Easter Egg dye. Had some left over that I'd gotten cheap. I figured I'd do all the colors and have some cute pastel spring-y socks. I soaked the yarn in water and vinegar while prepping the dye -- I used the little collapsible cups that came in the kit for dying eggs. I decided to use a medicine syringe to squirt the dye where I wanted it - I had a cup of water to rinse the syringe between colors.

I used all five colors in the kit - planned to paint it like a pastel rainbow. First the red... which didn't turn out to be red at all, but a bright pink. All the colors turned out to be quite vibrant. I was surprised, but pleasantly so! I'm loving my yarn and can't wait to see what it looks like after it's knitted up! It's steaming on the stove right now to set the color. It will take a couple of days for it to dry, and I'll probably be spending my time trying to decide on what pattern to use for my lovely rainbow surprise yarn!









**There is one purple area, but it didn't show up in the pictures -- in the section that looks like a big chunk of blue.**