Carrot

Sample knitting and pattern writing are keeping me busy enough that I often don't have much else to share in terms of projects, but I'd like to make more of an effort to get both things done. I don't mind that work knitting keeps me so busy that I don't have a lot of personal projects on the go, but I don't much like it if I have absolutely no personal projects happening. So, I thought I should apply that 15 minute rule here too. If I can get through my goals for the day in sample knitting, then I can have 15 minutes after the kids head to bed to work on a personal project. Perhaps if I use it as a carrot, then I can both meet my goals and get a few things done that I've been neglecting.



The current carrot that I have in mind is a project for my younger nephew. I want to knit up Calaway by Jenny Wiebe for him, and I wanted not only to use superwash wool, but I wanted a particular look to that yarn. So, I ordered Knit Picks Bare Wool of the Andes Superwash, and, I few weeks ago, tossed it into the dye-pot. I've just stuck with the food-dyes so far in my dyeing efforts, though I'd love to work from plants someday.





In the meantime, I started with 3/4 tsp of Wilton's Kelly Green, along with rather a lot of vinegar added to the water (a good cup to start, but I went through more than 4 cups throughout).

The first result was disappointingly minty-looking rather than vibrant, so I did it over with another tsp of the dye. After the wool was dry, I checked with my sister if she liked the colour, and she confirmed my suspicion that it was still not quite green enough, so another tsp of green it was. The results are much better, and it does look a touch more vibrant in person than in the photo below.

I didn't meet my goal last night (I was close, but found a mistake that would take just long enough to fix that I was done for the night), but if I can make it tonight, I will at least have a read through the instructions, find the right needles, and set up a project bag. If I have extra time, then swatching, and revising my notion of "the right needles" if need be.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with today's 15 minutes of spinning: Alberta-grown Texel wool.