Isn't it interesting how things compound and one thing leads to another and thus clichés are born. Earlier this month Fuchsia sent me this link and plea,

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/zeitgeistyarns/03-heart-yoke-cardigan

can u make me this????,

we have since decided that she can graduate to big knitting and do the bottom and I will do the fair isle if needed. Anyway the pattern was in Vogue Knitting Holiday 2009, found a copy on American ebay, and very impressed I am too, it was bought, paid for and posted on the 12 May and arrived here on the 20th, local buys have taken longer.

I don't really like American knitting, not because they don't have amazing patterns, but because they do and all made in some weird yarn that defies translating into anything available here, thus major frustration, hopefully we will find something to use for this cardi, since it really does seem to be an 8ply, I did a tension square even.

Also in the mag is a nice lacy sock pattern, my weakness, socks and scarves are usually safe because you can use what you want, and sock yarn is fingering, baby, 4ply, whatever comes out mostly the same. This one uses a nice shade of pale green, I wants a nice shade of pale green. Have some great multi stripy yarn, and a bit of plain, fair bit of white patonyle, but not nice pale green, so on a whim googles dying patonyle and came across this great blog-

http://happyspider6.blogspot.com/2006/06/tutorial-dyeing-self-striping-yarn.html

although she was not dying patonyle as such I tried it and worked brilliantly, and had it all in the pantry.

So now have new toy to play with, whee.

Splice two balls of white together, wind around chairs to make long hank, soak in vinegar, put in dye, rinse, dry. First small sample dyed a lovely deep green, bit dark, and hard to photograph,



for main sample think I left in too much vinegar, and watered dye too much, put more in and got small patches of darker colour, still happy with result and have started socks.








Then while rewinding hank into balls realised that, as I want a single colour perhaps I could just knit the socks then dye them, cunning huh, will try that one by knitting another pair of these cute baby socks I finished last week, the pattern was downloaded from Interweave Press, knitting daily site, (we love you) in their 7 free baby knitting patterns booklet, it it baby's first sock, design by Anne Budd, who adapted it from Victorian England's Weldon's Practical Needlwork, I have adapted again by only using the lacy top, and knitting the rest plain so as to show up the colours. Might use the pattern if knitting with plain wool.

off to knit, knit, knit.