I have been wrestling with the idea of joining the Knitting Olympics for a few weeks now. I even picked out a project.  But with the yarn for other projects mounting up, and the fact that i really need to start looking for a new job, I just can’t justify sitting knitting for 16 days.

However I still think it’s a great idea.

Luckily for me i know Lara – who had the genius idea for us to finish all our UFOs during the Olympics instead.

For me this means:

• finishing the sleeves, collar and making up the secret jumper project
• knitting the second striped sock to go with it’s mate, which i finished in october
• knitting the last third of the first, and then the whole second Italian striped sock i started for W while on our honeymoon
• finishing the second fingerless mitten

plus, whatever else i can find that is surely hidden around the place somewhere.

Thus Team Alien was born. 🙂

I have also joined:

as run by Wildgeese.

This is all very exciting. Tomorrow I’ll sit down and post pictures of all the UFOs I can find.

ETA: Knitty blog talking about finishing UFOs for the Knitting Olympics, and how challenging yourself is enough to qualify. So i guess it’s officially on people!

Here is the yarn I bought at the Handweaver’s Studio. It’s about 235g (for less than £6 – bargain!)

Here is the yarn split into 3. I know i can make a pair of trainer socks (my prefered sock length) from about 75g of wool, so this should be fine. (Please note that only the top hank is properly tied up. I was intending the tie up the other two, but then in a fit of ‘omg must carry on dyeing’, after the Bluestockings meeting, I just dyes them as they were. BIG mistake. I ended up with two jumbled messes, and had to split them a number of times to untangle each ‘hank’.  My bad. But at least I learnt a good lesson – even if it was the hard way…)

Unfortunately I was so caught up in the actual dyeing that i didn’t take any photos of the process. However i used the very comprehensive knitty article, for reference – specifically the part at the end about handpainting.  I mixed up a dilute dye (about a pint or so) in a jug, and a concentrated dye (about 1/3 of a cup) in a mug, and dipped and dunked and held under, and dribbled until i got what i wanted.

Then, (because we don’t have a microwave) I put it in the pressure cooker, at pressure for about 15 minutes.

When it had cooled down I washed it (in water the same temperature as the yarn) and squished it in a colander to get most of the water out.

Then I hung it outside on our balcony to dry.

Here is the green yarn all hanked up.

And here is a blurry photo of a bit of it knitted up. I’m really pleased with the results, first attempt or no first attempt. *big grin*

So as I said, after my knitting group meeting – since it finished early – I decided to dye the other two balls using the rest of the kool aid.

This one has a much more solid colour, and it actually a quite light pink (i was untangling it late afternoon yesterday, hence the darker photo.)

Special thanks to Kx – my sister – who brought me back the kool aid from her New York trip last year.
xxx

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I forgot to photograph my other purchase from the Handweaver’s Studio:

These were labelled as mixed, so i’ve no idea what’s in them, though they feel natural, and soft. They are about 2ply weight, and the three together cost about £1.20 which is incredibly cheap!  I’m thinking of knitting them with something else – maybe for the cuffs of socks, or an edging or something?  Eitherway they are lovely. 🙂

London yarn shopping on saturday was a blast! 

From the strange religious paraphernalia and granny wool shop (which had pure merino yarns from the most granny knitting companies going, which boggled my mind in the best way), I bought lime and jade coloured Rowan 4ply, for when i’m in the mood for strippy socks…

From Loop I splured on some Knitpicks 100% cashmere sock yarn.

And at the Handweaver’s studio I found they sell huge hanks of yarn (lamb’s wool?) for less that £6!

And once the portion I dyed is dry, i’ll show you what i did with it. 🙂

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If I were braver I’d put myself down for the Knitting Olympics, and make this.  But to be honest I’ve been a procrastination queen recently and i don’t need another reason to sit around when i should be sorting my life out. Plus i’m half way through my secret project, and I really need to get it finished before I start anything else.

However I would like to knit the vest at some point, since i think it would really suit me and colour work is one of the things I need more practice in.

My sister found a really cool place to buy organic, vegetable dyed wool.

Lovely J found this link to the Cast-On podcast. I am slowly making my way through the archives, but so far I am impressed. 🙂

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One more FO then I’m off to spend money (that will mostly come back to me – right now i really like that kind of spending.)

It was my step-mum’s birthday and I made here a knitted bear from Jean Greenhowe’s Toy Collection. (One of these days I need to write a Jean Greenhowe post, since I’m not sure I would be making stuff today if it wasn’t for her.)

Anyways I knit it in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk (it was late when I took this shot – the yarn is actually lime green), and made a little felt rosette – apt since she’s a horserider and my dad’s house is full of rosettes. 🙂  The bear is kinda abstract, (or, you know… eyeless). I just couldn’t find a face that fit as well as just having a nose did. So just a nose it is.

This bear is now winging it’s way the the oil rig where my stepmum works, since here birthday this year is offshore. I wonder if it’ll stay there or come home with her?

ETA: Getknitted has some Maya left, and are doing a deal – 10 skein packs for £50, which is great value and worth checking out.