Ruffled Scarflette

I saw some 'scarflettes' (never heard this word before, but it makes sense) online that I thought were really cute, so I worked out this pattern. Turns out I used hyperbolic crochet in its' creation! Such a high tech sounding word. It's actually a bit frilly for me, but I guess deep down I am a bit of a romantic because I do love ruffles. The pattern is available in my Etsy store if you want to whip out a few before the weather changes. Unfortunately around here that won't happen for 3+ months....

Pattern available at my Etsy store.

Tie-dye Yarn?

If you are feeling adventurous, you can use the technique I described in my previous post to 'tie-dye' your yarn. The only difference is the order you put stuff in the crockpot. After the yarn has soaked in the bowl for an hour, add it to the crockpot (which is already filled with water and 1/2 cup vinegar). Now you get to mix up your colors. Mix up each kool-aid color in it's own little bowl with a small amount of water. Be sure you don't choose colors opposite each other on the color wheel - like red and green - or you will get brown. I'm guessing it's safest to select colors that are next to each other, but then I am no color theorist. Anyway, pour each color into the crockpot in its own spot, being careful not to mix the water. The colors will spread a little and mix but pretty much stay in place. Cover your crockpot and turn it on!

The Easy Way to Dye Wool Yarn

It is surprisingly easy to dye wool yarn using only vinegar and kool-aid. The photo above is my 'before' picture of Lion Brand 100% wool yarn that I bought at the local Hobby Lobby. Here is what you need: a crockpot, a bowl, a salad spinner (not absolutely necessary, but comes in handy), white vinegar, and several packets of kool-aid in the color you want to use. And the process is:

1. Fill your bowl with enough water to cover your loosely wound skein of yarn.


2. Add 3/4 cup vinegar to the water, then add the yarn.


3. Let sit for 1 hour.


4. Fill your crockpot with enough water to cover your yarn.


5. Add 1/2 cup vinegar to the crockpot.


6. Add the kool-aid packets to the crockpot (the more packets the darker the color) and stir well.


7. Move the yarn from the bowl into the crockpot.


8. Turn the crockpot on high, cover and wait until the crockpot water runs clear. (The yarn will eventually soak up all the dye from the kool-aid.) This may take a few hours.


9. Turn off the crockpot, uncover and let the water come to room temperature.


10. Rinse the yarn a few times with water.


11. If you have a salad spinner, spin the yarn a few times to get out excess water. Otherwise gently wring out the water and then wrap tightly in a bath towel to help dry it out.


12. Drap the yarn on a clothes hanger and hang it somewhere to air dry.

Voila! The picture below shows how some of the colors turned out. The kool-aid flavors used were lemonade, orange, grape, pink lemonade, lime, and berry blue.

Recycled wool - part 3

Ok. ok. I know I haven't posted in awhile (has it really already been a month?) but things have been very busy at home. Plumbing problems in the middle of getting ready to have the extended family in town for a 'family vacation', 100+ degree heat that makes me want to do nothing except hibernate until October, and a few other less urgent problems. That is the reason I haven't posted lately. That and the fact that the wrist warmers didn't turn out so well. In fact, I threw them away before I weakened and took a picture to show you how truly awful they looked after dyeing them orange. So just take my word for it. But, there is a silver lining. I am getting great colors dyeing new cream colored wool yarn with kool-aid. More on that once I get a few pics to show you....