basimah knits… and spins… and maybe complains about things a little…

mom and i finally made it to the farmer’s market last week (after nearly a year of saying we were going to, but never actually getting there).  it was pretty small, but nicer than i expected.  we got some beets and green beans and tomatoes and cider and i got some lip balm that smells a little funky but really keeps my lips nice all day, so maybe i’ll get used to the smell… it’s like tea tree and something.  the tea tree, i’m familiar with… it’s the "something" that i can’t place that gives me some troubles.

so yes, this post actually does have something to do with fibery goodness… i dyed some yarn…

it’s knitpicks paint-your-own laceweight dyed with the beet skins and tops (but not the greens) leftover from dinner last night.  the color really surprised me, but i think it’s pretty awesome.  i put all the skins and such in a pan on the stove with enough water to cover them and heated them up really slowly to just before a simmer because i was worried that if i heated it too fast or too long, the color would go icky.

meanwhile, i prepped the yarn as usual for dyeing… soaked it in warm water with a wee bit of soap then rinsed and let it soak in the clear water while the other stuff was getting ready.  when i thought the beet water was good, i poured it through a strainer to get all the big chunks out, tossed the skins, put the hot beet water in a big bowl, added a couple big chugs of vinegar, and threw the yarn in.  the original plan was to just let the yarn sit in the hot beet water and get good, but after a few hours i microwaved it for a couple minutes… i’m not sure if it really helped that much, but it made me feel better.

the yarn didn’t take up all the beet dye, infact, it seems that it took up the pinker tones and left the purpley tones behind… i base that on my unscientific findings of pink yarn and purple leftover beet water (purplier than it was when i started).

the yarn ended up a really pretty pink with some kind of peachy parts and some rosy parts.  if i was going to name it, i think it would be "antique tea rose" or something along those lines.  as usual, my overzealous rinsing led to a wee bit of felting, but not enough to cry about or anything.  overall i’m pretty happy with the whole thing.

the silk bandwagon!  as an early birthday present to me from me, i bought 100g (3.5oz) of silk hankies for spinning on the ebay.  the seller sent an email yesterday that my package of goodness has been shipped, but they’re in canada, so i dunno how long that will take.  i don’t know yet what the silk will become, i just have been wanting to try it out for the longest time, and it was a really good price so i went for it.  yay!

as for knitting, still not much is new.  i’ve got a bunch of plans, though… and a cute little expando-file portfolio thing in which to put those plans once they are written on index cards so i don’t come up with something super awesome and then forget it the next day.

another baby hat.  i think this one looks more like ice cream.  still adorable though, no?  i think i might write down the formula (even though it’s super easy) and post it eventually.

in other news, there’s not much other news.  the hot pink hearts shawl is patiently waiting the addition of the second ball of lustersheen.  it’s a great pattern, but the long rows are starting to wear on me, so it’s rather slow going.

so that’s about it for now.

a pink cupcake hat designed and crocheted by me.  i’ve made the knit version of cupcake hats a bunch of times, but wanted something that would work up a little quicker.  for me, that means crochet.  i’m hoping it’s a good size for a newborn, cuz my co-workers friend just had a 6lb or so baby.  i know it’s summer and everything, but babies are sposed to stay warm, right?

this, my friends is what i do in my spare spare time when i’m not tangled in yarn or covered in fiber.  it’s a beaded rock!  i’ve made quite a few, but they’ve all ended up as gifts or have suspiciously "walked away" from where i’ve left them.  no glue is used, rather each bead is sewn around the rock…. like a case for it. 

as far as knitting goes, i’m on row 103 of 186 rows of the hot pink hearts shawl…

the pic is from a few rows back, but you get the idea.  the hearts go from the neck of the shawl down to the bottom edge, with a border of hearts going across the entire bottom.  on either side of the hearts is a mile of stockinette stitch, which really isn’t that bad cuz it means i get to move along quicker.  i’m not sure if i’ll keep this for me or gift it, i’ll have to see just how big it ends up i suppose.

so here it is, ladies and gents. the first lace/fingering weight yarn i’ve spun on the wheel. something went really wrong and i had to completely respin it to add more twist, but now that i’ve done that, i’m pretty happy with it. it’s about 160 yards (47 grams), so i’ve got no idea what i’ll do with it. ideas are welcome!

on the knitting front, i’m working on a cascading hearts shawl from heartstrings fiberarts… i’m using some hot pink red heart lustersheen i had in my stash. it’s going pretty well so far. i’ll get pics up soon.