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The past few days I have been working on completing a shower gift (pictures after the shower) so I haven’t been completing as many things as I would have liked but I have been making progress on my mystery balls, two color scarf and I found the scarf that I dyed with Kool-Aid.

 Here are the mystery balls. There are two which is a good start for an afghan, used two stranded with a neutral yarn. Instead of trying to do all of the joining and winding at one time, I take a few mini balls and join them so over the course of a week or so. That way the mystery ball grows and it’s not such a  daunting task.

The two skein, two color scarf is taking shape and looking pretty good. The reason I hadn’t worked on it much was the shower gift was taking up a bit of time but I will definitely use this technique again. Progress has been made and after the first few rows and changes, keeping the switching isn’t a hassle. I’m still not sure that I would use this technique in a longer project.

The scarf that I dyed with Kool-Aid several years ago is small. It’s rather narrow, probably because I didn’t want to make a big commitment to the process and used a portion of a skein. The color is still vibrant after several years I think it was Ice Blue drink mix, which yielded a nice aqua shade. Knowing now that the colors are a bit lighter after washing and drying so I’m gong to go through my drink mix packets and create some fun yarn.

Easter is Sunday and I had mentioned that I wanted to see how the yarn I dyed with Easter egg dye turned out and if I wanted to try doing that again. Especially since on Monday dye will be on sale I haven’t tried the yarn. I like the base yarn that I used a worsted 100% wool from Knit Picks, but do I like the colors? If I get a chance this week to start a scarf with the Paas dyed yarn, I will, so I can decide whether or not I want to purchase a few packages of dye on clearance.

I have a couple of hat and scarf sets that I have made from yarn that I dyed in a class. They are one of a kind and one is for warmer cool weather and the other is for cold weather. What I like most about both of these sets is that I made them and no one else in the world has yarn dyed in those colors because I chose the placement of the colors. Often I receive compliments on the items and when they ask more I say I made the hat and scarf and dyed the yarn myself. Some are like wow and others are like – of course you would.

I was talking to someone who gave me a different reply – why? Why not just buy the yarn yourself? Buying yarn is always fun, but dyeing yarn that no one else will have and that you have put the effort into creating uniquely for one project is more fun than having yarn that others have… even if it’s a small dye lot yarn.  That’s like asking someone who likes restoring classic cars to just buy a new one, or someone who enjoys baking bread to just buy something from the store. Yes, we can, but part of the enjoyment is being able to do it yourself.

I’ve dyed other yarn before with unsweetened powdered drink mix. It could have been Kool-Aid. Not sure, but I have also dyed yarn with Easter egg dye. The colors turned out interesting and I think I want to use some of the yarn before the post Easter sales this year, because I might want to buy some dye kits to color more yarn. There are whole sites devoted to dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid and food coloring as well as Rit and other items. These pictures show the yarn that I dyed with some Paas a couple of years ago. I chose the colors I liked and used them. I think the others I saved in a plastic resealable bag. I didn’t have a project in mind, beyond dyeing the yarn.

Somewhere with my winter accessories there is a subtle aqua colored scarf that I dyed with drink mix. There’s no coordinating hat. I’ve also dyed yarn a lovely shade or camel with old coffee which my father wears often. But the yarn that I dyed with the Easter egg dye is just waiting. I think now is the time to make a scarf to add to my donation bag. There is enough for me to do a basketweave pattern, which tends to use more yarn. Using yarn that you’ve dyed yourself is  more fun than selecting yarn for any other project, it’s the right yarn, color, weight for the project or you just wanted to try it out. The home dyed yarn is just that: I just wanted to try the process out.

So, when someone asks you why dye your own yarn (or pursue whatever craft suits your fancy) – why not?

I found two skeins of the same yarn on clearance but in different colors. I bought them thinking that I will definitely be able to make a scarf out of these. Lately I have been making scarves working horizontally in several wide rows across. That would be nice, but I decided to challenge myself and make a colorful striped scarf of two rows of postwork and draw the yarn up on the side.

After a false start, a small knotted clump that would take too long to get untangled, I made a chain and started with the gray. When I got to the actual pattern, I did two rows, then switched to the other color so there isn’t a long drag of color and I can just pull the color up to the next row.

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This yarn put the fun in functional. I plan on using up every bit of this yarn, even though the schlubby bits drag on the hook. What I like most is that the otherwise plain gray gets some excitement and pops of color. To showcase the yarn, I choose to just stitch this in single crochet. I can’t remember when I last did a scarf completely in single crochet, but this yarn begged for simplicity to show off its beauty. This is an unidentified yarn… I don’t know which manufacturer made this yarn, because I bought this in a mill ends bag and haven’t seen anything like it since. So, until I’m finished with it, I will enjoy the process and hope the recipient enjoys it as well.

I finished the scarf with the multi-colored pink “trial” yarn that made me realize that I did not want to use it for a gift. The scarf turned out well and since I had completed more than half of it, I persevered. Then, right after I cut the yarn before weaving in the end, I put the remainder of the skein into my donation bag. [It is joined by some ruffle scarf yarn that was lovely to look at and made really cute scarves for gifts, it was unbearable to work with.]

There should be joy in a project. (more…)

If you are like many crafters, you have scrap and bits of yarn from projects left over. Sometimes you can put them together and make something wonderful or you may use them to finish off a row when you need just a few yards more.

To use up some of the spare bits of yarn, you can make a scrapghan, a mystery ball or just use it for decoration. (more…)