Subtle As A Splinter

This title comes from the song Modern Swinger by The Pink Spiders. There are a couple of nuggets in that song that would make great blog titles; particularly the line/phrase "smooth as sandpaper". Perhaps I should have used that for the post about falling on my @ss... :)

I'm such a horrible blogger, it's not even funny. We're going to forget that I've had a bajillion knitty things to discuss with you that I've failed to blog about, and move onto my most recent FO for which I chose the title of this entry.

Behold my Unusual Urges (wow that sounds weird out of context...):

These are made with Zauberball from my oh-so-gracious Atypical Youth swap partner as well as some hand-dyed left over Kroy from my friend's Christmas present.

I dyed the Kroy by knitting my leftovers, double stranded, into a homemade sock blank (remember, I'm unemployed with time on my hands; this makes me frugal and insane enough to knit my own sock blank by hand). I then made three mixtures of dye; one in a mulberry color, one in a purple color, and one in a turquoise/teal color. After soaking the sock blank and wringing it out so that it was damp, I placed it on top of newspaper and cling-wrap and prepared to dye.

I used a turkey baster to apply dye in blocks (mulberry to purple to teal) and used my hands to blend the colors together. Once I was satisfied, I gave everything an ample spritz with vinegar, and wrapped and rolled my blank. Following directions I had read on the Knit Picks site, I heated water in my crock pot and covered it with a piece of tin foil with holes poked in it. I placed the yarn on top of the tin foil, and accidentally got it wet with the crock pot water in the process (bad!). With my mom's help, I was able to get the tin foil a bit more taught and I covered everything to let it steam. When it came time to take everything apart and rinse my yarn, I discovered that by accidentally wetting the blank, I had caused some of my dye to shift. I turned out with a lot more purple than I intended and my teal had a random lighter spot in it, but once I wound everything, it wasn't noticeable.

I knit the socks by knitting 8 rounds of Zauberball, followed by 5 rounds of Kroy (toe-up, Judy Becker cast on, no-wrap short row heel). This messed a bit with the effect (I think it is more obvious that there is rainbow yarn and mulberry/purple/teal yarn), but it all turned out well. These socks have brought me happiness in all of this freakin' rain we've been having!!! I think I like knitting socks now; I never woulda thought...

I also wouldn't have ever thought these would be so popular! As of today, July 1st at about 6 PM, 155 people have favorited my socks! Whaa?!? My socks?! 155 people? Thanks! Someone even included them in their blog for their yarn shop!

Another one of my knits has been popular, too: my Pegboard Lace Tunic

Sorry for my silly face, I seem to make a lot of those :) I knit this with the most b-e-a-U-ti-ful Mountain Colors Bearfoot. Not the most logical choice for a summer top, but it was such a beautiful yarn and I knew it would go perfectly with this top. The most awesomest thing about this is that you can add pieces on or wear things differently by messing with its i-cord "seams". I quite like it this way, but the designer wears it lots of creative and beautiful ways.

This top has so far gotten 144 faves on Ravelry!!!! Weee!! The wonderful juicyknits has also written a bliggity blog entry (yeah, I've been DYING to write that ever since that Hulu commercial with Denis Leary) about it!

I'm super excited/flattered/thankful for all of this attention! Wow!

A few last snippets just in case for when I don't write another blog for a good month or so :)

This is what became of my firstest hand-dyed:

It's a scarf for my second partner in the First Annual Facebook Scarf. I was her third partner (second angel!), so I thought she was definitely worth the hand-dyed :) I really liked the way everything came out and it was a lot of fun to knit.

My final snippet is that I'm seriously considering going back to school this fall for something knitty (eek!!). It's super overwhelming because I have NO idea where in the world to begin, but I think it's the right choice. I'm so obsessed with yarn and knitting; it's the only thing I seem to truly and consistently have an interest in. I think I'm onto something here :) Any suggestions on what the heck to do and how to do it are very welcome. This is SO not the path I expected myself to be on...ever, but obviously the path I expected to be on isn't the one for me.

I've talked enough for today :)

Hasta luego (haha, hopefully not too much later, though),

Kelly