Page 56 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Soxies in Progress

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Soxies have gone from this

to this

to this.

And, one more view of the loveliness that is a complete Soxie.

The second Soxie is on the needle. They are a quick knit, and I'm trying to hold back and only knit while flying and in carpool lines so they won't go by too fast. Since I have another week of flying, followed by carpool lines, ahead of me, I think they will be done by next weekend. They seem to have already been adopted by Ellie, who was won over by their comfiness after agreeing to be my model.

This pattern may be the winner for the perfect, cushy, quick-to-knit gift. I want to knit a pair for myself, but could also see doing a few more for Christmas presents.

The Self-Indulgent September Knitalong

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

The Self-Indulgent September KAL for the Elliebelly group on Ravelry started September 1. We picked the Soxie pattern for the KAL and there are a number of projects in the works already.

I'm having an enormous amount of fun with this! At first I wasn't sure a simple pair of slippers would hold my interest, but I love knitting this pattern and especially seeing how this yarn patterns for it.

As you can see, the colors pooled. I don't usually find this to be appealing, and considered ripping it out and starting in a different place in the skein to force the colors to break up differently. But after a few rows I began to like the color placement, and now, despite the likelihood that I won't be able to make the second slipper look the same (I can be matchy-matchy obsessive like that), I'm committed.

One of the great things about this pattern is that it's a quick knit. After the provisional cast on, you do six six row repeats and then transfer the stitches onto DPNs on round 6 of the next repeat to do the toe. Quick and happy!
I'm about to put my first slipper onto the DPNs and can't wait to get the first slipper finished. I'm hoping my love of the color pooling holds up!

Happy Birthday Ellie

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

This has nothing to do with knitting, but my darling daughter turns 16 today (or snarky 16 as we call it around here), and we've got some photos of her over the years that I wanted to share. Feel free to skip this if you aren't family and only come here for the knitting 🙂 Although, there is some knitting related content if you look carefully.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

*Make sure you click on 720p before click start to watch it in high definition*

Different Methods of Dyeing

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Following up on yesterday's photo of the Elliebelly Crayon colorway dyed up three different ways, I've got some photos to give you an idea of how different approaches to dyeing give you nuanced results in your finished project.

(1) Handpainted – As you can see in the skein, this method gives you crisp color definition. The colors are pure and saturated, without any toning because there is no mixing of the dye on the skein.

(2) Kettle Dyed – This approach gives you organic color transitions that blend from color to color as well as the ability to create "lowlights" in the yarn for projects where you want to tone the impact of the colors.

(3) Paintbrush – This method, which is the most labor intensive, randomizes color placement to prevent pooling and uses blending to create soft colors and a variety of hue and saturation. Ashley's Clapotis is a great example of this yarn knit up.

The differences are subtle, but understanding different yarns and how they are dyed can help insure you get the best yarn for your project. Ultimately, I like all of them.

Crayon

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

I haven’t had much chance to knit for the last couple if weeks, but I have been able to do a little bit of dyeing.

This is my basic Crayon colorway, dyed using three different methods to get different effects. You’ll see it more clearly when they are reskeined, but the middle skein is done in my Paintbrush technique. The skein on the right is hand painted for crisper colors, while the skein on the left is kettle-dyed for more organic color transitioning and a halo of a deeper shade to set off the bright colors.

Crayon has always been one of my favorite colorways to dye. It’s demanding and both the dye mixtures and color placement have to be just right. But it always makes me happy to see it hanging in skeins and I can’t help but want to knit something with it right away.

What to Knit with it? Mulberry Silk, Dyed in the Ember Colorway

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

I have never been a red/orange kind of person. Cooler colors have always been my favorite, blues and greens and even purples. Pale colors, not jewel tones. But somewhere along the way last year, I seem to have developed a love of red, and even — perish the thought — orange. I really don't think of myself as someone who loves a blistering orange-red, but there you have it.

To nudge my expanding color sense along, I've been working on developing a colorway right at the point where a brilliant, scarlet red turns seamlessly into a hot-sun-going-super-nova orange. The sort of color we'll see if the Bardarbunga Volcano in Iceland goes on and erupts above the glaciers this week. After several months of experimentation, I came up with Ember, my newest colorway.

Ember looks beautiful on every fiber I've tried it on. It's a semi-solid colorway, so it should work for everything from socks to sweaters. To test it out, I've dyed five skeins of DK weight Mulberry Silk, for a total of 560 yards of yarn, and now I'm off in search of a pattern. Please leave a comment below if you have ideas, help, or advice for me!

Pattern used with permission of Anlin

TienMimi is a wonderful camisole pattern, written for a DK weight silk, and it would be perfect for the yarn. I'm not so sure it would be perfect for me — I'm concerned I would cover it open too much because of the open neckline and lack of sleeves, but perhaps this is just the excuse I need to pull out my arm weights and get back to work! Make sure you check out the designer, Anlin's, fabulous Finnish Blog. I'm also looking at the Liwi Top. It's written for a silk/merino blend, so my silk yarn alone may not have enough elasticity to give it the shape it needs. And Avebury, a shawl by Kirsten Kapur, is also up for discussion.

I would love to hear your suggestions and thoughts for this yarn-in-search-of-a-pattern! Help me decide what to knit with it.

The Official Elliebelly Self-Indulgent September Soxie Knitalong Post & The Winner of Soxie Yarn

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Wow! That title is a mouthful! Try saying it outloud twice in a row. And then, come and sign up to knit with us in September, when we knit for ourselves (that's the self-indulgent part) and end up with a pair of Soxies to keep us cozy during the cooler months.

First off, the winner of the yarn to knit Soxies with from the giveaway post earlier this week is Eileen, StormyMonday on Ravelry. Eileen, pm your address to me on Ravelry and I'll get your yarn on the way to you with plenty of time to swatch before we cast on September 1. Congrats! Take a minute to check out Eileen's projects pages on Ravelry. Among her great projects are some adorable little candle jar covers — I'm just itching to cast on and knit a few. What a great idea! We may need a follow on KAL to use up our yarn scraps, but I digress…

I hope you will come and knit with us for the KAL, whether you are a new knitter or an experienced one. Soxie is a great pattern, and as I look it over, I realize it will let us learn or refresh skills we may not use a lot like the provisional cast on, be a relatively quick knit for a feeling of accomplishment, and yet retain our interest with the cables on the toe. About those cables: if you've not cabled before, this is the perfect pattern to start with as it is a simple and well-explained cable and you will get lots of support from the experienced knitters among us. I typically cable with a cable needle, but because this is just a few small cables, I'm going to experiment with doing them without the needle. And although the pattern calls for a button decoration on the front, I can't wait to see all of the variations we come up with. So join us for the KAL, which starts September 1.

A reminder: in the Elliebelly group, you can use any yarn you would like for our KALs. Because this is a one skein pattern, a lot of people will be using some Elliebelly "deep stash." And, in addition to the skein Eileen has won, there is a bit available beginning tomorrow.

Come be self-indulgent with us!