kookababy ™: January 2010

Friday, January 29, 2010

TA DA! Shalom!

This is another post where you may want to sit before reading because of the possibility of fainting from absolute disbelief. Brace yourself: This post is not about anything baby related. No, seriously it's not. I know very hard to believe.

I actually made something for myself and I did it in about a months time (another shocker!)

It all started with a post from Soule Mama in which there was a sweater that I loved. It linked back to Ravelry which is where the magic began . If you don't know about ravelry and you are a knitter or crocheter then please check it out right after you read this post. After looking at the pattern and decideing that I had to make this sweater I used the yarn suggestions tab to see what had been used and Ravelry told me I already had a yarn in my stash that would work. Ahhh? WOW! It turned out I had the perfect amount required for this project. I cast on that very day and here are the results!

Shalom by Megan McFarlane

(With Modifications that can be found on Ravelry)

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay color Wildflowers (113)

and a tiny bit of yarn I spun (the dk purple cuffs)

Needles: 10 1/2 Addi turbos

Different shirt and flash

I have to mention the buttons because, well, it's kinda like someone saw my sweater and then made these buttons for it. The teaser from a few posts ago is a close up of a the button. I searched for about a half hour , was just about to settle, when I bent down to pick something that had fallen to the ground and there they were. Perfect wouldn't you say?

Monday, January 25, 2010

Crafty Mama Sidetrack

(Small departure from knitting and sewing)

As you may or may not know I am totally obsessed with babywearing (not to mention cloth diapers) I sold my beloved Pfau and have moved on to a colorgrown waves. It comes in a really blah kinda brown, but has great "cush" factor.

Astas in a double hammock pre dye.

Totally gratuitous cute baby shot.

I naturally had to have it but couldn't live with the brown so I ventured into the world of fabric dyeing. Not that I hadn't been there before, but it's been a while (collage 1994 or 1995)

I used Procion MX dye in Lavender and mostly followed directions from Dharma Trading for vat/machine dyeing .

Astas in a messy Wrap Cross Carry post dye.

Here's how I went about dyeing my wrap:

First I dissolved about 1/2 a box of kosher salt in a bucket then added it to the full washing machine. Then I made some chemical water to make my dye slurry (pulling from my fashion school dye experience) I have no idea if it helped or not. It certainly didn't hurt. I added the dye to the salt water in the washing machine and let it mix in before I plunked the wrap in. I left the lid open (so the water wouldn't drain out if I left it to long) and spread an old towel over the opening so no dye water would jump out and get the whole place purple.

I must be honest and tell you I did not time it at all. I just checked the wrap here and there (with rubber gloved hands) I freaked out a tiny bit because it seemed way dark. So I took the wrap out and put it into our utility sink while I added the soda ash (which I had already dissolved in warm water) I let that swish around a bit then put the wrap back in for 'um' about 10 min I think. I was way less worried after adding the soda ash. The color seemed to mellow a bit after adding it. I let the color drain out,rinsed,washed and...

Viola, lavender waves!

I did all the dyeing in my washing machine (ack!) I 'm a bit scared to wash anything for fear it might also turn purple (I'm sure it won't but..)

Sorry for the sidetrack but I just had to post about this because I'm so excited it turned out well. The project that was supposed to be here is in fact finished this is not just another stall tactic, I swear.