Monday, October 11, 2010

Kool Aid + Crock Pot = Colorful yarn


These are my first hand dyed yarn attempts. Awhile back I had come across this tutorial for dyeing yarn in a crockpot with kool-aid. So this past weekend, I decided to gather my supplies and give it a try. If you want to try it yourself, here is the link. I'm not sure what the red/purple mini skein of chunky yarn is going to be, but the green/blue larger skein is going to be mittens.
Fast forward a few weeks...

Here are the completed mittens... I really like how they turned out, but shortly into the first mitten, I realized they were not going to fit me, so I put out a plea on Facebook for anyone with smaller hands who would like a pair of mittens to please let me know. My Facebook friend Jamie answered and she is the recipient of these hand dyed, hand knit wool pair of mittens.
I can't wait to try this again. I have a colorway I'm aiming for with this yarn, but don't think I'm going to be able to get there with Kool-Aid. I may have to try some other dyes and of course, I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Welcome to the Cloth Paper Scissors Studios Virtual Tour!

Dear fans, followers, friends, etc.,
(Ya know, BOTH of you!)
I am participating in the Cloth Paper Scissors Studios Virtual Tour,
October 15-17 here on my blog.
Welcome to my studio!

This wonderful heavy wood table came from a local restaurant that had a fire, probably 16 years ago. It stunk from smoke, but after it was cleaned up, it made a perfect work surface for the shop.

I love to collect rocks, thinking I'll polish them or whatever in the future. I just started crocheting around them. I've got a very small collection of Gwen Frostic prints too.


Here is a small piece of cork board stuck on one of my cabinet doors. Attached is my first piece of freeform knitting, a wristband from the release party for the seventh Harry Potter book, my first try at knitting a peace sign and my favorite... my "Mind Mush" pin that my friend Jean made back when we were both working retail.



Since I live in an area that has many office furniture manufacturers; I was able to get this portion of a work cubical and turn it into a designated sewing area. The cabinet has some patterns and fabric in it and I use the keyboard drawer for thread and bobbins. The upper cabinets do have doors that close, but they are open in this photo.


Here is another wonderful table that my wonderful husband made for me. It weighs a TON and is perfect for watercolor painting on. My latest work is in the foreground.

When my church tore down it's parsonage, I was able to get these kitchen cabinets. My husband put up a partial wall and installed these. I won't get into the blood, sweat and tears part of this story. Yes, that's some dry erase board on the walls. My studio is not quite a quarter of the basement in our house. The other half of the basement is semi-finished and the other quarter opposite my studio is my husband's shop.

Our old stereo.

One of these old drafting chairs belonged to my father in law, the other was purchased in a secondhand shop quite a few years ago.

The old file cabinet was from my brother in law who was a builder/developer. He didn't need it anymore, so he gifted it to me. We put it up on wood blocks to raise it up off the floor. I use it for watercolor paper, drawing pads, other papers and artwork. I love it!


Who doesn't need shelving? These are some of my artbooks, magazines, photos, and other reference materials. It also holds tote bags and some frames.

These cabinets hold my stash of yarn (though you can see the overflow in the plastic bins), patterns, art supplies, and lots of other things.


Now, if you made it all the way to the end...

Thank you so much for coming to visit my virtual studio!

and...

If you would like to leave a comment just to let me know where you are visiting from,
I would LOVE that!

Libby