Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Hey!!!

 Why couldn't this have been going on LAST WEEK when I was in DC?? How cool would that be to see this cruising down the National Mall??

I think I'm going to sit here and pout for a few minutes. Heh.

Well, it's back to grind. Making beads.
There's always SO MUCH LESS than you think for four hours of torching time! How many beads do you think are there? I'll wait while you think about it......lalalaa..................I just tallied it up and it's 55 beads exactly. So now you know. (It's probably not fair to try and guesstimate from a picture as I do simple spacers four at a time on a mandrel, which you can't really see from this angle.)

More yarn!
My Cookie A sock club package for April came in while I was gone. Very pretty yarn in a new-to-me sock yarn by the name of Sokkusu. I only finished ONE sock of the February club package so I should probably get back to that. The pattern is so chart heavy on that one it's definitely not 'tote around town/car' material though - it needs a chart minder and all that so, while it's not DIFFICULT to knit, it is a lot more time consuming.

I got a big piece of evenweave from Joann's right before we left and decided to 'muck it up' a bit with a little tea-dying. I used a loose leaf tea that I had that I didn't particularly care for, and let it steep in a dish pan for awhile. I like the final look of it here but I actually had to tea-bomb it TWICE to get it to this point. The first try was much too light so I dyed it again, ironed it mostly dry and then splatted the mostly dry fabric with extra strong tea to make the blotches. Let that sit for a while, ironed it to set it and then gently rewashed it to get any remaining tea out it. 

Interesting project and you can't complain about getting a 20" x 27" piece of hand-dyed linen for $4! Will have to remember that next time I'm in that area and have some more 50% coupons for Joann's! (Or I guess Michael's too.) Maybe I'll get adventurous and try some of those natural dying methods that you use on easter eggs, like using onion skins and beets. OMG NEW OBSESSION COMING UP. Heheheh.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought about driving over to the coast to see the shuttle leave, but I would have had to get up WAYYY too early and fight all that Titusville traffic.

I sure will miss watching the shuttle launches. :-(

Isn't that shot, with the Washington Monument in the foreground, awesome!

Beth said...

An new obsession is right - I'd say toy scored very well with your first attempt at dying linen.

Annie said...

I think I didn't know you were coming to my neck of the woods. How'd you like it?

Cool tea-dying. $4? Really? is that Joann's own brand or something?

Patty C. said...

Beautiful linen ;)

Margaret said...

That's pretty cool -- you did a great job with the tea dyeing. I'm always too scared to try, but maybe I should. Love seeing the beads in process. The creator at work. Nice yarn too! And um, yeah. Bad timing on the shuttle. Oh well.

valerie said...

Wow, your linen, yarn and beads are awesome! Too bad you didn't get to see the shuttle in person...soooo close!

geeky Heather said...

Sock club...yeah...didn't I make myself one of those at the beginning of the year....

Cool tea-dyed fabric! I am sure I would muck that up somehow. I had a pretty disastrous fabric-painting class once. *shudders*

Minerva said...

I've seen tea dyed paper, but never fabric. Cool! Don't feel bad about missing the shuttle. I live less than an hour away, and I missed it too. :(

Veronica said...

This news made the front page of the newspaper today. I thought it was pretty cool :)

Lovely beads, yarns and fabrics!

Hugs,
Veronica.

Ranae said...

Pretty beads, yarn and linen
The linen came out great, I love it, Not bad for that price

Pretty Things said...

HEY! You should have told me you were going to be in DC -- I'm only about an hour from there!

L.O. said...

Your sock yarn is very pretty, and I just love how the fabric turned out. I have never been able to master the art of tea dying. My staining disappears the minute I wash it. Oh well. Such is life.

Julie said...

Super beads and snuggly looking new yarn.
WTG on the dyes fabric, looks lovely, what project is destined for that?

Jenny said...

Wow, Melanie - your tea-dyed linen looks absolutely delicious! Good job.

Catherine said...

I was in DC with my son and is class two days too late!
Love your fabric!!