SnerKnits

Two posts in as many days - you guys are gonna get spoiled (the all of 6 ish who check my blog - love you all ;-). I decided to dye up the silk from that I bought Friday and I thought I'd use it for good blog fodder. It was a really interesting experience in just letting the colour happen.

My favourite pic is on the left. It looks like I'm boiling up something evil in there! I orginally wanted something fairly dark and in the black family. I knew from some research that Wilton's black tends to split so I was happy to let it do so and see what came of it. It was 250g ish of silk and a big crock pot with plenty of dye and vinegar. Here's what came of it.


It was slightly underwhelming. I liked the colour split but it just wasn't dark enough for me or for my sister for whom this yarn is destined. So I threw it all back in with a whole bunch of burgandy (wilton's again) to see if I could get a darker and more even result. Here's what I ended up with.

I'm much happier with this and while I wish it was darker and less floraly coloured it is beautiful so I think I will leave it at this and if sis dosen't like it I'll dye the finished product for her.

I'm still here and still knitting. The job is going very very well but it sure does cut into the knitting time. I've made some really good progess on Glee . Please excuse the horrible bathroom shot. It's the best I could manage right now. I didn't make the slit in the front as long as the patttern suggessted and I'm starting the ribbing way earlier and I will carry it way farther. It turned out a little big (my guage was spot on but I'm pretty sure the numbers on the pattern are a little off) but I will have to wear a cami underneath because of the big gaping hole (which I know will close up) so I guess it's good that it's not skin tight or anything.

For the first time in two whole weeks I hit an LYS - it's been rough I tell ya ;-). I went to Knit-Knackers and hit their silks (I love this stuff - it dyes beautifully). I found something there I'd never seen before.
It's called Faswa Silk and it kind of looks like fiber and nolis blended togeather and spun. It's about a worsted and I'm going to dye it a purply black (hopefully) and make something for my sister from it. They have great prices on silk at this joint. This is probably around 400yrds (it's always a guess, it comes straight from a mill and they don't print yardages) and it only cost $20 ish (Canadian to boot). Here comes the gratuitous close up shot (click for a better view)


This stuff really shines but has a slightly rough hand. It should be perfect for my sis. She's a diplomatic type who likes to play rugby so she fits the elegant but hardcore duality.

I also came home with some beautiful, pure white BLF that I'm in the process of spinning. I'm spinning it up kinda thick and thin to make myself a new winter scarf when I'm all done.

I'm going to try and post at least once a week for a while - hopefully I can keep to that commitment but work comes first. Once I get into the swing of things I'm sure I'll be able to do more. I'm still watching all of you and really enjoy seeing what you all come up with.

These are things that make me happy. Two of them are knitterly related and the last one may keep me from blogging as much as I used to.

This is the first thing that makes me happy. Actually it's the last one to arrive but it was a great thing to come home to. Abi from Abi Knits had a spare ball winder lying around and we arranged a trade. She will soon be receiving (hopefully, hopefully) some dk silk from Knit Knackers. She also threw in some sweet sweet candy that I will be enjoying later (thank you very much Abi)


The second thing that makes me happy gets two pictures. You may remember from this post that I picked up some really cool spun silk (called rosewood) that was sari silk threads spun with a purple solid colour. I'd played with a couple of stitch patterns and eventually landed on a very basic one of yo's and k2tog and plain knit stitches that resulted in a nice open look that I really enjoy. I don't really have a picture of the whole thing because it's huge. It's taller than I am (5'7") and about 15" wide. It is super drapey and I love love love the colours.

The last is what may keep me out of the blog verse for a bit. I have been supply/substitute teaching for about four years now in Ottawa trying to land a full time job. Well it finally happened this year. I found out on Friday that I had a job teaching full time starting on Tuesday and that I wouldn't be able to see any material until then (STRESS). It's been two days so far and I'm having a blast. The job is at a school that I am very familiar with (I've supplied there plenty over the last couple of years) and teaching very interesting students. It's a tech high school so the kids are way way way more interested in masonry than what I have to say in English class but they still need to pass my class before they can gratuate so they usually respect the need to do well. The sad part about this is I've never had less spare time in my life so until things settle down I may not be around the knitverse. I'm even going to pull out of Sock Wars because I just won't be able to do it justice.

So please think good things for me as I approach my first full year of teaching.