My newest addition April 8, 2008

So last week I promised I would soon post my newest item.  As I am mainly a knitter I have been spending the last few weeks thinking about how I can take a traditionally cold weather craft into the warmer months.  During the early spring fingerless gloves seemed to be a popular item.  That gave me the idea of toeless socks!  Now it sounds funny but how many of us love to wear our sandels but feel silly wearing them with socks in the cooler months?  Toeless socks would be the perfect solution.  You can wear your socks and keep your feet warm while your toes are free to cradle flip flop thongs or what have you.

So now you are all very excited to see the toeless socks, I’m sure.  Don’t get too excited.  I decided to do some internet research to learn about the prevalence of toeless socks.  I learned they aren’t super prevalent, but I did come across an equally fun and exciting project, yoga socks.  Essentially they are toeless AND heelless socks that allow the feet to stay warm while still gripping the mat. So now I present you with my version of the yoga sock.

The yarn maybe familiar as the same yarn used to knit the multicolor scarflette from a previous post.  It originally was knitted into a gently worn sweater that I purchased from my local thrift store.  I then unraveled the yarn, washed it, hand dyed it and re-knit it into these.  For those of you who loved the idea of toeless socks, do not despair.  You don’t HAVE to be doing yoga to wear yoga socks and the toeless socks may still make an appearance yet.

New items! April 2, 2008

So I have totally been neglecting my Etsy shop. Truth is I work full-time and often don’t really feel like messing with the computer after hours, but this week I have finally been reinspired and productive!  All of these items will be listed in my Etsy shop this week.For starters I FINALLY finished the lace knit beanie that I started AGES ago.  This hat almost killed me.  It was my first lace project and I learned that you (or I in any case) cannot possibly knit lace while doing other things.  The yarn is purchased from a fellow Etisan.  She unraveled a silk/angora sweater and hand-dyed it in greans, yellows, oranges and browns.  The colors were very earthy so I decided to knit a leaf pattern into the hat.  It was very trying but I am happy with the end result: a perfect spring hat!

 I also finished two coffee cup cozies made out of a Gap sweater I unraveled.  The sweater was a gap turtleneck, aqua on the bottom, mint on the top. The first one is all aqua with a diagonal rib pattern.

 The second was also a diagonal pattern but this one used both the aqua and the mint.  It is knit in a fair isle diagonal stripe.

 On top of all of that I am about half way done with a new project I am working on.  More to come about that one later!

Finally, My Eggs! March 28, 2008

For those of you who read my post earlier in the week about Pysanky, or batiked eggs I am now following up on my promise to post photos of the eggs I made. Again I want to reiterate that my eggs look nothing at all like the eggs that I posted. Unfortunately they are not nearly as well done. I have only made four so far and am still learning but am making progress I think. We have run into a few snags in the egg decorating process. One of which are these pesky smears or dots that show up on the eggs. We thought it might have had to do with the way we were letting the eggs dry so we started wiping the wet dye off the eggs with soft, clean flannel. Or perhaps we wondered, if it was the oil from our hands that was causing the marks so we started wearing rubber gloves. We also thought maybe it was the fact that after the vinegar pre-soak we did, we didn’t rinse the eggs with water. There were various other theories that I can’t think of right now. It turns out none of our tested theories are the culprit because the marks still keep occurring. After seeing some friends dyed eggs that don’t have the mark we have a new yet to be tested theory, the type of egg makes the difference. Turkey eggs don’t seem to have marks on them.

Anyhow now you know why there seem to be weird smudges, spots, or marks on the eggs. Let’s home the next batch is mark free!

Another lesson I have personally learned is to take it easy on the number of colors used. At first I wanted to have a very colorful egg with a lot going on. I think that the best egg designs (unless you are an amazing artist-see Eve Butterly below) are the ones with fewer colors. It seems that when mixing colors some mixtures come out better than others. Next time I will stick with two or three colors per egg.

First is the onion skin egg. As I explained before we wrapped yellow onion skins around the egg and then hard boiled them in water and vinegar.

Next is my tree with roots. There is another tree on the other side and the roots are connected at the bottom. I like this one.

Next is the floral sunburst. This one was supposed to have purple and blue petals/rays as well but they didn’t show up as nicely as the pink and red.

Next is my traditional floral design. Again the purples didnt seem to stand out as well as the warmer colors. Good to remember for next time.

And last is another floral design.

Pysanky March 24, 2008

So yesterday was Easter. In preparation I spent Saturday with friends decorating eggs. We of course did do the obligatory Paz dyed eggs but the hostess also had strong toxic acid dyes and styluses for a Batik egg dying called Pysanky. This dying method is traditional in many Eastern European countries. This was a very fun and challenging way to decorate eggs that will last for years to come. The process is pretty labor intensive and complicated but the results are pretty amazing. You basically have to plan out your design, planning backwards from lightest color to darkest color. You draw on the egg with the kystka which is a rod with a tiny funnel at the end. You fill the reservoir with wax and place it near a candle flame to melt the wax in the funnel. You then draw on the egg, etching wax in places you don’t want to be colored.

For example if you want a dark blue egg with pink flowers and light green you would first dip your egg in the pink dye. Then you would use your kystka to draw on the pink flowers. Then you would dip the egg in green dye and draw on the leaves. Finally you would dip the egg in the blue dye. We used both regular white eggs, green Americana eggs, and speckled turkey eggs for a variety of effects. After the eggs are dry you heat the wax and wipe it off to reveal your finished egg. The egg should then be punctured on either end and the innards blown out so the eggshell can last without fear of rotting. Of course traditionally different colors and symbols are full of meaning but our group just had fun experimenting with different looks. I don’t have pictures of my eggs yet because they are still at the hostesses house waiting to be blown out, but I will post them once I get them back. For now I am posting pictures of really good eggs that look nothing like mine.  The one on top is by egg artist Eve Butterly.

We also dyed some eggs using red and yellow onion skins. To do this you remove the onion skins from the onion and soak them in warm water with a little white vinegar until they are soft. you then wrap eggs with the skin and then wrap the eggs in scrap cloth with rubber bands to secure. Next hard boil the eggs in a water/vinegar bath. After removing the cloth there are beautifully dyed eggs in varying shades of browns, tans and yellows. These eggs can be used as a classy and practical centerpiece for Easter brunch as they can be consumed just like regular hard boiled eggs. The ones pictured are much darker than ours but you get the idea.

Finally I am posting some pictures of some really beautiful eggs that artist Franc Grom creates. He uses a tiny elecrical drill to create 2,500 to 3,500 holes in each eggshell. His remind my of the traditional Slovenian designs with a twist!

Yay Front Page! March 18, 2008

I am very happy today because my birdie napkins that I wrote about earlier in my blog were featured today on the front page of Etsy by Portovert, an online guide to greener weddings! I embroidered little birds on high quality clothe napkins I discovered at a local thrift store. I can only assume the napkins are meant to be given as a wedding gift? Not sure but I definitely appreciate the compliment. I have had one other item featured on the front page, wool convertible mittens. This resulted in my first (and sadly, only) sale. Hopefully the same will be true this time, except of course it would result in my second and not only sale.

Bird Napkins March 3, 2008

Cute birdie napkins

Well I finally finished a project. It has been ages since I could say that. I think the last project I finished was a pair of fingerless mittens a month or two ago. I really don’t know why I have been so unproductive. I guess because I have been pretty busy at work lately and haven’t had a ton of time to spend on my other pursuits.

Anyhow these little bird napkins are the fruit of my labor. I found the yellow napkins at a local thrift store and they were in great shape so I decided to add a little charm to them. I hand embroidered a bird in the corners. Each bird has a different color wing. I think they are kind of retro and cute. My friend thinks they look like partridges, someone else said geese, someone else said hens. I don’t know what they are but I like them.