Translates to more experiments with solar dyeing! For this batch I decided to revisit dyeing with Wilton dyes. 
And at ~ 8:30 pm, I had several batches of dyed fibers waiting to be rinsed! Lovely!
But I ended up being distracted and didn't find time to rinse all the batches of fiber. Only got around to these two batches but I like what I see so far!
Baktus Scarf (29 of 50) completed. I couldn't wait to finish it (because it was such a boring project) so that I could start something else that engages my mind while I knit :P
As I was mindlessly knitting the Baktus scarf during my lunch break, a glitch occured.
See the glitch? Yep, the cable came undone from one of the ends of my circs. Moral of the story? Never. Use. Cheap knitting needles. It's just not worth the aggravation! Fortunately, it was Jumbo Paper Clip to the rescue! It was the only thing I could find quickly enough to hold my dropped stiches. 
My sewing mojo is apparently still on hiatus *sigh*
I dug through my yarn stash in search of yarn to play with and found a couple of skeins of Serenity Garden Yarn in the Gems colourway. When I bought this yarn, I didn't have a specific project in mind. The colours were rather pretty and that was reason enough to add them to my stash! This evening, I started on a Baktus Scarf.
It has been a rather mindless knit so far, and I don't think it'll get anymore exciting other than to watch the colours unfold. Sometimes, mindless is good.
This has been an awesome week of dyeing experiments. I am well on my way to building a stash of fibers to knit and spin with when work gets less busy in the winter months!
Peach Peonies (Peruvian wool, 1.80 oz)
Terra Cotta (Peruvian wool, 1.80 oz)
Potion #13 (Peruvian wool, 1.85 oz)
Love Spell (Peruvian wool, 1.80 oz)
Oregon Seaglass (mill ends, 3.35 oz)
Berries n Cream (mill ends, 3.45 oz)
Campfire Glow (mill ends, 3.55 oz)
Copper Verdigris (mill ends, 1.80 oz)
Natural Amethyst (mill ends, 1.80 oz)
Very Berry (mill ends, 3.55 oz)
Trio of 100% woolen yarns in forest hues
6:30 am...
7:45 am...
5:45 pm...
Heatwave. Ick. When temps are in the upper 90s and low triple digits, I'm usually not in the mood to do much other than veg indoors. Having said that, I've been eyeing my stash of undyed fibers and dying to do some dyeing. Oven, stove-top, slow cooker and microwave dyeing are all techniques I've tried in the past. Given the abundance of hot summer days, I decided to give solar dyeing (28 of 50) a whirl!
The night before, I prepped everything I needed for the next morning.
Early morning (i.e. before heading off to the office), I mixed the dyes and set everything out on my front porch.
Later in the day, I collected my fiber casseroles (fibers were done cooking, but dinner was nowhere to be found...)!
And voila! The dye bath was clear!!!
I saw this cute hat while checking out the projects in "One-Skein Wonders: 101 Yarn Shop Favorites" and knew I had to knit one (26 of 50). Though I'm not really into wearing hats, I think I might be easily persuaded to wear this! I decided to omit the three i-cord decorative element in the original design because it's, erm, not my style. The yarn is a lovely olive skein of soft spun single ply that I've had in my stash for ages. So glad to finally make something with it!
Mitts (25 of 50). Made for CD using Lion Brand's Amazing yarn in the Mauna Loa colorway. I hope it'll be a good match for the scarf and hat that she's working on (with the same yarn!). The pattern I used for these mitts is published in Vampire Knits.
Made by my mama!!! I've hit a dry spell with sewing, but I'm glad that my mama hasn't. As an enabler, I've been fueling her growing interest in sewing by sending her gobs of fabrics from my stash. Mama's a lean, mean sewing machine...as evidenced by all the bags, pouches, etc. that she has made for me over the past couple of weeks or so. And this is only a fraction (I'm guessing 25%?) of what she has sewn lately. Go, mama, go!
This WIP has been hiding in the back of my craftroom closet for close to 7 years - a sweater I started when I first learned how to knit. A rather ambitious undertaking for a new knitter, perhaps? Honestly, the pattern is a piece of cake, but I had a tough time finishing it because I don't do well with large projects (short attention span, lack of patience, etc.). Anyhow, it's done. I made a few adjustments as I finished the last 1/3 of the sweater. Thankfully, the design of the sweater (24 of 50) isn't dated (methinks!), and I should still be able to wear it in Fall 2011!