Snow Dyeing

Well it seems like a lot of people have been trying out snow dyeing this winter so I’d thought I’d give it a go just to say I’d also done it.

The idea behind this technique is to make up your dyes and then take them outside and squirt the dye onto the snow and let it freeze. The snow is then scooped up and dumped on top of the fabric, which is scrunched up in whatever method you want, and then let melt. The dye hits the cloth in random patterns caused by the snow melting.

Since I’ve never done this before I didn’t know how much dye to squirt on the snow but I figured that the dye would be diluted by the snow and the colours fairly pale at the end of the process so I squirted on the dye fairly thick. The main pile of dye was a mixture of black, sapphire blue, blue-purple and ivory. I did make some other piles of mixed and single colours.

Snow on dye – black, blue-purple, ivory, sapphire

I decided to dump some ivory coloured snow into the bottom of the pail because I knew that I’d be inverting the pail and thought the ivory being a paler colour should rest on top of the fabric. That way at least there would be one corner where the ivory dominated and this is what happened although the picture of the final fabric doesn’t show the whole amount of ivory in my one yard piece. I then scooped up my main dye colour snow pile and alternated it with some of the other piles of dyed snow.

Snow/dye in pail alternating layers with 1 yard of fabric.

I took the pail and inverted it over a rack into the laundry sink, having placed the plastic lid to the pail underneath first. I left this for quite a few hours before removing the pail. The snow hadn’t really melted that much in this time. I left the pail off until I went to bed and then put it back over so the material wouldn’t dry out overnight.

Bucket flipped in sink and left to sit.

Pail removed after several hours.

The next morning most of the snow/ice had melted but there were a few little clumps left. Being impatient I just dumped the rest into the sink and then put the fabric into a plastic shoe box and covered it with the lid and popped it into the microwave and nuked it for a couple of minutes. I then plopped the plastic container into the laundry tub which I’d filled with hot water.

Pail removed next morning, still some ice left.

After leaving the fabric to batch a bit in the hot water I washed it out and ironed it. The picture below is a bit more colour intense that what the material looks like in real life.

Snow dyed fabric – black, sapphire blue, ivory and blue-purple.

I’m kind of disappointed in the results. The dye hit the fabric more like speckles than a washout type of effect – sort of like paint splatters if you’ve ever done that type of technique. There were some areas where the melted effect came through. My friend Judy (check out Links) has just done quite a few snow dyed pieces and I think hers turned out better than mine but she did hers slightly different in that she scrunched her material and dumped all of the snow on top. Maybe this makes a difference because I’m thinking her snow probably melted quicker than mine. I don’t know, maybe it was the dye. I have quite a bit of fuchsia in the piece, which must have come from the black and purple. I know fuchsia strikes the soda-soaked fabric quickly and doesn’t disperse like other colours do.

I found it amazing that the dye seemed to take to the fabric despite the lower temperatures. Procion MX dyes work best at a minimum temperature of 70 degrees but this piece seemed to dye well regardless. In case you’re wondering why I nuked the material it’s because normally the dye needs a certain temperature to work effectively with the fabric.

Anyhow I’m too lazy to try further experiments. Judy and Kelly both have some nice snow-dyed pieces so hit the links on the sidebar and check out their blogs. I’d say this technique is for someone who likes to play and enjoys the randomness of it all. If you decide to give it a go don’t forget to soak your material in soda ash first.

I’m wondering what the mailman thinks of my leftover coloured patches of snow. Hopefully he won’t be stepping in them, maybe I should shovel them aside….hmmm.

Karen

I’ve been tagged…

I’ve been tagged by Vicky (over in the right sidebar of my “Links” section). Now the rules for this are that you in return tag seven other people. The only problem is that all the people I know have been tagged by Vicky or have been recently tagged by someone else so what I thought I would do in the spirit of the game is reveal seven things about myself but I won’t re-tag anyone else.

1.  I’m 50 years old and mother of four children, youngest 18 years and oldest 28 years old.

2. I was born on Valentines day so that means I’m a “sweetheart”

3. I went back to college, took computer science and graduated at the top of my class at 42 years old. I was motivated probably because I flunked out of first year university when I was 18 years old. This was a hard course, of the 120 that started only about 52 graduated the program.

4. I’m an avid reader and love to read sci-fi, fantasy and romance novels. I’d probably be a writer if I wasn’t so lazy.

5. I know how to: quilt, dye fabric, knit, crochet, macrame, cross-stitch, folk art painting, beading and jewelry making, tie-dye and probably a few other things I’ve tried and forgotten about.

6. I was born in Sacremento, California when my dad was transfered down from Canada to work but I crossed the border when I was 6 months old and I consider myself Canadian.

7. I believe in God and I am a Christian.

I’m baaack…..

Well I’m back after being away for a week on a cruise. I had a great time with my family, didn’t do as much as I could have but it was a cruise so I just did what I wanted. The weather was great and the ship didn’t rock as much as it could have but surprisingly I didn’t get seasick when there was motion, which I thought I might have so all was well.

 We visited Labadee, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman Is. and Cozumel Mexico. The only real excitement came when our youngest son decided to visit his girlfriend and her family who by coincidence where also in Mexico at the time. The plan was that he was going off by himself - taking the ferry over to the mainland – would spend some time with her and then be back at the ship by around 5:00 pm as the ship’s last bording call was 6:15 pm.

Well 5:00 pm comes and goes and so does 6:00 pm and then we’re starting to panic and at the guest relations trying to get hold of him on his cell phone as the ship will indeed set sail without him. Well long and short of it, he strolls on ten minutes before the deadline. He’d gotten back in time but had decided to shop in downtown Cozumel instead of meeting back at the ship at 5:00 pm and what did we mean he was supposed to check in at 5:00 pm? There was no problem as far as he was concerned but ah the confidence of youth. Needless to say he got an earful from his mother and I’d say he’ll think twice before something like this happens again but since the chances of it happening again are pretty much nil….

It seems like I’ve been away for ever even though it’s only been a week and of course you come back to the messy house that you left when you went away and I’m thinking awk! There is something about having someone coming in twice a day to clean your room and tidy the bed and having the whole ship…well….shipshape. You come back and take a look around with fresh eyes  and you think “Wow, I really could be doing this and that to the house”.

Only put on a couple of pounds since being away but I feel a lot more fatter so…back to the treadmill and dieting. Got the notice in the mail for renewal at the gym so life is telling me to get back at it I guess.

Saw lots of shibori and hand dyes/tie dyes while on the cruise so I’m determined to try out some new techniques and regretting I didn’t dye up some new tie dyes for the cruise, oh well. I’ll probably take a break from crafting for a bit and try and get the house in order first.

Karen

New Gadget

Well, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me. Actually the affair was yesterday on Valentine’s Day but hey who wants to post on her birthday?

 Well I turned the big 50, gah! Funny I don’t feel this old but I had to endure looking at myself for about an hour yesterday as I got my hair cut and dyed. Normally this isn’t a problem because I’m wearing my glasses, which come off while James is doing my hair. I have bad eyesight so everything is a blur in the mirror and then presto I put on the glasses and it’s a new me. Yesterday I’d thought I’d try wearing contacts and as I’ve already said gah!

I’ve reached that age in my life where I spend as little time looking at myself in the mirror as possible that’s why it “always comes as a big surprise” to see all the wrinkles and bags under my eyes when I do. I don’t think I’ll be wearing contacts to the hair dresser again. Funny, I don’t feel this old, well except for the back that is…lol. (Gawk! That’s twice I’ve used the phrase “I don’t feel this old”, oh Lord, not only are the looks shot to H*ll but the mind is going as well).

Anyhow I digress. I happened to visit the local Costco a couple of days ago and the Vitamix travelling roadshow had come again. Last time they had come to the store had been two years ago before Christmas. I’d been hoping for them to show up again so I could bribe my husband into getting me one of these beauties as a Christmas prezzie but no such luck, no roadshow.  He wouldn’t spring for one two years ago and I’ve been pining away ever since. I’d even visited the CNE to try and find them but couldn’t (apparently they were there but its a big place the CNE). Of course the money that I’d saved from working had gone by this time but hey it’s my 50th right, a milestone, I deserve something to celebrate such a momentous occasion.

Anyhow here she is in all her glory.
 
Vitamix – new addition to the family.

I managed to refrain from buying the dry blade because quite bluntly I won’t be grinding grain to make flour and I don’t drink coffee so I don’t need to grind my own beans. This machine is such a little powerhouse it’s amazing. It makes juice, smoothies, soup, icecream, sauces, etc, etc. The blade when put on variable speed will pulse and chop so you can make stuff like salsa but when you flip the switch over to high speed it will take whatever’s in there and liquify it. If you leave it whirling away long enough it will make soup, kid you not the stuff comes out boiling hot. Put it on high for a couple of minutes with some ice cubes and you can make your own icecream.

I had apple icecream in the demo. This icecream also had cabbage in it but you couldn’t taste it. Because it’s so powerful it breaks down all kinds of fruit and veggies. Some of the produce you peel the rind because it’s bitter but other stuff you just toss the whole fruit or vegetable in. What it means is you’re retaining the vitamin content of the item you’re processing. New mothers would love this for baby food. Can you tell I’m impressed with my new toy?

The only drawback to it is that I’ll have to watch my fruit/smoothie intake because although it might be healthy the calories can add up quickly when eating that much fruit. I’ve already had a orange/banana/strawberry/peach/yogurt smoothie for lunch, very filling. I can’t decide whether or not to make a vegetable chicken soup for dinner or a broccoli-cheese soup…hmm….decisions, decisions.

Karen (who will be away for a week so ttyl when I get back)

More Treasure

Well the previous post was fabric, this post is about the yarn that I inherited along with the fabric and lest you think it was only leftover craft stuff that we picked up on the weekend, we also scored a rather nice corner cabinet that will come in handy for my excess dishes, which are squirreled away somewhere.

Cherry corner cabinet.

The yarn was very much like the fabric in that there were all these little bits of left-over balls and when I say little bits…I mean…little bits. The only reason I can think of for keeping these tiny bits would be for using them to repair any holes that might appear in the knitted garment.

Bits and bobs of yarn, a pair of booties, mittens and some written instructions for a sock heel.

I’m under the impression that some of the yarn was from items that had been knitted and unravelled. When I thought I would inherit the yarn stash, much like the fabric, I thought it would be usable with bits of four-ply that could be used in a colourful granny afghan. This stuff is what would have been used for socks and baby sweaters, useless to me because I won’t be crocheting or knitting anything out of such fine yarn. The thing is, there is only one or two small balls that you might want to make a pair of socks out of but then you’d be taking a chance on running out of yarn at that.

There were some balls of soft fuzzy acrylic yarn and some leftover mohair blends that my mother-in-law used for making hats and mittens out of – something else I can’t use in an afghan but there is enough yarn in a couple of colours that I possibly might make a baby’s sweater out of so we’ll see.

Yarn stash.

One of the things that there was quite a lot of was cotton crochet thread. My MIL used to make the hanging oven towels out of these and indeed she is the person from whom I picked up the idea in the first place. The only problem is that while she used fine cotton thread I use thicker. Some of the cotton I can probably work with but the rest might just go to a friend who like my MIL uses the finer thread.

Cotton thread stash.

I did score one really nice haul in the yarn department and that was a stash of green flecked wool that my MIL had seen when they had travelled out to New Brunswick oh must have been what about 30-40 years ago? She had seen the yarn and ordered some to be mailed to her so I’m thinking it was a home-craft business perhaps? It makes sense if the yarn wasn’t ready-made to be bought at the time. Anyhow nice hanks of yarn maybe about 4-5 in total. It’s hard to tell because my MIL had rewound some into two balls.  Anyhow she never did get around to knitting them up, probably because she was allergic to wool and so was most of the family. The stuff is scratchy but I’m hoping to use it as the colour is divine even after all of these years. LOL, the colour suits a man’s sweater but my husband is one of the allergic family members, oh well.

Looks darker and richer in person.

The thing I found most interesting about the yarn stash was the patterns I inherited and the needles. LOL, my SIL would be going nuts about the patterns as she sells on ebay and these treasures are just the type of things she looks for in garage sales, oh well, too bad.

Old patterns, one or two booklets (not shown) I actually own myself – awk! – am I ancient as well?

Red Cross booklet of instructions for “selected civilian knitting instructions for women and children”…does this imply war-time? **As an added note:  I went through the patterns and there was another booklet and this one had instructions for knitting for the armed services with instructions for items that a service man or woman would need.

What is this thing? Looks like a piece of metal of a broken off crochet hook.

Oh…it has a lid. This is the finest crochet hook I’ve ever seen. This hook is so fine I swear I have needles with holes that are bigger. I’ve never ever seen one this fine for sale in a store. It boggles the mind because it implies the finess of the thread it was used for and I just wouldn’t attempt to go there in any way, shape or form.

Well most of the left-overs have been tossed into a box with a few of the usable bits left out. I’ll have to come up with a pattern for the wool but I’m not sure how much four hanks will knit up. There was another nice bit of wool but only one ball’s worth so I’m not sure what that could be used for but it looks like the same variety as the green.

My MIL had the green wool wrapped up in four different layers. I think she came from an era where wool was used a lot and moths were a problem, maybe another reason for all those little bits of left-over yarn. She makes judicious use of mothballs to this day.

One more interesting picture of some nylon yarn touted for being used for adding strength to your garment. This ball of yarn was advertised with the quick pull method to get it started.

Magic ball, pull here (notice arrow) also some knitting needles mostly for finer yarn different looking from what I use today for the most part.

All in all this was a slice of the past.

Karen

One Person’s Treasure Another Person’s Junk

My MIL is moving into a senior’s apartment come the beginning of April. From what we could see of the outside I’d be excited too because it looks quite spacious with just over a 1,000 square feet of living space with a balcony and lots of nice big picture windows. Once she’s in there she won’t have to worry about the maintenance that comes with owning your own home, quite a chore when you’re 88 years young.

Anyhow, mum has been narrowing down what she wants to take into the apartment and what she needs to part with so that things will fit her new living space. I being the crafty one in the family was to inherit her excess stuff, which I did. Quite a collection and as my title suggests what’s “one man’s treasure is another man’s junk”.  I wonder what my kids will think of my stuff when the time comes for me to go through the same process. I thought I was bad but…..

Bags of fabric scraps…hmm…wonder what is in here?

I was hoping for a bounty of cotton fabric scraps and had visions of making memory quilts from the material but much to my surprise I’ve found that I am a fabric snob. Lately, I had come to the realization that my MIL didn’t much care for working with cotton prints but I was hoping for at least one or two in the pile. What I found was a pile of fabric that…well quite bluntly I don’t even know what kind of fabric it is and not in a million years would I be able to quilt through it.

Okay, what is this stuff?

Looking at this pile the question comes to mind “How small a piece of fabric should you keep before you deem it useless?” I read this question on another blog (sorry can’t remember who’s) and there were a variety of answers. LOL, I don’t think my MIL ever threw out any of her scraps and I’ll post a picture where she tied up the little bundles of leftover’s with fabric scraps. I think the mentality was “someday I’m going to make a quilt out of that”, hence my fabric snobbishness. I’ve never considered making a quilt out of anything but cotton. My MIL obviously came from a more frugal era where quilts were made out of any leftover material and indeed some of the fabric scraps that are in my pile are leftover clothing. It goes to explain why the stitches in the few quilts that she does own have huge stitches, I don’t think the material was thin enough for fine stitching.

Tied fabric bundles of scraps – one way of keeping them together.

It was interesting to listen to her talk about how her aunts were fine sewers and would make themselves nice dresses out of good material. Having five girls in her family my MIL’s mother was grateful to receive any hand-me-downs from the aunts. The children being smaller in stature, mom’s mother was able to cut these dresses down and make outfits for her girls. It was a peek into an era where material was hard to come by and people didn’t have much money to waste.


Fluorescent pinks and corals…is this the 70’s?

This is typical polyester material that the pantsuit era used. I absolutely hated those pants. Two huge pieces, I probably shouldn’t have taken this, oh well.

Quite a large piece of heavy duty cotton almost looks like Amy Butler, I score!

The larger pieces were from the various boxes that I also carted away, also full of more scraps but I haven’t the heart to post pictures of those as well. Some of the material in one box is from bridesmaid dresses that she made for her oldest daughter’s wedding – coral material and filmy stuff that goes over top. I have visions of making a little girl’s dress out of these scraps. My hubby’s sister was married…hmmm…about forty some odd years ago?

Karen

Finished Basket Block Center

Well, not quite the same as the “Path to Hell is Paved With Good Intensions” quiltlet but close. I lost count of the amount of seams that I ripped out on this baby, my quest for perfection I guess. The kicker seams of course came this morning as I was sewing the four blocks together and realising that the bottom of the baskets were not going to work out and “Why is that one so much more off than the others?”.

Actually it was somewhat of a relief to realise that I’d set the two tiny triangles of the basket part wrong because it meant that my block could be salvagable. Of course I got down to the final seam and matched the center seam and realised “Oh well only one set of points will be out.” Then going to iron the whole thing and realising that both sets of basket points were off and if I ripped the whole thing out and ignored matching the white center seam then the green points would match up; of course I ripped it out.

Anyhow, what a pain in the “a” double “s” trying to get a picture of the whole thing. I came to the realization that I couldn’t get my camera close enough to take in the whole four-block piece and have the flash lighten the fabric enough to get a good picture so I took individual pictures of each block. Then sitting at the computer I realised that if I loaded some old software for the camera I could retouch the photo, which is what I did. The white background is brilliant but at least the colours look halfway decent now.

Nested round robin center block.

The blocks are made up of the hand-dyed fabric I recently did from my dark and medium colour wheels. I’d considered using the colour wheel with additive but decided the colours were too dark for a center block. I’ve tons of left-over colours so will somehow work them into the upcoming borders for the nested round robin, which this center block will be part of.

I’m now caught up on all my swaps and obligations so its time to work on a top and short set for my upcoming cruise in a week’s time. We’ll see if I can get it done on time and if it turns out wearable.

Karen

Basket Block

Well I finally got around to working on the nested round robin quilt today. I’m not sure what the block is called but I’m going to call it a basket block. Anyhow I have four of these blocks to make out of an assortments of colours from the colour wheels I’ve recently dyed.

My first attempt at this type of block and I don’t believe I’ve ever done a set-in seam before but it’s very like the corners of the binding I do on my quilts so it didn’t seem strange doing them.

I’m going to have a problem on a couple of points as they already meet the edges and I need a 1/4″ seam allowance. I’m not sure where I went wrong on the points but the whole thing was a bit wonky putting together for the first time so I guess I’m allowed. Anyway I’m glad that at least one of them is out of the way.

Basket block? Fabric from dark colour wheel.

Karen

Knitted Hooded Sweater Jacket

Just thought I’d post an update on what I’m doing. I have been busy knitting for the most part working on something called a “Danbury Hooded Sweater Jacket”, the pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.  http://joann.lionbrand.com/patterns/60588.html

 I discovered this pattern on an Internet search and fell in love with it. Our local Walmart started carrying a new line of yarn from “Sean’s Sheep”. It’s an Australian label but the yarn made in China so go figure. Anyhow I adore this brand of yarn and decided to buy some on the spur of the moment. Unfortunately the store is no longer carrying the one particular line I choose for this jacket. This yarn was $5.95 a ball for a 400g ball. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten such a good price on a ball of yarn before this.

Sean’s Sheep – Cairns yarn

Anyhow I bought three balls of the yarn thinking surely I could find a sweater pattern to match the tension of the yarn (not quite a perfect match in tension so you’re probably best off using the actual yarn). After a long search the Danbury jacket is what I found. The jacket is quite long at 31 1/2 inches finished length so I’m quite impressed since I knit the back and part of the left-front before I ran out of my first ball of yarn.
Danbury Jacket – Back

Danbury Jacket – Left front partially done about 10.5″ worth.

I originally bought three balls of yarn but from the instructions figured I needed another two making the total amount of yarn I bought five balls. Well I’m just wondering how much overkill I’ve got here because I just can’t see using up all five balls. I’m thinking possible granny afghan here after finishing the sweater.

Karen

Snow, Snow and more SNOW!!!

Well the big storm arrived and why yes the newsman was right there is a lot of snow. Went out just before 11:00 this morning and it took me over an hour to clear the sidewalk and driveway using the big snow scoop (greatest invention ever by the way). By the time I was done I had to redo the sidewalk as it was covered again.

 I had determined that instead of going to the gym today my duty would be to keep the drive and sidewalk clean. Easier said then done as it’s now less than two hours later and I’ve just finished clearing the sidewalk and driveway – again. Of course by the time I was done with the driveway I’m redoing the driveway and finishing up with the walkway again.

Now it’s said that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” but I disagree with that – or at least you can teach this old dog a new trick or two. The thought had occured to me after clearing the sidewalk for the fourth time that maybe, just maybe, next time I’ll “start” with the driveway and then finish with the sidewalk, makes sense no? Why I didn’t I think of it in the first place…

 Oh well, favorite expression of mine is “I’m a little slow but I do eventually arrive”.

Canadian eh?

In between shovelings I filled the bird feeder for my poor little dears as it was almost out. I swear I’m feeding the neighborhood population. What was amazing was that despite the wind and snow I did spot a couple of Junico’s at the feeder. If you look closely in my blurry zoomed up picture you can just make one of them out at the front.

Birdie in snow.

All in all this is what typical Canadian weather used to be about. I guess with global warming we haven’t seen this much snow in more than a few seasons but…”back when I was a young’un”…we used to get this kind of snow all the time or at least I did but then having grown up in Ottawa and London, Ontario I was sitting in a snowbelt most of the time. One thing I learned when newly married in Kincardine (another snowbelt area) is that when it begins to snow, you begin to shovel and keep on shoveling otherwise you’ll never get ahead.

I don’t know, think two times is equivalent to one gym workout? Another couple of hours should see the husband home and time for his workout. 

 Karen