I Just Blue Myself

If you know what that line is from write it in the comments!

I decided about a year ago that I wanted to dye yarn. Sometime in December I received some undyed wool and dye. Then a couple days ago I decided that I HAD to dye yarn right that minute. Unfortunately it was 1 AM, so it had to wait until the next day. Then Suzie came over to help me in this  endeavor.

We didn't record this, so unfortunately I can't provide you with a movie montage, so here's the picture version. Imagine some cheesy music and some triumphant high five-ing, because Brian forgot to photograph those moments in the process.

Here are the lessons I learned from my first time dying yarn:
1. Wear gloves.
2. Pouring makes a mess, next time go and get sponge brushes like all of the other bloggers who are smarter than me suggested.
3. This is super fun and I can't wait to do it again! Thanks Suzie for a great time!

Oh, and in case you are interested this is Lotus Yarns Winter Sun Aran that I happened to have around, and I used Jacquard acid dyes, and I found this tutorial the most helpful: How A College Student Dyes Yarn

FO Friday

I didn't have anything to show you on Wednesday not because I don't have tons of WIPs, but because they are all still secrets. Anyways, I've finished the shawl I talked about a few weeks ago. It's actually quite lovely and I really like Swans Island yarn.

This will be the sample for my Design Your Own Shawl class at Warm N' Fuzzy, a lovely new yarn shop in Cary, NC that will be opening next week.

Here are a couple photos:

PS

Don't forget to leave a comment with your favorite pattern on my Facebook wall for a chance to win that pattern: https://www.facebook.com/mariknits

Contest!

I'm having a contest! 

What will you win? 

Any one of my patterns that are available on my Ravelry shop. Can't remember them all? See the list here. 

How do you enter? 

Go to the Mari Knits Facebook page, "like" it, and then leave a comment with which pattern you would like to win. 

I'll pick a winner randomly on Sunday August 5th, which means you have two weeks! 

New Pattern: Cable Doodle Doo

I posted a couple photos of these pillows months ago, and the pattern is finally here! This is my first Knit Picks IDP pattern, but I hope there will be more in the future. They are a wonderful company to work with.

Here's a photo from Knit Picks, and you can find the pattern here.

Special thanks to Brian for coming up with a silly name.

Swatches!

As I mentioned yesterday a lot of the things I'm working right now are still secrets. But let me tell you, there are some exciting things coming in the next 6 months!

I love designing knitting patterns, but I have to say one of the downsides is that you are always knitting for 6 months-1 year ahead, and can't share what you're working on until long after you've actually knit it.

Anyways, here are some of the swatches that I've been working on

WIP Wednesday

Ok, following the cue from many other bloggers I'm going to try to update on what I'm working on every Wednesday.

A lot of the things I'm working on right now are top secret, but here's one that is not, and I started a few days ago.

I blogged about the beautiful Swans Island Yarn a couple weeks ago, and I was going to make a second Miya Shawl, well, things have changed a bit and now I'm going to teach a class on designing your own shawl at Warm N' Fuzzy, so I've been working on a sample for the class.

I started with a garter tap, and increasing 4 sts every right side row in stockinette stitch. I got really bored, so I found an easy stitch pattern that just required an odd number of stitches, and now I'm striping that with stockinette. I haven't quite decided what the border will be, but here's a not great photo (it's rainy here in Raleigh today, and no good lighting can be found)

Coming soon: Shawl with Wolle's Color Changing Cotton

Back in May I met Elisabeth, the genius behind Wolle's Yarn Creations and she gave me another skein of the beautiful and amazing color changing cotton. I've designed another shawl with this beautiful yarn! It's not ready yet, but here are some quick photos that Brian took today. The pattern is about to be tested.

In the 10 minutes that we were outside in the heat and humidity we each managed to get about 6 bug bites, and as I'm sitting here typing I stop to itch every 30 seconds.

Oh, and this is another un-named pattern. Any suggestions?