Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Popping in
Okay, so I'm full of empty promises to get things up. I know, I'm awful, but let's move on...
I've been super busy working as an Assistant Stage Manager on a show here in KC. It was blocking week, which means if I'm not in rehearsal, I'm working on transferring blocking to my side pages. Yes, I know this is all mumbo jumbo to anyone outside of theatre; so, moving on...
First off, the Star Trek Scarf- Since I plan on making it a made to order product, I need to list it when I have time to actually make it. It's not that I'm counting for sales on the scarf to be an immediate thing, but I don't want to take the risk. So I think I'll wait to list it until after I get this show up in a couple of weeks. If I feel I have more time to work on shop stuff once the show is running, I'll list it. If not, I'll most likely hold off the listing until August because I have a full time artisan gig this summer. Keep checking back here about the scarf. I'll post updates about possible listing time frame.
In the mean time, there will be pictures of it soon because my best friend, Mike, who it was made for, will be in town in a week and a half. So my promise of pictures will be fulfilled soon.
Second, the Link and Zelda yarns are balled. I started to work a little on the knitted sample for Link, but really needed to do work on my prompt book instead. So it's been sitting on the side table by my couch all week. I just need time to knit for an hour or so and then skein and do pictures. Hopefully that can happen this week.
The Zelda yarn is a little more tricky to put a time frame on. I poured the dye on to the yarn to give it a little variegation in the solid color and something odd occurred. There was a large concentration of blue/purple in the spot that the dye was directly poured on to and then it tapered out to the pink. I thought it might lighten up and be okay after the steam set and rinse, and that may have been the case, but some mysterious bright blue spots appeared on the yarn out of nowhere and could have changed that. So I'm not completely sure what happened. There are several of small spots of bright blue surrounded by the pink, but it may have also turned a darker purple in spots that the blue ran/blended more. It's really hard to tell. I'm not sure that I like it. I'm going to knit it up and see. Luckily the color is light enough that I can over dye easily. Then the decision will be to add a second color or do a solid color over the whole thing. Once I decide, you'll find out on here.
Okay, I think that's everything for right now. Sorry about my absence and the long post. I was hoping to get Etsy work done tonight, but I'm still behind on some stuff. The next two or three weeks are jam backed, so I probably won't be updating again for awhile.
I've been super busy working as an Assistant Stage Manager on a show here in KC. It was blocking week, which means if I'm not in rehearsal, I'm working on transferring blocking to my side pages. Yes, I know this is all mumbo jumbo to anyone outside of theatre; so, moving on...
First off, the Star Trek Scarf- Since I plan on making it a made to order product, I need to list it when I have time to actually make it. It's not that I'm counting for sales on the scarf to be an immediate thing, but I don't want to take the risk. So I think I'll wait to list it until after I get this show up in a couple of weeks. If I feel I have more time to work on shop stuff once the show is running, I'll list it. If not, I'll most likely hold off the listing until August because I have a full time artisan gig this summer. Keep checking back here about the scarf. I'll post updates about possible listing time frame.
In the mean time, there will be pictures of it soon because my best friend, Mike, who it was made for, will be in town in a week and a half. So my promise of pictures will be fulfilled soon.
Second, the Link and Zelda yarns are balled. I started to work a little on the knitted sample for Link, but really needed to do work on my prompt book instead. So it's been sitting on the side table by my couch all week. I just need time to knit for an hour or so and then skein and do pictures. Hopefully that can happen this week.
The Zelda yarn is a little more tricky to put a time frame on. I poured the dye on to the yarn to give it a little variegation in the solid color and something odd occurred. There was a large concentration of blue/purple in the spot that the dye was directly poured on to and then it tapered out to the pink. I thought it might lighten up and be okay after the steam set and rinse, and that may have been the case, but some mysterious bright blue spots appeared on the yarn out of nowhere and could have changed that. So I'm not completely sure what happened. There are several of small spots of bright blue surrounded by the pink, but it may have also turned a darker purple in spots that the blue ran/blended more. It's really hard to tell. I'm not sure that I like it. I'm going to knit it up and see. Luckily the color is light enough that I can over dye easily. Then the decision will be to add a second color or do a solid color over the whole thing. Once I decide, you'll find out on here.
Okay, I think that's everything for right now. Sorry about my absence and the long post. I was hoping to get Etsy work done tonight, but I'm still behind on some stuff. The next two or three weeks are jam backed, so I probably won't be updating again for awhile.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Updates
So, I have a couple of quick updates for today.
Star Trek Scarf is done. I'm going to try and get some good photos of it here in a bit. Hopefully will be listing it in the next couple hours or sometime tomorrow. I'm super excited about it. Really hoping it'll be a hit.
I just dyed my remaining 2 blank base yarns. Link and Zelda just like I said I was going to do. Something interesting happened with the pink dye on Zelda. It poured out more purple and then tapered out to pink. It looks really sweet on the tweed though. Both are drying right now. I'll probably be able to get them balled tomorrow before I work.
I am slowly closing in on finishing up getting knitted samples of everything. Just got done with the BFL Aran Princess Zelda. Yet another thing I need to take pictures of tonight. Now I just need to do the other Giselle Aran, Emerald City, and redo How Do You Know Aran because I did it on US 10.5 needles instead of US 8.
Finally, I was saving the best for last. I made my first sale on Thursday. A brand new knitter in Nevada purchased Vancouver 2010. Hopefully it arrived today, but I haven't heard yet. I'm hoping I get to see what she makes with it.
Well, I'm off to take some pictures, update the Princess Zelda Aran listing, and create the listing for the star trek scarf.
More later!
Star Trek Scarf is done. I'm going to try and get some good photos of it here in a bit. Hopefully will be listing it in the next couple hours or sometime tomorrow. I'm super excited about it. Really hoping it'll be a hit.
I just dyed my remaining 2 blank base yarns. Link and Zelda just like I said I was going to do. Something interesting happened with the pink dye on Zelda. It poured out more purple and then tapered out to pink. It looks really sweet on the tweed though. Both are drying right now. I'll probably be able to get them balled tomorrow before I work.
I am slowly closing in on finishing up getting knitted samples of everything. Just got done with the BFL Aran Princess Zelda. Yet another thing I need to take pictures of tonight. Now I just need to do the other Giselle Aran, Emerald City, and redo How Do You Know Aran because I did it on US 10.5 needles instead of US 8.
Finally, I was saving the best for last. I made my first sale on Thursday. A brand new knitter in Nevada purchased Vancouver 2010. Hopefully it arrived today, but I haven't heard yet. I'm hoping I get to see what she makes with it.
Well, I'm off to take some pictures, update the Princess Zelda Aran listing, and create the listing for the star trek scarf.
More later!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Star Trek Scarf
As I've mentioned before, I've been thinking about adding a line of knitted items to my store. I've been stuck on what to make because of restrictions on selling items made from published patterns. While I've been knitting for 5 years, I've relied on patterns for almost everything I've made. My knitting fever tends to go in waves, so I haven't gotten around to successfully making anything other than scarves until recently. I don't know many different stitch patterns. So making my own pattern seems a little daunting.
On top of that, I don't have spare fundage right now, and need to pull from my stash, which I'm perfectly okay with. I just couldn't figure out exactly what I wanted to make from the excessive amount of yarn in my stash to come up with something from my brain.
Then I realized, since Christmas I've been slowly working on a Star Trek scarf for my best friend. The pattern is completely my own other than a chart I found online for the TNG insignia. It occurred to me, surly Mike can't be the only one who is dorky enough to want a Star Trek scarf.
Once I finish this one, I'll be posting a listing for it on Etsy. The only reason it has taken me so long to finish this one is because I got so burnt out on Christmas knitting that I needed a break, and I knew I had until the end of March, when he comes to visit, to finish it. That and I started dying again and opened up my shop. Plus, it uses 3 & 4 balls of yarn for 2/3 of each side, so it doesn't travel well. In reality, I think it's really a week long project tops.
My plan is to offer it in 3 color choices- Red & Black with a gold insignia, Blue & Black with a gold insignia, and Yellow & Black with a black or grey insignia.
The one I'm knitting is in red, which is the uniform color for command in TNG. I'm thinking I may revamp it to do a TOS version as well and maybe a 2009 movie version. Of course, the insinias for the movie are a little more complicated, but they're pretty sweet.
I'm excited about this new prospect and I hope people will actually like it. While I can't really use any of my dyed yarns for this, I think it will defiantly get me more exposure and hopefully help find some great homes for my yarns. :-)
Hopefully I'll be done with Mike's scarf by this weekend, so keep an eye out for pictures and a link to the listing.
Off to watch some more Dexter and continue knitting!
On top of that, I don't have spare fundage right now, and need to pull from my stash, which I'm perfectly okay with. I just couldn't figure out exactly what I wanted to make from the excessive amount of yarn in my stash to come up with something from my brain.
Then I realized, since Christmas I've been slowly working on a Star Trek scarf for my best friend. The pattern is completely my own other than a chart I found online for the TNG insignia. It occurred to me, surly Mike can't be the only one who is dorky enough to want a Star Trek scarf.
Once I finish this one, I'll be posting a listing for it on Etsy. The only reason it has taken me so long to finish this one is because I got so burnt out on Christmas knitting that I needed a break, and I knew I had until the end of March, when he comes to visit, to finish it. That and I started dying again and opened up my shop. Plus, it uses 3 & 4 balls of yarn for 2/3 of each side, so it doesn't travel well. In reality, I think it's really a week long project tops.
My plan is to offer it in 3 color choices- Red & Black with a gold insignia, Blue & Black with a gold insignia, and Yellow & Black with a black or grey insignia.
The one I'm knitting is in red, which is the uniform color for command in TNG. I'm thinking I may revamp it to do a TOS version as well and maybe a 2009 movie version. Of course, the insinias for the movie are a little more complicated, but they're pretty sweet.
I'm excited about this new prospect and I hope people will actually like it. While I can't really use any of my dyed yarns for this, I think it will defiantly get me more exposure and hopefully help find some great homes for my yarns. :-)
Hopefully I'll be done with Mike's scarf by this weekend, so keep an eye out for pictures and a link to the listing.
Off to watch some more Dexter and continue knitting!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Narissa
This yarn perplexes me. I finally got around to knitting up the sample for it today and apparently it has changed in the 6 weeks since I reskeined it and did my original gauging. It went from 13 wraps per inch to 16 wraps per inch, which is what the other Less Thank DK (fingering) yarns are.
I should explain why it was different in the first place. Narissa soaked up A LOT of excess dye. So much so, that I was able create Zelda Pink from the run off into the steaming water. Anyway, I guess I had to wash it out a lot more than I did with the 4 Less Than DK yarns that I had dyed before it because it felted up pretty badly. Actually, it felted so bad that I wasn't sure it would be salvageable.
Turns out I just got a little paranoid about it and the yarn came apart pretty easily. It broke twice and has 2 knots, but this doesn't break the flow of the colors.
Since it felted, I assume that it shrunk a little and don't want to list it as the full 220 yards. I listed it as 210 just to be safe.
Okay, so that explains the physical part of the yarn. Now I'll talk about the colors.
One night shortly after deciding that I would sell my hand dyed yarns on etsy, I was working on finishing up a Christmas present while watching Enchanted. I pulled several color inspirations from that movie, but one of the first was the coloring of Narissa. Originally, I was just going to take the colors of her animated outfit, but then I saw Susan Sarandon in the real life costume and knew I had to attempt it. I had only ordered the cold and warm primary colors and black for this first batch of yarn, so I had to mix the green and purple. (On a related note, mixing your own purple is a pain, I recommend just ordering it). Anyway, the purple turned out pretty dark, almost black, but it works really well to give the same feel as the costume.
Wow, that was a lot of stuff for this yarn. Here's some pretty pictures.
I should explain why it was different in the first place. Narissa soaked up A LOT of excess dye. So much so, that I was able create Zelda Pink from the run off into the steaming water. Anyway, I guess I had to wash it out a lot more than I did with the 4 Less Than DK yarns that I had dyed before it because it felted up pretty badly. Actually, it felted so bad that I wasn't sure it would be salvageable.
Turns out I just got a little paranoid about it and the yarn came apart pretty easily. It broke twice and has 2 knots, but this doesn't break the flow of the colors.
Since it felted, I assume that it shrunk a little and don't want to list it as the full 220 yards. I listed it as 210 just to be safe.
Okay, so that explains the physical part of the yarn. Now I'll talk about the colors.
One night shortly after deciding that I would sell my hand dyed yarns on etsy, I was working on finishing up a Christmas present while watching Enchanted. I pulled several color inspirations from that movie, but one of the first was the coloring of Narissa. Originally, I was just going to take the colors of her animated outfit, but then I saw Susan Sarandon in the real life costume and knew I had to attempt it. I had only ordered the cold and warm primary colors and black for this first batch of yarn, so I had to mix the green and purple. (On a related note, mixing your own purple is a pain, I recommend just ordering it). Anyway, the purple turned out pretty dark, almost black, but it works really well to give the same feel as the costume.
Wow, that was a lot of stuff for this yarn. Here's some pretty pictures.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Simba
Okay, as I promised, here's some stuff on Simba. Sorry that it's late.
I've been thinking about doing a Lion King themed yarn for awhile, it was just a matter of rewatching the movie to really get an idea for colors. It wasn't until they started singing "I Just Can't Wait to be King" that inspiration really hit. I got a couple of ideas for color schemes, but the one that stuck with me the most was a color combo in a background plate used when Simba and Nala are on the backs of the ostriches. I snapped a picture of it so that I could better remember the colors. Granted, pictures of something on TV don't really show the true coloring, but it did help. After it was dyed, the colors really reminded me of Simba.
Of course, it also makes me think of Gobstoppers candy and my 14 year old brother thought it was Harry Potter. What does it make you think of?
Here's the inspiration pic followed by the yarn.
Well, I've been putting off finishing up my knitted samples. I'm going to work on getting 1 or 2 done before I babysit tonight. Still hoping that this weekend will generate my first sale.
I've been thinking about doing a Lion King themed yarn for awhile, it was just a matter of rewatching the movie to really get an idea for colors. It wasn't until they started singing "I Just Can't Wait to be King" that inspiration really hit. I got a couple of ideas for color schemes, but the one that stuck with me the most was a color combo in a background plate used when Simba and Nala are on the backs of the ostriches. I snapped a picture of it so that I could better remember the colors. Granted, pictures of something on TV don't really show the true coloring, but it did help. After it was dyed, the colors really reminded me of Simba.
Of course, it also makes me think of Gobstoppers candy and my 14 year old brother thought it was Harry Potter. What does it make you think of?
Here's the inspiration pic followed by the yarn.
Well, I've been putting off finishing up my knitted samples. I'm going to work on getting 1 or 2 done before I babysit tonight. Still hoping that this weekend will generate my first sale.
oops...
I totally just realized that I hadn't posted the stuff for Simba when I listed it a few days back...or maybe that was yesterday... I'm being so lazy that I'm not even going to click on the tab for my etsy shop to check. I'll add pictures and the story in the morning. I just wanted to shoot an update onto my blog in case I forgot to post tomorrow.
Made some adjustments to the shop today. New banner, customized lay out, and a couple of postings got some new pictures.
I plan on getting up early tomorrow to try out some Saturday morning renewing to see if I can get sales. Then maybe I'll be doing some dying before babysitting tomorrow night. If nothing else, I'll work on recreating that awesome Zelda pink color. I don't think I'll have any trouble making a Link green. Maybe I'll just make a whole new Zelda color or a Twilight Princess yarn or something...meh...well see. Off to sleep and dream of sales!
More in the morning!
Made some adjustments to the shop today. New banner, customized lay out, and a couple of postings got some new pictures.
I plan on getting up early tomorrow to try out some Saturday morning renewing to see if I can get sales. Then maybe I'll be doing some dying before babysitting tomorrow night. If nothing else, I'll work on recreating that awesome Zelda pink color. I don't think I'll have any trouble making a Link green. Maybe I'll just make a whole new Zelda color or a Twilight Princess yarn or something...meh...well see. Off to sleep and dream of sales!
More in the morning!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Vancouver 2010
Brand New Yarn!
Vancouver 2010 is based on the colors used for...well every thing in the Olympic venues and such. Bright blues and greens on my Merino Tweed. I think it fits the tweed yarn very well. This is the first time I've used green dye instead of mixing a green. Technically I made 2 different greens, but the yellow didn't seem to effect the green much. So it really looks like a lot of one color green unless it is fading into the blues, but I still like it. Should make a great bright and happy handmade item!
ENJOY!
Vancouver 2010 is based on the colors used for...well every thing in the Olympic venues and such. Bright blues and greens on my Merino Tweed. I think it fits the tweed yarn very well. This is the first time I've used green dye instead of mixing a green. Technically I made 2 different greens, but the yellow didn't seem to effect the green much. So it really looks like a lot of one color green unless it is fading into the blues, but I still like it. Should make a great bright and happy handmade item!
ENJOY!
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