Natural Dreads, and posting my socks

Backtracking to my finished socks, which might be my new favorites, I need to get pictures up! They are so comfortable, it's a good reminder of why I am addicted to handknit socks (handknits in general I should add!) I did start a new pair, which I think are going to be great, it's my first pair for me on yarn I dyed myself - yep I'm actually using my OWN STUFF!



I'm today on my 27th day of letting my hair form dreadlocks. I have a very love/hate relationship going right now with it. I hate the frizz, I love where it's going, I wish I loved how it is right now, but I don't. Pi absolutely loves it, especially the beads, and tells me he wants dreads too. Pixie thinks it's fun rope to pull on when I am trying to sleep in the morning and she's hungry. Little by little though, I can see the direction it's going and I'm glad I decided to do this. I can't wait to add in some wool dread extensions or wraps too, I'm already plotting what of my own dyed roving I can set aside for fun with my hair.
Over the last few weeks I've been doing a LOT of dye work, I'm going to be adding some to my etsy. I'm really proud of how it all turned out so I'm going to share, since most of this won't be listed.




And of course, I'm working on socks during downtime at school. My progress on my SELF DYED socks:
I feel like I'm on to something here :)

Dreadlocks, and more craftiness

So I came to the realization that by using natural cleaners on my hair instead of shampoo (I usually clean with baking soda) I was fighting against my hair forming dreadlocks. I was constantly brushing it to keep it from matting and it was forming into thick locks throughout every day. I have always loved dreadlocks, and didn't have them because of working in a "professional" setting. It hit me out of nowhere, hey, I'm a work at home mama and student, why can't I have dreadlocks? So I did some research, did a good cleanse to strip my hair, twisted them up in a semi-uniform way, and am letting nature take its course! Sadly, I'm excited about the new wool opportunities, headbands, tams, wool dread extensions (yes I'm pathetic).

Tomorrow is my last final for winter term - spring break starts, and I have all kinds of dye schemes cooked up, I'm hoping to ACTUALLY stock my Etsy for once by the time break is over, plus prototype some new colorways! Oh and start a new pair of socks, my January pair finally got done, and they are my new favorites!

Since I don't have a picture handy of my socks (since yeah they went straight on my feet and are in the wash) here is a picture of Pixie in her handspun longies I shared earlier. This little booger decided today she would start walking, even though she's only 9 months old :(

Turning to homesteading

On a more non-knitting note (probably because I haven't had much TIME to knit what with school and the never-ending list of custom spinning orders) we have been reverting the house more and more toward homesteading. I'd say urban homesteading, but since we're USDA classified as a rural community that's probably a bit of a misnomer. We live in town though, and are converting our yard to being self-sustaining. Little by little we're getting further from buying ready-made, and doing it ourselves. This week: $35 in non-GMO seeds and some starter pods. I also decided to swear back off of meat in general, unless it's wild-caught fish. So we're experimenting with more recipes (I found out my 9-month old loves quinoa!) and having fun exploring our creative sides in the kitchen. I plan to log some of our progress and results as we go (and since I have a new camera, hopefully photo some of it also!)

School haze

School is taking its toll on this house, and my poor January socks aren't coming along very quickly. I'm almost to the toe decreases on the first sock, which is record slow sock knitting for me. Bonus, in 8 days we'll be driving up to Washington to see a couple friends and go to Madrona, a fiber festival in the Tacoma area. Drive time is knit time, and I'll get to ogle gorgeous wool while we're there!

In the meantime, I snapped a picture of some wool longies I made for Pixie out of my handspun yarn. She's growing like a weed, and I swear outgrows woolies every week.

Backtracking

Back when I had started this project, I told some friends about my crazy scheme, and one had made a comment about wishing she could make socks, she's never had a pair of hand knit socks. Me, being a good friend (or trying to be) thought it over, and said hey... some people just aren't sock knitters. I clearly am. I should offer to make her a pair, since I'm doing this anyways, right?

I thought about it some more, and decided yes sure. I could give her the pattern list from the book, make her a pair of socks, it'd be win-win. I sent her a message that said I would be willing to make her a pair if she picked up the yarn, just as soon as I finished the custom order I was working on at the time. She answered me back thanking me, but that she actually wanted socks for her grandmother. She was in the hospital dying from brain cancer, and the room was so cold that she always complained her feet were freezing. She was worried by the time I made 2 pairs of socks, her grandmother would already be dead.

So I took a break to whip up a pair of socks for a woman I will never meet. I spent 5 days knitting every chance I had, including while breastfeeding the baby. I chose "lace anklets" from the Purl Bee website, because the pattern was fast and easily memorizable. I am happy to say she got them in time to enjoy them. They were warm but didn't dig into her ankles like other socks, they were nicknamed Mindy's Magic socks. They weren't Cookie A, or intricate, or part of my goal for learning new techniques, but they made someone happy, and at the end of the day, I have to think that it's what matters.

It's a Kind of Magic

I got recruited to make a pair of socks for an old friend, and so November is turning into another month of not knitting from my wonderful book, but learning more about sock knitting. Somehow it ended up that I picked toe-up socks. Stupid to try a very different technique probably on a pair not destined for my own feet, but I jumped right in, and immediately changed the pattern. I had to try "Judy's Magic Cast On" invented by Judy Becker here in Portland. She is a genius knitting demigoddess of some kind. http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/FEATmagiccaston.html (For what it's worth, Knitty is solely responsible for turning me from the person who was casually learning to knit to the full-blown knitting fiend I am today). At any rate, her technique is genius, and I'm going to be incorporating into any provisional cast-on I can.

On the downside, I learned that I despise blunt needles and toe-up socks. Decreases I can handle. Increases, constantly digging to pick up stitches drives me batty. Increasing with blunt needles has helped me teach my 3-year old an embarrassing new vocabulary. The socks are, so far, gorgeous though and I'm glad I decided to try the pattern. Even if I misjudged how much room I would need to do the heel and ripped out 6 hours worth of knitting... by the way, how are toe-up socks supposed to be easier to fit? I like the idea of stopping when it's long enough and grafting the toe shut, rather than "stop approximately 3 1/4 inches less than desired length, unless it's a Monday, or your yarn is stretchy, or your row gauge differs slightly. The only good thing about turning a heel toe-up is that when I reworked the foot I managed to memorize the entire lace pattern and didn't have to look at the pattern again until I got to the end. Sigh.

Here is a link to the project in Ravelry for anyone interested http://www.ravelry.com/projects/scaethach/diamond-rib-socks-from-the-toe-up

Yeah I suck

I'm on here out of guilt and neglect of my blog. I went on hiatus because I spent time working on my "super secret stealth project" which I will explain at a later date. (Promise). Then I got contracted to make socks for a friend. Now I'm back on task with the original quest - to tackle the holy grail of sock books... and went back to basics. I decided to recruit friends, and started a knit-along for the pattern Monkey. I think there are 9 of us at various stages of knitting them this month, I'm on the heel of sock #2. So while I slack at writing, I haven't slacked on my socks!