Diamonds and Dogwood

I've been on a roll this last week. I bought the PVC pipe and joinings to make my own home made knitty noddy, I've dyed some light weight sock yarn, done some color tests on other yarn and been working hard on a few knitting projects.

I got stalled on my 10 stitch blanket because I bought all the yarn from my yarn shop and they had no more and had to order more.  That should be in on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. I am looking forward to getting back to work on it.

My knitty noddy was fun to make. My son helped me out by holding the pipe while I used a hacksaw to cut the lengths I wanted. I realize after I made it that I should have bought the 1/2 inch pipe and not the 3/4 inch, but it will work all the same. I put the yarn back on the noddy to ball it. Next on my list of things to make at home is a lazy susan ball winder. I just need to save up enough to buy the parts I need.

I dyed the yarn for a bookmark for my sons teacher for an end of the year gift. I used Wilton frosting dye and sea salt for the mordant on it. I picked the colors to try and create a fade from pink to yellow. It is of course WAY MORE than I need for a bookmark, so I am trying to think of what else to make with it. It is too thin for hexipuffs, maybe more lace or some baby socks.

I don't like how the bookmark came out, so I will probably make a new one.



I started a shawl just because I have always wanted a super pretty one to have. I found a pattern that didn't look too hard for a first one. It it the Freya shawl from Ravelry. I loved the design with the increases happening throughout so the pattern was circular.

And I found out that a good friend of mine is expecting his second grandson so I am making him a blanket for the little guy. His family is a big fan of baseball and really like the LA Angels. I am doing a nod to baseball diamonds by making a diamond pattern, and then a baseball itself by doing it white and there will be a red stitch around the edge. I hope they like it. I wanted it to be pretty without being OMGBASEBALL.

I am really enjoying dying my own yarn. I think I may want to dye some and see if I can sell it. That might be a good way to bring in a little bit of extra money for some fun things. I will start small. They have some nice superwash wool at my yarn shop for a good price, I will buy three of them and dye them in a few popular colors and see if I can sell it on Etsy. If they sell, I will use that money to buy three more and go from there!

I wonder what colors I should start with. I am inspired by spring. I have a vision of a light green fading to a medium green, then a white space, a gentle pink fading out into white again. I was watching the dogwood flowers bloom and they just felt like the whole reason why spring even existed this year for me.