Always trust the pattern.....

My dear friend asked for a hat for her daughter (whose first birthday is in two days). She picked the colors and it promised to be adorable.

As I was working up the hat pattern, it looked a bit small, so I followed the instructions for the next size up... still looked small... one more increase couldn't hurt.... right?? Yeah. The hat now fits my 2 year old. While the hat is adorable (and I love how the yarn pooled on it), it will be much to big for little Clara.

I finished the hat for my daughter, Ava. She makes a good model! Now, I'm working on another for Clara repeating the mantra:

Always trust the pattern.... always trust the pattern.... always trust the pattern.... :o)

Kaylin's Christening Gown V.2.0

Today, my dear goddaughter, Kaylin was Christened. She wore the beautiful cashmere gown that I crocheted for her. She also rested with a blanket I made for her shower. I made the bonnet and booties (not pictured) and the dress was hand beaded at the waist, sleeves, and hem. This dress is a gem and an heirloom. The child, is a blessing and a gift of God.

May God bless you, Kaylin, and your entire family on your special day, today, and for your lifetime. I love you and know that you will be raised with the love of God in your heart.

Please enjoy the photos:



This last picture shows (from left to right) Me (Barb/Godmother), Janet (mother), Kaylin (baby), Kevin (daddy), and Johnny O. (godfather).

It was a beautiful day!

On a Personal Note...

I don't know why I feel a need to put this out there. Perhaps, I just need to put SOMETHING out there... for self preservation? I'd like to believe that I am a pretty optimistic person. I smile a lot, crack jokes, and am always willing to jump in and help when needed. So, I'm guessing that it would surprise you to hear that I am feeling pretty down today.

About a month ago, I got a cold. It became a sinus infection. Then Bronchitis. Then Asthmatic Bronchitis. Then Pneumonia. Needless to say, I messed my lungs up pretty bad. After a month of treatments, medications, steroids, inhalers, and dealing with the comments, both of concern and of insult... I've had enough.

I'm tired. My chest hurts. I can't breathe. The muscles surrounding my rib cage ache and are frequently strained. I'm on steroids, which make me hungry ALL THE TIME, and I'm gaining weight. My clothes don't fit. I can't sleep for long periods of time. My hands ache from the carpal tunnel. AND as I do all of this, I have just completed a graduate school class, am working full time, raising 2 small children, and TRYING to be a good wife, despite ruining our 8th anniversary by being ill.

As this has gone on, I have attempted to find peace with my fiber art. I have dyed yarn, knitted, crocheted, and designed. Today, however, I woke up defeated. My hands hurt too much to knit. I'm facing another day at work that I just don't feel like being a part of. My youngest child is sick. I can't even find the joy that usually comes from the playful attitude of the Halloween season. I haven't even decorated. I have fallen into a depression because I know that I still have 6-8 weeks left of recovery on my lungs. I'm tired of the pills, inhalers, doctor visits and treatments.

I'm asking for your prayers. I need to find my happy place soon, or face an even scarier fate in depression.

Thank you, and I appreciate all of the support I get from you all.

Kaylin's Christening Accessories

Above are the are the booties I made to go with Kaylin's Christening Gown. Below is the bonnet. Unfortunately, the gown will most likely be too small for her in December. So, my next project will be a new gown!

Dyeing Yarn: Success and Failure

More adventures in dyeing yarn. I started with Orange and Black Cherry Kool-Aid and a skein of cotton yarn. FAIL! While the finished product looks kind of cool, I know that the dye will run out as soon as it is washed. The color was COMPLETELY saturated on the skein before I rinsed and hung to dry. THIS is the result. Fail.

I then use 100% wool in its natural state with orange and tropical punch. SUCCESS! I love the colors together and plan to make something for my wonderful daughter with it. Lesson learned. Stick with natural animal fibers when dyeing.

Dyeing Yarn with Kool-Aid

I decided that I wanted to attempt dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid. I've read a few blogs about it and watched a few videos online... then I developed a plan.

I started with KnitPicks 100% Peruvian Highland Wool, fingering weight from the Palette collection in white. I chose this yarn because it was $2 for the ball and if I wouldn't feel like I wasted too much money if I had messed it up. I then purchased 8 packets of Kool-Aid powder at 10 for $1. So, the entire experiment cost me $2.80 plus tax. Not bad!




I hanked out the wool using my homemade niddy-noddy (see an earlier post) and soaked it in hot tap water. Then, I emptied 2 packets each of Tropical Punch, Grape, Ice Blue Raspberry, and Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid into 4 glass cups filled half way with hot water. I put those glasses into a pot filled half way with water and turned the heat to medium. This was to keep the water warm and promote saturation.

I put the yarn into the glasses (see below) and made sure to dip the overlap into the both colors to assure that there were no white spots. and to blend the colors to make a smooth transition.




After about 30 mins, all the color had disappeared from the glasses of water and soaked into the yarn. Very cool.


I then put the yarn into a warm bath to soak and relax for about five minutes or so.

I hung the yarn to dry on a clothes hanger, over a bucket (to catch the drips), overnight. This is what I found this morning....

The purple into the green looks a little muddy, but overall, a very successful adventure. It was SUPER fun, too! I can't wait to do it again. Hmmm... I have 2 more skeins of that wool... I'm off to the store to buy more Kool-Aid!!!

I finally washed the Cashmere

So... after all that panicking, I finally bit the bullet and washed the cashmere christening gown. Can YOU see a difference?

Before:

After:

It's sooooo soft now. I'm really glad I did it. The blocking brought out the design and I am more proud of this than any other garment I have made. YAYYYYYY!!!!