How to Dye Without Spilling a Drop

I haven't been knitting much lately, but tonight I did make some progress on my summer project. The one where I've been knitting cotton squares and am planning to hit them with some bleach.

Then when we were camping I noticed the patterns on my sleeping bag caused by the sun when it was stored in my car all winter. The sleeping bag cover was gathered up at the ends, and so the fabric was only faded on the exposed parts making an interesting radial pattern. I wasn't happy my sleeping bag was so obviously faded, but the pattern was quite pretty. Then the light bulb went off and I realized I could do this with my cotton squares.

I decided to try it with the red square. It's a different size than the rest, so I figure it's a good one to try a unique method that I may not try on the rest.

I thought I could cover parts of the square to keep it from fading and let the rest fade. But what to use? Painter's tape came to mind, especially for the borders. But I was afraid what a long time in the sun would do to the adhesive. Might cook it right onto the cotton and never come off. (Yuck.)

And then I remembered freezer paper which we have a lot of! That should work perfectly!

First, print the clipart I had used as a pattern onto cardstock and cut it out:

2. Trace it onto freezer paper (making sure the waxy side is down)

3. Cut out the shape and four strips for the border

4. Pin the square to shape (not that mine turned out square) and hit it with a steaming iron

5. Place freezer paper where you want it (waxy side down) and hit with a slightly cooler iron

6. The square looked way too flat to me so I decided to throw in some pins to pucker up the background

7. Now we just throw it in the back of the car and let the sun do all the work

And I can keep track of what colour it changes to as we go. Just bring inside when it looks good enough.

I will also be hoping the freezer paper holds up. There is a good possibility the heat from the sun will undo what the heat from the iron did. It may loosen the freezer paper, or let it slide around. Who knows?!

It's all a crap shoot really. The whole project is. I kind of like art where I am not in control. I don't trust myself. And with methods like this, I don't really have to. I just spin the wheel, and then decide if I like the ending when I get there.

CLICKCLICKCLICKclick...click......click.......click Where it stops, nobody knows!

What to Knit While You're Camping

Turns out this summer has brought a lot of special events (like 50th birthday parties) (not mine!) and life changes (like a new job) and I haven't been able to knit like I usually do. I'm really hoping this will sort itself out soon and I'll be back to old form but meanwhile I'm keeping it simple (and small) over the summer.

When I was packing for a camping trip in Ontario last week, I was looking forward to hours and hours of driving time in which to knit. First thing I worked on was the Belinda shawl--the one item I was determined not to take. I mean who takes a mohair shawl on a camping trip? But, remember, I was very determined to finish it as well, and was so close I couldn't help but throw it in the car. I finished it in the first couple hours of driving. (Yeah!) I got it blocking tonight and will write more on that later this week. (That's the plan.)

The next thing I packed to take was the cotton cloth project I've been working on this summer. I don't think I've written of it yet, but it was something I decided to do over the summer. (Part of the "keeping it simple" plan.)

I've raveled cotton three sweaters: a powder blue, a soft lavender and a perfect red. The blue and lavender look lovely together and I've knit several designs based on a maple leaf:

To make the pattern I figured out what my gauge was and that I wanted the cloth to be 45 stitches by 60 rows. Then I overlayed a clipart of a maple leaf over a square grid representing that gauge. I then transformed the smooth lines of the clipart to "blocky lines" on the grid. After knitting the first leaf, I made a few changes to adjust for "real world" knitting and am pretty happy with the result now.

I'll be playing with some bleach on these blocks when I have enough to work with. If I like them, they may turn into a blanket or wall art; if I don't like them, they may become wash clothes or dishrags!

At the campout itself, I worked on some solid stocking stitch squares. The plan is to bleach the maple leaf onto these ones. And they were ideal for knitting outside as I didn't have to follow a chart. Nice and easy.

Being cotton was a good thing too, as I can wash out the campfire smoke smell!

On the way home, I finished the plain squares and I realized I left my charts at the campsite and couldn't make any more maple leaves.

So I cast on the last project I brought with me. Another pair of hat-heel socks out of a bright fuschia yarn:

I left this pattern with my charts so I didn't get very far. (Ok, so yes this is my third time, but I don't have it memorized yet!) About this time, Troy asked me to drive so it worked out alright anyway.

And now I've been home for two days and haven't knit a stitch. Not good!