7-29-2008

So it has been a while since I updated this!  I have been busy helping with the National Art Show which ends today, and helping with the National Photo Show which starts the 4th and goes thru the 10th.  Also our Fiber Fest is the 8th, 9th, and 10th of August, along with the Quilt Show, and the Buffalo BBQ.  What a way to start August! 

And I have been doing something fun in between the saddle pads and custom items I make. 

I use my 1920s hand crank sock knitting machine to make tubes of my single ply wool yarn.

Then I separate the tubes into different lengths, and  I soak them in vinegar water for a bit, then I hand paint the tubes using my cushings dyes.  I dissolve a half a packet in 2 cups of hot water in a jar.  I use droppers and syringes to put the dye onto the lengths of knitted tubes.  First I lay down plastic wrap, then lay the tube on it.  Second I dye the knitting.  Third I wrap the tube up in the plastic and put it in a zip lock bag.  When I am done with all the tubes, I put the ziplock bags in a big pot with some water in the bottom and steam them for half an hour.  I set the pot outside to cool at the end of the half hour, and then unwrap my tubes when they are cool.  I put warm water in my washing machine and put the dyed tubes in and let them soak about 15 minutes.  I don't use too much dye on each tube so no dye comes out in the rinse.  After 15 minutes of soaking, (no agitation),  I spin them out, let them dry, and start to knit!  Right now I am using these tubes for scarf kits and will soon have hat kits.  It has been great to see what the design I put on the tube actually comes out like in the knitting! 

Theses are some of my hand painted knitted tubes ready to be reknitted into something else!

This is the handpainted tube, and above it is the hat

knit from the tube.

This shows a triangle short row scarf being

knit from a handpainted tube.

When I get some hat kits made up, I will

have them on the web site.