Knitpicks Sock Blank and Dye Plants

After following the Knitpicks sock blank knit-alongs and dye-alongs  I decided to try one myself using dye plants. 

Knitpicks sock blank. Starting with an overnight soak and standard Alum bath.

Start with Oxylas. The sock blank soaked up the dye incredibly well. I underestimated the wicking effect and lost the white spots.  For the next one it mgiht be interesting to try with some dry areas.

Overdye with Maddar.

Some ‘saddening’ with Iron and Copper to tone down the yellow.

Last the Indigo overdye.

 

I am a total convert to the Magic Loop method of sock knitting but have never tried two at once or toe up. The pattern is good but I was somewhat confused at the beginning. Once over that hurddle I think the rest will be fairly straight forward.

 

 

Two Basils short of a border

The ubiquitous baby blankets have been completed up to the borders and may even be finished before a) the twins go off to college or b) by their first birthday. I’m aiming for the latter with a couple of weeks to go.

more Basil (blanket #1 of 2)

The first blanket is up to 109 stitches per section. At 113 stitches (plus, I believe, 3 rows of pearl) I switch to the color for the border. I actually reached 109 stitches a couple of times because I had to un-knit a couple of rows and pick up a dropped stitch.

Basil for twins (the blanket not the plant)

Recently I began the first of two baby blankets for my twin nieces (4 months old). The pattern, "Basil", is a baby blanket wonderfully designed by Courtney Kelley of the Pattern Factory.

Basil is square blanket, knit from the center out until each of the four sides equal 113 stitches.

The pattern suggests Dale Baby Ull, washable wool, 3 skeins for the blanket body and 2 for the contrast or border color.


One might question the wisdom of mixing infants and white blankets but Dale Baby Ull is described washable. And, I've been throwing the test swatch in with my regular wash and it seems to be holding up quite well through repeated machine wash and line drying.

The Pattern Factory site also describes this as a good first lace project. For me it's also been a great project to get accustomed to knitting from a chart.

I've been carting it around with me, knitting at bus stops and on the bus, space permitting. So far I've gotten the pattern pretty much memorized and managed not to get too lost or mixed up even with the usual bus changes and other interruptions. In the beginning just-in-case I used a "life-line" in case I had to back off a few rows.


Once you run out of space on the double points the work is placed on a circular - with markers between each section. (The pattern directions describe this in detail.)



This is probably 90% of the blanket, minus the border. So far I'm up to 100 stitches per section for the first blanket.