New Crockpot Dyed Colorway

I've finally listed that new colorway I gave a sneak peek of last week and here it is:


It's called Silflay and I'm quite happy with it. I have several other Crock Pot dyed colorways in the works. I love dyeing in the Crock Pot and I'm sure I will do much more of it.


This yarn is for a baby blanket for my friends Emily and Jon's baby, Wyatt. Yes, he is 6 weeks old and should have his blanket already. But it isn't completely my fault. I was waiting for his mom to tell me colors and a style for the blanket for quite a long while. Yes, I have had that information since before Wyatt was born, but I had some trouble dyeing the brown (as evidenced by the yarn I had to buy in brown) and I just haven't gotten around to it. I hope to start the blanket in the next few days and have it done very soon.

Dyeing in My "New" Crock Pot

I finally decided that I absolutely had to have a crock pot to dye yarn in, so we went out today to purchase one. We planned on ultimately going to Sears, but checked at the resale store to be sure they didn't have one before going there. And they had one--for $5.99. I was planning to spend about $20-$30 on one, so this was amazing. It's a Rival Crock Pot--probably 4-5 quarts, which is the smallest I really could have used, but it works. I'm using it right now to work on a new colorway.


You can see a little sneak peek of it through the steam--and you will see it hopefully (as long as it comes out the way I'm picturing) here and in the Etsy shop in a few days.

Kool Aid Dyeing

Last weekend, a friend's little girls, Anya, Kaia and Lily, came over and spent the weekend with us. While they were here, we did some Kool Aid Dyeing. Unfortunately, our kitchen is way too small for all three of them to dye at once, so we took turns. I had a hard time choosing which of the super cute pictures to use--I apologize for using so many. Couldn't be helped, though.

This is Anya:


Kaia:


And Lily:


(By the way, the gloves didn't get that blue from the Kool Aid--those are the gloves that I use to dye my hair.)

Here are the yarns hanging up to dry--from left to right they are Kaia's, Lily's and Anya's:

And here are the girls with their yarns all wound up in balls:



They did such a good job with the dyeing, especially for their first time--the colors didn't get muddy at all. I hope to try this again with them sometime when we have more space and can all work together.

Nightswimming

I listed a new colorway in my Etsy shop last week--Nightswimming.


This is a lace weight yarn, but it can be dyed on any of my base yarns. However, I am in the process of getting a new fingering weight base yarn and will be discontinuing all of my other fingering weight yarns. I will not be ordering any more of them, so what I have is it. The new base yarn is a superwash fingering weight merino. I hope to eventually add at least a superwash/nylon fingering weight yarn, but for now, I will only have the one.

Free Pattern for Amigurumi Mushroom

A while back, I posted a picture of a crocheted mushroom I gave to my mom for Christmas. I had so much fun making it that I made a few more and now I've written up a pattern in case someone else wants to make one. This is my very first written pattern (usually I just make notes for myself) so I hope I did okay. Please let me know if you find any mistakes. And I'd love to see pictures if anyone makes one. :)


Amigurumi Mushroom

Materials:
worsted weight yarn in one or two colors
G hook (or any hook that gives you a tight gauge)
stitch marker
fiberfill
yarn needle
contrasting color yarn (optional)

Gauge:
not important, but should be crocheted tightly

Pattern note:
This pattern is worked in spirals--do not join at the end of each round. Use a stitch marker to indicate the beginning of rounds and move it after finishing each round.

Two color mushroom:
Color A - tan worsted weight merino wool
Color B - red worsted weight merino wool

Stem

Rnd 1: Using color A, make 6 sc into magic adjustable ring.
Rnd 2: 2 Sc in each sc around. (12 sc)
Rnds 3-9: Sc in each sc around. (12 sc)
Cut yarn and fasten off.

Cap

Rnd 1: Using color B, make 6 sc into magic adjustable ring.
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around. (12 sc)
Rnd 3: *Sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around. (18 sc)
Rnds 4-5: Sc in each sc around. (18 sc)
Rnd 6: *Sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around. (24 sc)
Rnd 7: *Sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc: repeat from * around. (30 sc)
Rnd 8: *Sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around. (36 sc)
Rnd 9: *Sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around. (42 sc)
Rnd 10: *Sc in next 6 sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around. (48 sc)
Rnd 11: *Sc in next 7 sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around. (54 sc)
Rnd 12: *Sc in next 7 sc, sc2tog over next 2 sc; repeat from * around. (48 sc)
Rnd 13: *Sc in next 4 sc, sc2tog over next 2 sc; repeat from * around. (40 sc)
Rnd 14: *Sc in next 3 sc, sc2tog over next 2 sc; repeat from * around. (32 sc)
Rnd 15: Sc2tog around. (16 sc)
Rnd 16: *Sc in next 2 sc; sc2tog over next 2 sc; repeat from * around. (12 sc)
Cut yarn and fasten off.

If you would like a face on your mushroom, embroider it now with the contrasting yarn.
Stuff cap and stem with fiberfill and whip stitch together.