This is a corner-to-corner knit blanket which I made and mailed a little while ago. All the orange/gold/red/brown colours were dyed with kool-aid so that I could use up cream-coloured wool (except the pale yellow yarn).
This orange blanket below is going in the mail tonight - the orange is a 50/50 llama/wool blend that I bought online at a great price, and the brown/green yarns are leftover Light Lopi wool. This is the Finnias pattern which I think is a great pattern for our purposes (although, you can tell I miscalculated the size a bit and had to add on to the ends to get the right length!). I crocheted the border twice over and still ended up with a bit of a wavy edge but in the interests of time I decided not to redo it a third time so I could get it in the mail.
These mittens were sent for the recently-completed youth campaign - all of them are made with leftovers of Lopi using Elizabeth D's excellent pattern.
9 comments:
Absolutely beautiful work. I am amazed at the intensity of color from the Kool-Aid. I have some cream colored wool sitting in my stash that needs to be dyed - that is the obvious answer.
Thank you, Judy!
I enjoy using the Kool-Aid: it means I can use yarn for a4A that otherwise would be too pale. I find that when friends donate leftovers to me to use for a4A it often is white or off-white. There is a good tutorial on Knitty.com if you're looking to get started.
Just a note that Ann reminded us in an earlier post to be very careful with Kool-Aid as the fruity scent may attract pests (I believe this is especially a risk if the items become stuck somewhere in transit, which I imagine is not uncommon). That was something I had never even thought of before, so I really appreciated the warning. From now on I will rinse even more carefully! Does anyone know if a vinegar rinse would help to remove the scent?
It's a Busby Berkeley musical production ... starring mittens!
Hi Bloo,
We hadn't heard from you for awhile. Now I know why. Such a lot of work.
Those mittens are my favorite hand warming display.
Thanks, Reed
Bloo, those are great!
I usually use vinegar for a mordant when I dye with Kool-Aid, and it helps some, but a few scents retain a fruity smell. You might try easter egg or food dyes instead.
I always use Dawn when soaking/rinsing my wool (or any protein fiber) yarns out after processing with acid dyes. A do a few baths until the water runs clear.
As it is always best to wash (and block, if necessary) finished items before sending to us, that's another chance to rinse out any fruity smells from Kool Aid. A gentle dish soap or cheap shampoo is good for this.
PS: In addition to fruity Kool-Aid smells, from time to time we get items that smell of cigarettes, Grandma musty closets (memories!) or moth-balls, or covered in pet hair. Our Basement volunteers are quite experienced at inspections at this point, as you can imagine.
Hi - Happy Thanksgiving from cold and blustery Pittsburgh.
For the CWS campaign I made hats from a pattern provided to me by members of a campaign here to make hats for children in Guatemala. They head to Guatemala every January as part of an office-related mission and take suitcases full of handmade hats. If you'd like a copy of this easy pattern for crochet, do let me know.
I also used the fun mitten pattern posted by Bev on her site that I found via afA.
Now I'm using those patterns for some last-minute Christmas gifts.
Peggy
-- I also used the fabric pattern from the Hats for Guatemala to make the baby blanket that I recently submitted. The fabric is warm without being stiff or heavy, and I added a simply picot edging to make it complete
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