Psychic Knitter

Freya's Cloud

Last night I took my first yarn dyeing class at my favorite indie craft store in Denver called "Fancy Tiger Crafts". This was not my first go around with yarn dyeing but it was the first time I have worked with acid dyes. We used two techniques, kettle dyeing and hand painting. There is far less control over what is going to happen when the kettle method is used, but I really liked the results. "Freya's Cloud" shown here on the left, was made using the kettle method. We asked our teacher to show us the yarns she had for sale in the store after we had done ours since we didn't want to get overwhelmed by our novice status. Still, everyone's yarns turned out beautiful and so unique. Although we used a microwave, our teacher uses a crock pot for her kettle dyeing so she can add color as it cooks, which I thought was a good idea.I have already taken a leap forward in my mind and am now wondering about some hand dyed fabric. How much fun would that be? I am still contemplating whether I would like to continue with hand dyeing anything on my own at this point, but in the meantime I look forward to hopefully being able to attend more advanced technique classes.

"Storm", made using the hand painted method

  

In early March I was laid up with a vicious cold for about two weeks. It rendered me speechless (literally) for a few days and just miserable for much longer.  I sat like a rock on the sofa all day, watching television and trying to concentrate on the subject at hand through my fogged out brain. Because I wasn't too terribly sick, I got fidgety and decided to pick up the needles and knit some squares for the local charity knitting group I've been working with. Although I knew I couldn't concentrate very well on my own scarf project, I decided that even if I was a bit foggy in the head, I could manage a simple knit square. For the most part I did. I knit five of them with no problem. It was the last one that somehow grew on the needles and subsequently became a not very attractive tarot bag for me. I moved on from the squares to making a couple of what i like to call "Fairy bags". They are a big bigger than a tarot bag, and have a ribbon with a sparkle that is knit with the yarn. I really had a good time creating them. these are on sale in my Etsy store since I actually like the look of them.
The one shown here is called the "Ostara Fairy Bag" I really like the way this one turned out with it's muted colors. I've had the ribbon for a while. I had bought several colorsways of it on sale several years ago. It's by Louisa Harding. I might just try to find more now that my stash of it is gone.
I was feeling quite chipper by the Spring Equinox and while dyeing some eggs to celebrate Ostara, i got the brilliant idea t o dye some yarn I had, using the egg dye. I got on Google and sure enough, found directions for it. it was a good start that left me with lots of ideas for future color combinations. I am pretty happy with the pastel purple and green because it's oh so very Spring like, even if they are not the normal colors I work with. Different can be good. Now that i am fully recovered from my cold and my taste buds are back, I have happily traded in my orange juice for some very dry Martinis. Gin, of course. Cheers!

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We all know what a fun time is to be had when Mercury does it's back peddling thing. Communication goes awry, electronic equipment goes haywire and life just drags along as trying to achieve forward momentum becomes something akin to slogging through deep mud in heavy boots. I decided instead of focusing on the obvious negative aspects of the Mercury retrograde, I would try to take a different approach by going back into my stash of unfinished knitting projects from the past, and working on them throughout the retrograde since we know that anything started in a retrograde is only a temporary thing, there is no point in starting a new project right now. Obviously I have started a lot of knitting projects during the retrograde periods of the past because I did have a fine selection of projects to choose from. I selected a blanket that I started back in 2007. It's a beautiful vertical striped blanket made with 8 different types of yarn that are all color coordinated, with half of them being the dreaded mohair. Beautiful stuff but tricky for a beginner to work with as I recall. I can say with great assurance that this blanket will be a warm one this winter because god knows it was plenty warm sitting on my lap while I was sipping my iced drink tonight at our coffee hang out whose air conditioning was no match for the warmth of all of the wool sitting in my lap.. I'm now thinking that the light green COTTON scarf would have been a better choice to finish off but then there is the problem of figuring out what the pattern is I was using and I was short on time this afternoon.I must also insert here that if anyone sees or even senses me picking up a ball of cotton yarn by the brand name Peaches and Cream or it's counterpart, I should immediately be thrown to the floor and the yarn ball pried from my hand. Why? Because while I was digging out my old project, I came across a few more balls of the yarn to add to my BASKET full of them. What was I thinking? Wash cloths and dish towels in cool color knitting styles of course! What I was NOT thinking about was that they are not reversible, thus require either double knitting or adding a back to them making them way too thick. Back to the drawing board on that one. But I digress. ... But wait, that is after all the thing to do during a retrograde, right? Digress, regress. Ahhh, semantics. I do believe it's time for a martini. Shaken, not stirred.

Working on knitting projects for various charities is part of my crafting hobby. To save on costs I almost always use Red Heart yarn. I like the wide variety of colors they offer and the fact that the yarn is acrylic makes it a very good choice as well because most projects require the use of a machine washable yarn. When I was out shopping last week I came across Red heart Eco-Ways yarn which is a recycled blend of yarn. The color selection was limited and it was a little more expensive than the regular Red Heart, but it was still a good price. It seems to be a bit softer than the regular Red Heart yarn as well. I'm planning to use these two balls for a square with a two color pattern. I can't wait!

As winter finally reached Colorado these last couple of weeks, I hunkered down to knit by the warmth of my fireplace, flanked as usual, by my old black cat,Sam. I have discovered that I love knitting cables and showcasing a design on a tarot bag. The bags are fun to design. I love the primitive look of them. I am now working on one that I hope will become my Dancing Irish Fairy bag. We shall see what the fairy folk have in mind as the piece progresses. :)

Since my last posting I have opened up a shop on Etsy called Toad Werks. I have branched off from my knitting a bit and into some sewn items and different types of prayer beads. My shop is an off shoot of my main business which is tarot readings. I am not an expert crafter, but I do enjoy doing crafty things and thought it might be fun to put some items up for sale; particularly tarot related things. I like to use tarot cloths because they protect my cards and because they are so much fun. Even more fun is to match them to the different decks I have. I find that expressing my creativity, the natural outlet for a magical life. Cheers!

I finished my second tea cozy Sunday night which called for a Martini! (what else?) I really like this one and doubt I will be able to part with it. I can see this is going to be a problem indeed. The picture doesn't do the colors justice try though I did to get a good shot. I love the simple mock weaving technique although it is a bit time consuming.I call this one Mad Hatter tea cozy but honestly I picked up some yarn yesterday that may make this one look a lot less crazy. I am currently working on a mute multi-color cozy that has a retro feel to it with cocoa, pink and green. At this point it is going to have buttons all over it which should be interesting. My little pink retro cozy is very sweet but photographs poorly so it will probably forever be mine. I was thinking if I get tired of making tea cozies I could always make a Martini Shaker cozy. You know, to protect one's fingers from freezing while shake. Oh yeah, I'm onto something now.......