I quickly whipped together a shirt for Lucky on the morning of his birthday. I think I have a backlog of applique projects and costumes I'd like to share, but that is another story. I've been hard at work on a super simple DIY Halloween costume for this year, and it goes along with the birthday theme very nicely.
1,000,000
This week, I hit a HUGE milestone on the ChemKnits Tutorials YouTube Channel. My video "Increasing Knit stitches: M1 (Make One)" hit one million views! This is an old school ChemKnits video, added to the channel about a year after I started making videos. I'm so glad that so many people have found this helpful.
I have a LOT more dyeing videos on the channel these days, but some of the knitting tutorials are still my most popular. Is there anything that you would like to see? I think my filming set up has improved a LOT over the years. I cringe a bit when I watch some of these older videos, but I am pleased by how much I've grown.
Dyepot Weekly
I've been on a Wilton's Violet kick recently. I feel like there are a lot of violet videos coming out back to back, from leave no dye left behind videos, dip dyeing, color layering, and more. In Dyepot Weekly #75, sponsored by Karen, I took a look at how we can break Wilton's Violet food coloring with what I call the "dry rub" method. Some members of the ChemKnits Lab refer to this as the "scrub the dishpan method" but I keep coming back to dry rub since I am rubbing dry yarn into dye to randomly spread the colors around.
I looked at the yarn dry rub technique in three different ways:
I looked at the yarn dry rub technique in three different ways:
- No vinegar in the dye, dry rub, dip dyeing the yarn into vinegar after
- Vinegar in the dye (which had a little surprise to it!), dry rub, then dip dye in to water + vinegar after.
- Vinegar in the dye, dry rub, steam setting the color
The results were vastly different, as you can see from the thumbnail. I did this dyeing project with KnitPicks Bare Stroll Fingering weight yarn (Affiliate Link) which is 75% superwash merino, 25% nylon. This yarn, and superwash yarn in general, absorbs color SUPER fast, and the red #3 food coloring started to bind to the yarn without any heat or acid around. This helped give the first yarn the most dramatic color breaking of the three.
I am really excited to try this out with some other colors that we know break. Or maybe even some colors that don't. Would we completely erase the dry rub effect or would we get something that was subtle and tonal?
Would you like to sponsor an episode of Dyepot Weekly? Sponsors get shout outs in the video plus 100 g of yarn that I dyed in the Dyepot Weekly Episode (with an option to upgrade to 200 g.) You pick the yarn base and some colors to avoid, and I design an experiment with you in mind. The final colors and technique will be a complete surprise, and it is so much fun. You can find more details in the ChemKnits Creations Etsy Store.
Would you like to sponsor an episode of Dyepot Weekly? Sponsors get shout outs in the video plus 100 g of yarn that I dyed in the Dyepot Weekly Episode (with an option to upgrade to 200 g.) You pick the yarn base and some colors to avoid, and I design an experiment with you in mind. The final colors and technique will be a complete surprise, and it is so much fun. You can find more details in the ChemKnits Creations Etsy Store.
When I said that I've been on a violet kick lately... (and really, when am I not on a violet kick?) I dyed some more dip dyed Wilton's Violet for another project. This one turned out so beautiful that it will be a shame to modify it, but I hope to learn something new. And isn't this the point of dyeing experiments? I will test things out and take the risks so then you can decide how you want to dye the yarn yourself.
Chanukah Update
The 2018 Chanukah Miniskein Sampler Preorders have sold out. Don't worry, everyone will get a chance to watch the 8 videos and celebrate along with me. There might be a few extra slots when I start winding the miniskeins. I also plan to unbox one myself so everyone can see how it turned out. Would you like me to create other samplers along side special weeks? What kinds would you like to see? Let me know in the comments!
