Russet Lodge Custom Knits

I have been working up a storm and haven't posted any works in progress for two weeks, so I pulled out the camera and took a mess of pictures for y'all today! Last weekend I got out the dye pot and dyed 8 ounces of white merino spinning fiber so I can make the Nymphaea shawl by Becky Herrick  (click the indie patterns link at the top of the page to purchase/download).  She was kind enough to give me a copy of this pattern, which she just published, after I told her I thought it would be lovely in handspun.  I considered the gift a challenge, and when I realized nothing in my stash would work, I got down to business. I dyed the fiber using Wiltons' Icing Dyes.  I don't like acid dyes because they're so toxic, and you can get some amazing color variations from simple food coloring.  To me this still counts as a WIP because I still have all the spinning and knitting to do.  Yay! I have been doing a lot of drawing and doodling lately.  Ther...

Though I reserve this blog mostly for publicizing my patterns and sharing information on some of my products which are available, I thought I would make a quick post to let people know I currently have no waiting list for custom-made knitwear, including kilt hose and bonnets. I am always working on personal projects, and I can't guarantee a time frame, but it's likely to be closer to 6-8 weeks than the year plus wait I've had in the past. I also offer other services including hand-dyed fibers and yarns, handspun yarns, pattern design, tech editing, pattern translation French/English, charting, writing out charted patterns, test knitting, and article writing/editing. Drop me a line at russetlodgeknits at gmail dot com if you're interested. You can also visit my design page on ravelry or my facebook fan page (links on the left) and check out my latest items for sale at http://shekure.etsy.com. My personal blog ramblings are availble at http://unaspenser.livejournal....

Now that my yarn is dry and finished I just have to share a few more photos. Here is the yarn in skeins, and then, because I couldn't help but play with it, wrapped into balls and ready to knit. The color's not quite right in the second image, but you get the idea. Sunshine and candy canes, people!

I have long wanted to experiment with doing my own yarn dyeing. I had the chance to give it a try this weekend thanks to a few lucky thrift store finds. Both the yarns I got were old and the color just slightly off from what it had once been. Luckily, neither had moth holes or other moth damage, and both were 100% wool. Kool-aid dyeing is simple... one package of kool-aid per ounce of yarn (to saturate, that is). The drink is acidic enough that no additional acid is needed, and you don't even need that much heat to set the dye. My first attempt was with a pale yellow worsted weight wool, about three ounces, and some orange kool-aid. I decided both experiments were going to be monochromatic, but I wanted something unique. The yarn was already in a long skein, so I tied it in a few places and I was ready to go! I mixed up the kool-aid in a large pan (2 quarts of water, 1 package kool-aid, no sugar, of course). I only used one package because I still wanted a fair amount of the...