Koi Pond Cowl

I dyed, you voted, I crocheted!

I hand-dyed this yarn with Kool-Aid, let you suggest what I should make, and then put it to a vote. So here's what you chose, the Koi Pond Cowl! I had a lot of fun with it! It's the first cowl I've made (ever!). It's even reversible with a different texture on each side. I also had to be my own model & photographer so I literally took this yarn from naked to fab all by myself!! So here are some of my favorite pictures!

HAPPY HOOKING!!

Put it to a Vote!

I make hats. I make lots of hats. Sometimes I get in hat-land and can't get out (which I have to say I don't always mind!). But I was having trouble thinking of hat to make with my Koi Pond yarn so I asked you. I got some FANTASTIC suggestions that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise! So now there're too many good ideas to choose from and I wanted to put it to a vote. Let you help me decide. I already know which one I like best, but I want to see what your favorite is! PLEASE vote & tell all your friends that they can tell a hooker what to do!

HAPPY HOOKING

Cast your vote by leaving a comment below! Thank you!!

Koi Pond

I had this colorway in my head for a while before I got the money to by some more yarn and try it out! I think it turned out PERFECTLY! I got my inspiration from Japanese-style paintings and dyed it with Kool-Aid just like the green yarn in my previous post. I'm still experimenting with color designs, but I have to get a few things done before I can really get started! What'd you think of my Koi Pond?

Inspiration Mondays: YARN DYEING!

The Monday after the 4th of July is a little sad for me this year because we had so much fun with friends and family that it's a little quiet around here. I'm trying to brighten my mood by thinking about the awesome project I worked on last week when I entered the world of yarn dyeing!

My last post was all about upcycling and in the process of researching for it, I discovered an AMAZING website (Leethal-picture to above is from her site) full of tutorials, including several on dyeing your own yarn. I decided to try my hand at it. Leethal's turuorials center mostly on hoew to dye with Kool-aid and since I'm not dye hard (haha, sorry, couldn't resist) just yet, I thought this would be a easy & inexpensive way to start.

In keeping with the upcycling theme of my project, I knew I couldn't buy the yarn first-hand so I set out to my local Salvation Army-type store called Caring & Sharing. I just found out they had a small selection of donated yarn so I decided to check it out. I had high hopes, but also wasn't expecting a miracle. After all, the yarn I needed had to be wool or another animal fiber and white so that it would take the dye. I dove into the bin (

not really, it was pretty icky) and lo & behold I found it! DK weight, white, wool yarn!! Since there are no price tags I didn't know what to expect when I headed to the checkout I was shocked again when I got the whole ball (I'm still not sure how many yards it is, but it's A LOT!) for FIFTY CENTS!!

I took my yarn and headed to the grocery store to buy my Kool-Aid. I want to make something for my daughter with it, so I let her choose the color and she picked Lemon-Lime.

I couldn't wait. I took my yarn and Kool-Aid home and started right away. First step was to turn some of the yarn into a hank so that each strand of yarn gets dyed. Not having a niddy-noddy made this a little harder, but I put two chairs together and went to town.

I soaked it in hot water to wash it and prepare the yarn for the dye. Kinda looks like spaghetti!

ADD THE DYE & let it soak!

I hung it outside to dry. There are white flecks where the hank was tied. It's my first attempt, what're you going do?

Last thing to do is twist in into a hank and take a beauty shot. I used a lot of yarn so the hank was cumbersome and looks a little 'fat'.

I haven't worked it up into anything yet, but I hope to soon and of course, I'll share my pictures!

So, what'd you think? Looks like fun, huh? I've got to try multiple colors next time!

HAPPY HOOKING!