I bought enough Paton's pure Merino wool to fully dress a sheep and now I don't like the colour all that much. I can't exchange it because I've had it too long.

It's creamy beige and I'd like to dye it brown if possible but I don't know how. Is it best to knit up the yarn and then dye the garment or can I dye the wool beforehand?

Would anyone like point me in the direction of successfully do-it-yourself dyed brown wool?

I finished off a pair of cabled heart socks yesterday, seen ( here. )

I have roughly one week to:

--Ask my dad (only person I can think to ask) for a loan for the wood I need to build clothes drying racks to sell.
--build at least a handful of said racks
--meet with the woman at the salon by the mall about doing massage there
--reschedule with Melissa at Bodyworks to get a key and go over policies/logistics about renting space there
--find a ride down to the permaculture course next weekend
--remember to ask for housing this time, since I want to take time/space from Diana
--moussaka for the course potluck
--site design for my land
--laundry
--gifts
--food stamps

This weekend:
--Couchsurfing Meetup
--Artwalk
--contra dance
--meet up with a couple of folks from OkC
--either another contra dance, the shaleshock benefit, or staying home getting things done
--Sustainable Tompkins awards party
--maybe Becca's birthday
--at least three things I forgot

g'night!

Well the flood gates didn't exactly remain closed. I'm not as talented at suppression as I would have hoped. Or at the very least--liked to believe.



Since my Pop died I have mourned his death sporadically in multitudes. My father has been diagnosed with cancer, which has left me with a boulder-shaped pit in my stomach that I carry everywhere with me.


Today: Grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer.


Every day is a constant struggle to desire life. Nausea seems permanently etched into my stomach. Tears seem meaningless--though they're more than frequent. Worry is persistent. Sadness inevitable.


Why does grief hurt so much?


AND. All in all. Within and of my life. I'm fucking lucky.



I can't imagine what it would be like to be anyone different. Dealing with the things that are worse.



Mortality is so fucking cold.

So I'm knitting a toy a dinosaur (Stig Steg in Knitted and Felted Toys) for my infant son, and I'm not understanding the directions for the pointy bits on the spine.

It says:
Cast on 28, knit 2 rows (I'm okay here)
*K2, turn
K2,
K2tog (I'm still fine up to here, the next bit is where I'm confused)

Break yarn, thread through rem st, pull tightly and fasten off*, with RS facing rejoin yarn to rem sts and rep from *to* once

Okay, so what's this break yarn thing? Am I supposed to cut the yarn and bury the end? Or am I supposed to thread it through the knitted bits and keep going.

TIA!!!

There, I fixed it for you Dave

dear everyone bitching about how I should've put this behind a cut because bawwww I look at LJ at work and almost got in trouble waaaawwwwww

Maybe you shouldn't be looking at livejournal at work

Fiber Fiend's Snowman Illusion Mitts pattern is a fun little knit. I opted for a jogless jog and that worked out well. You can read more about the project on my blog and on Ravelry.

( Photos )

Anyone have experience with the berkeley free clinic? Know it's still up and running (I read about the budget cuts, that's ominous.)? Any other free medical clinics in the bay area, the closer to oakland the better, but berkeley and san fran can be traveled to. My friend actually has insurance, required by her school, but there's a $750 deductible and she doesn't have money for food or the bus next week not to mention medical charges applied to her deductible. Not sure what happened but her finger is painful, swollen, and discolored. She thinks it's infected and needs to be lanced. And she needs a place she can get that done (or get it looked at and get antibiotics, or something) for as little money as possible considering she has $12 in the bank. Any ideas/assistance is greatly appreciated.

I am thankful for the patience of my partner who has born my almost two-week illness in stride and continues to make me soup and tea and clean my handkerchiefs and just in general puts up with my grumpy whiny ass. I am also thankful this quarter is almost, almost over. And that my aunt is coming to visit next week, along with an old friend from Vermont. Yay for visits and old friends.

Does anyone on here loom knit? I wanted to take up knitting mainly to have something to do with my hands while hanging out or watching movies. Unfortunately, I'm well on my way to carpal tunnel syndrome and my wrists tend to ache after a day of typing at work. So knitting wasn't particularly relaxing since it hurt my wrists so much.

So I took up loom knitting. I learned how from Youtube videos like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pclJ7gUvEAY

But there seem to be fewer resources for loom knitters. Does anyone here have any recommended books or websites? I'm ready to move past scarfs and neck warmers now!

Also, is it okay if I post FOs here? It seems most folks are needle knitters, so I wasn't sure.

I was going to go to campus to work, but it can be postponed to tomorrow or this weekend. Whaddya think? Should I stay home? Or is it not-so-bad out there?

Hi all!

I just joined the community and have been knitting for about a week *laugh* My grandmother taught me to knit when I was younger, that was with her starting it for me and I would just straight knit (enlish style I think, I hold the wool in my right hand) and in needing a project for the winter, I decided to make a progress blanket. I know this blanket is going to look messy in places, but what a way to show as I improve. My grandmother used to make blankets that I call rag wool. She used up all the spare bits of wool from other projects. I have two colors that I'm going to alternate making blocks out of, to get the length of the bed, and when I get the length, I'll cast off and start a new strip and sew them all together at the end. One problem tho, I dont' know how to switch from one color to another. I've been looking for videos online to learn (that's how I learned to cast on!) but havent' found anything, I did manage to switch colors but it looks kinda messy. Anyone have and advice or good references that I can follow?

I want to make a wide lengthwise garter stitch scarf/shawl that gently "cups" in to hug the shoulders when you wrap it.

Question:

Do I cast on with smaller needles, knit a few rows then switch to larger needles to knit the body, switch to smaller needles knit a few rows and bind off with the smaller needles???

It seems that this method would put lots of stress on the cast on stitches...

Or do I reverse it???

Cast on with bigger needles, knit a few rows then switch to smaller needles to knit the body of the shawl, switch to larger needles knit a few rows and bind off with the larger needles???

It seems that this way I might not get the "cupping" effect...

Ill be using boucle yarn double stranded with with mohair (every other row).

Also...should I cast on with both yarns together???

Any help or suggestions would be helpful....

TIA

Winter Weather Advisory
(Expires: Thursday December 3 10:00PM CST)

the national weather service in milwaukee/sullivan has issued a winter weather advisory for snow, which is in effect until 10 pm cst this evening.

timing: snow will become heavier this afternoon and evening. the heaviest snow should fall between 4 pm and 9 pm.

snow accumulations: 3 to 5 inches. axis of heaviest snow likely to be from dodgeville to stoughton to milton.

winds: west at 5 to 10 mph, though a brief period of gust 15 to 20 mph winds is possible this evening. strongest winds toward illinois border.

impacts: evening rush hour in madison and janesville will likely be snarled with snow covered and slippery conditions. visibility will be reduced to one half mile or less at times. minor drifting of snow along north-south roads in open and rural areas is expected.

Everyone, please pay attention to what's going on when you drive in the snow tonight. Every year it seems like the first real snowfall makes everyone forget everything they ever knew about driving in winter weather. Go slower, leave extra following distance, pay attention to the cars around you, and be patient with the other drivers.

Madison has a lot of new people in town every year. Some of the people out on the roads will never have driven in snowy weather. Most of us, however, have no excuse for not driving with appropriate caution.

I have one Strong Lite Massage Table plus bolster plus fitted linens (including fitted headrest linens) for sale in Oakland. Originally bought for $500 on CL, I'm willing to sell it for $400. I'll even throw in a massage table rolling cart (which I bought for $80) for an additional $40

Let me know if you are interested in coming by and seeing the table.

-Sara

Hey Nikon shooters,

I'm selling a Nikon 18-200 VR for $595 if anyone is interested! I live in the Civic Center area
(near UC Hastings)

Thanks

-Nick