Yarn Dyer Periodic Table

What do you get a yarn dyer or nut who loves the sciences too?

I hunted high and low for an apron for when I start dyeing yarn in the new year with a periodic table design - in the end I designed my own. So as a fund raising method for my hopeful new business which I will be preparing for next year I decided to launch the design on Zazzle.

Yarn dyer periodic table apron

I also have a tote bag and a couple of T-shirts with the same design. Hopefully someone out there will love them other than me.

Oh and there is an interesting story behind my business name - Sheep on the ceiling. Maybe I'll tell you in the next post.

Secret Serpent Tablet Cosy

My home spun yarn became a snug tablet cosy for my Hudl.

Got to keep it safe when it goes out and about with me. I used a cool little snake fastening I brought recently from Etsy for it, though it could be fastened with a button or toggle if you don't like snakes.

So, the pattern for the snug was knit on the fly, but being nice I can share what I did.

Requirements :- Needles 4.5mm straight, yarn homespun worsted/Aran 77 yards. 

C/O enough stitches to go comfortably round your tablet including the front, back and sides (total number must be divisible by 4). Hudl size was 52 stitches. 

Cuff section - 10 rows of K4, *P4, K4.... repeat from * to end of row.


K all other rows to cover length of tablet excluding the 10 row cuff.

B/O.

Carefully stitch the base and side to fit around your tablet - test fit at regular intervals. Should be snug.

Cuff should have a little give - sew fastening inside of cuff so it is hidden when cuff is up.

Easy, cool way to use home spun yarn - though you can cheat with shop brought it you want.

All in a spin

Having picked up the needles, it was only a matter of time before I started doing the other thing I used to do - spinning.

I brought myself a spinning kit from Ginger Twist, made myself a distaff and set to work.

Three natural hues of Blue faced Leicester spun into a nice worsted 2 ply. Half done on the spindle and half done on a mayan spinner. Plied on the spindle, skein made with a niddy noddy (my partner laughs when I use proper terms who can blame him), soaked and snapped. One nice skein of cuddly wool yarn.

I brought myself a ball winder to make the next stage easier - even I know knitting straight from the skein is not good.

So what do you do with your first spun yarn in about 18 years - you make a cosy tablet cover for your new Hudl.

Long time no needle

After a long time (over 20 years) I decided to take up knitting again. I learned when I was little, my Great Aunt had the patience of a saint and taught me the basics. We also did some knitting in primary school making squares for blankets and vests to go to Ethiopia.

I still had some yarn left over from my Great Aunts stash: a baby pink which she had left over from making my baby niece a cardigan and a baby blue from making a cardigan for my nephew. These yarns have been sat in my sewing bag for 30 years. The other yarn I had was a school grey which was left over from my ex-boyfriends mum making me a very baggy and long cardigan for school. This one is over 20 years old.

So, having chosen to make the plunge I hunted for something to knit, and found the wonderful world of  Ravelry  and also another website where I found a pattern for a Slytherin scarf which I decided I must have - even though getting the right yarn was going to be a challenge. In the meantime, I would get the needles for that scarf and practise knitting with them hence my 1st project: Beginning Stitch Sampler.

• basket-weave
• garter
• rib
• seed
• stockinette
• C/O
• B/O

Now, I hate pinks, I was glad I only had a limited amount of my great aunts pink stash, and the blue which was better is still not me. So, I decided that as it's a sampler scarf, it can be stashed and have other sampler scarfs and panels/squares, which will eventually end up being made, added to it in a novel if weird log cabin effect throw. I have also realised I can over dye the yarn to make it more of my sort of thing. Will have to see if that happens.

I found the needles I needed for my Slytherin scarf in my local charity shop and made myself a basic rule - straight needles (unless super special) come from charity shops - so does random yarn. I have since brought more yarn and more needles. Though, I did treat myself to a set of crochet needles (which I have been unable to find in the charity shop) and an adjustable circular needle set (which is better sourced as a set). I also grabbed a nice needle cosy roll to store my pointy things - my long suffering partner would hate sitting on something I didn't put safely away.

After project 1 I decided to up it, as I had found my local yarn shop and this cool kit : Edina mitts. Which will need me to do more than knit and purl. So, project 2 was another sampler scarf panel which taught me more:

• bobble-or-popcorn
• cables
• chart
• chevron
• cr2f
• eyelets
• k2tog
• lace
• one-piece
• repeats
• ribbed
• skkp
• ssk
• textured
• twisted-stitches
• worked-flat
• written-pattern
• yo

Not a bad list of techniques learned or relearned for two projects which have used yarn stashed for decades.

Combining these techniques and

• in-the-round
• magic-loop

my 3rd project was born - I needed new warm slippers as my old ones were falling apart.

This time it was new yarn - well, charity shop yarn. Nice and snugly.