Hot Mess Headband Knitting

Right now I'm on my third rendition of this Hot Mess Headband (the link will take you to the Ravelry page) a free pattern from EweEwe.  I like it because it's simple, stretchy, has some style and can be knit in a variety of yarn and still look fabulous.

The November weather is all over the place, warm one day-almost 80F, and mid twenties a few days later.  I've got handknitted accessories in nearly every weight but find myself reaching over and over again for headbands.  Headbands are incredibly useful items, holding back your hair and keeping your ears warm, while not causing me to overheat.  They are small and easily stowed in a pocket or bag and take only a short while to knit.  Or a long while if you keep thinking about knitting them, but don't actually spend any time knitting.  If I knit as often as I think about knitting, I'd drown in the sea of handknitting I'd created. 

I made a few headbands a couple of years ago, when they once again hit the winter fashion scene, I've made three versions of this Ribbed Headband omitting the crocheted flower.  I like the ability to button it in place and I get to use an interesting button.

For variety, I decided to see what other patterns appealed so I spent a lot of time on Ravelry looking for headband patterns and bookmarked a bunch to revisit later.  Seems headbands are still popular.

So far I've made it in a light green heavy worsted wool and also a dark grey cashmere, silk, wool and acrylic blend of reclaimed yarns held together to achieve an aran weight.  I've got recycled red cashmere on the needles now.  My only modification for the first two was to cast on 18 stitches rather than 22 stitches, to make a more narrow width. 

I'm also working on Julia's Cabled Headband in a worsted rust colored wool that I recycled from a commercial sweater.  I've only just started it, but am already wishing there was a chart available, I may have to create my own. 

Easter

The last minute preparations for Easter turned out better than deserved.  The candy had been picked up a few weeks ago during a shopping trip and I found the baskets around the house, emptying their contents into ziploc bags for the week or so they'll be pressed into Easter basket use.  Note the twizzler bouquet?  My boys love twizzlers.  And smarties.  And sixlets...

I tried a new egg dyeing method, adding the dye to the egg cooking water, and was rewarded with easy to color eggs.  I only did two colors and I supplemented the dye with some Wilton's food coloring paste because the dye bath was very dilute.  I used so much more water with this method than the traditional method.  Of course, that meant there was a lot of color remaining in the pan.  So, I threw in a few little skeins of pink lambswool that I have used in another yarn recycling project.  Easter will live on in whatever I use these little bits of yarn for.  

I've just finished another hat, this one in a cheerful spring green.  It's made out of Elsawool, the most luscious, wonderous wool.  American made.  There really is an Elsa, Her shop ships yarn and already knitted clothing. I bought yarn.   Cormo wool to be exact.  Woolen Spun.  

This hat is knit using her worsted weight, woolen spun yarn in white,  held with a laceweight light blue merino, harvested from a sweater hunted down at one of my favorite thrift stores.  I designed the hat on the needles, making it asymetrical.  US6 for the hat, US 4 for the brim.  The hat, once knitted, was dyed with Wilton's food coloring paste using kelly green and brown.  Stovetop method.  It ended up taking two trips through the dye to get good coverage.  I thought the hat was too short so added a ribbed cuff after the fact, necessitating more dyed yardage.  This time I did not add the blue merino and I dyed the yarn before knitting.  I am so pleased with this hat, the end result is a cheerful spring accessory that will keep me warm and remind me of Elsa, the shepardess in Colorado. 

Although not very many made a showing this year, the daffodils that did are instant smile makers. These were rescued from the front hedge, a wet heavy snow had them nearly flattened under the weight.  The blooms brightened the kitchen every day and made it possible to believe that winter was losing the battle with spring.  Daffodils make it easier to wait for the trees to leaf. 

My next yarn rescue plan is well underway, a squishy extrafine merino trapped in a sweater that won't fit me.  Sadly, the zip front was steeked and a total loss as yarn yardage.  The back and sleeves are now harvested and the back made one large, unbroken hank.  I'm thinking shawlette.  It's been washed and is hanging to dry, but here is the beginning.

FOOD CHANNEL update...

The calendar says spring, but I am baking as though it were the middle of winter.  Cinnamon rolls.  From scratch.  Mmmm.

Homemade chicken enchiladas, these were so good.  The chicken was cooked in the crock pot with tex-mex seasoning and peppers and onions.

This hearty Japanese noodle dish turned out great.  I added a bunch of portobello mushrooms and broccoli and garlic to a boxed Asian noodle dinner. 

Banana bread, with extra banana.  And cinnamon and ginger.  The boys loved it.

 Mushroom, broccoli and cheese frittata.

Chicken (shredded), mushrooms and grape tomatoes added to a cheese pizza.  Levi and I have been loading a bunch of different ingredients onto cheese pizzas picked up at the grocery store in the freezer section.  We use them as bases for experimentation.  Travis will still only eat the cheese pizza portion.

Pumpkin muffins with mashed banana.  These were fantastic.  I will be making more of these.  I started with a pumpkin bread mix from Aldi and added a large banana and some extra ginger.  If there are ever any left, I think they would freeze well.

Charleston Distance Run Neophyte

This is at the 8 mile mark, on Virginia Street
Still smiling, but starting to tire.

And now, some photos to give voice to my obsession of the last 11 months.  I ran the 40th annual Charleston Distance Run, known locally as "America's 15 Miler" in 2:42:27 (official-started center pack and the individual timing chip doesn't "start" until I cross the timing mat at the beginning of the race).  I averaged a 10.5 minute per mile pace-just incredible for me.  I had never run more than ten miles up until race day but had trained on grass and gravel, on hills for months.

Up until the day of the race, I wasn't sure I could complete it, I knew I would have to power walk some of the steepest inclines in the South Hills portion of the course.  It was hot and humid, it even sprinkled rain a few times.  But this race has incredible energy.  I met some great folks along the way, special shout out to Amy Kline from around Ironton, OH who got me through miles 10-13 with wit, insight and friendship-hope we meet up again.

Now, the Marshall half marathon in November isn't quite as frightening.  But I'm still training.

Like crazy.  I did 8.5 miles on Sunday and 5 miles on Tuesday, 5 more are scheduled for tomorrow morning at 6 A.M.  Plus cross-fit classes Monday through Thursday.  It isn't fun but it is compelling to see what you are made of.

First ever CDR, so a personal best!  Crossing that finish line felt great!

Dear Sarah,

I know you and I have never met, and likely never will.  Geographically, we're well over 3,000 miles apart, you up in Alaska, me in the lower 48 here in West Virginia.  I was a big Hillary supporter, still am, although disappointed in the compromises that were made.  I'm old enough to understand the need and value in compromise but still idealistic enough to not want my heroines to make them.  I want them to be a little bit better than me in their ability to stick to their convictions, go after what they want and take no prisoners along the way.  I admire strong women.  I volunteered to do the phones for her Charleston campaign headquarters and proudly put up signs in my yard in a very conservative neighborhood.  Hillary was finally going to break the glass ceiling in 2008 and I was going to be there, a part of it, no matter how small.  I was not going to miss my chance to participate in history.  Having been a women's studies major in the 80s, (which immediately was proof, along with my military service, that I was a lesbian) was going to make Hillary's victory that much sweeter.  Screw everyone who ridiculed my "feminism is not a dirty word" T-shirt.  To hell with those who told me I was too "crunchy granola" when I breastfed my kids and used cloth diapers (although I confess it was to save money, not the planet, we were broke and trying to get through college-with 3 kids).  Those who said you couldn't be smart and a good mother and have a career could kiss my ass.  Hillary was going to fix it all, right the wrongs and be the woman who made the final step-who closed the gap and shattered the glass ceiling once and for all.

Then some upstart punk out of Illinois showed up and arsed up the whole shebang.  And Hillary's victory lap turned into a vicious bout of infighting where, once again, the Democrats ended up doing the wrong thing where women are concerned.  They backed Barack and threw out Florida's votes-handing him the primary.  The campaign of "Hope" made we want to vomit, all I could hear was "hope we don't elect a woman for president."  She had it all, the experience, the brains, the connections, the drive, and she had paid her dues.  Didn't matter, it wasn't enough.  WV went 70% for Hillary.  Yep, the redneck, hillbillies voted a chick in the top spot.  We get  a lot of things wrong here, but for a few glorious days, WV had done right by me and my beliefs.

And then, out of nowhere, comes a very pretty, very accomplished unknown woman from Alaska as the Senator from Arizona's running mate on the other side.  I was absolutely tickled to see a woman in the race.  I also had a deep respect for McCain and his service to our country both in the military and in the senate.  Up until then, I'd never even considered voting for a Republican, but with Hillary off the ballot my vote was up for grabs and the only one I saw who looked like he could earn it was John.  And John came with Sarah.  As I dug into who the media let me know, I was amazed.  Almost simultaneously, I was sickened by the way she was immediately thrown under the hooves of my so-called liberal feminist sisters. Whoa!  Girls, girls, before you write her off as an emptyheaded stereotype, while also ridiculing her clothes and shoes, remember how pissed you were when all the press could comment on was our girl's headband du jour and penchant for pantsuits.  We cried foul then, and rightly so, but Sarah's long hair and penchant for heels was now fodder for blogs and newscasts with blood on their fangs.  Criticism about your appearance became a national sport, your hairdo, how much your glasses cost, who was paying for your campaign wardrobe, how high your heels were, what color your suit was, designed by whom?   It pissed me off.  And it pissed me off twice as much when it was being served up by women. 

I'll tell you what I saw.  I saw competence.  I saw merit.  I saw achievement.  I saw tenacity.  I saw shows-up-and-does-the-work.  How?  Not from your political achievements up there in Alaska from small town mayor to freaking governor, upsetting the old boy status quo single handedly.  Nope, I saw it in a twenty plus year marriage, a woman who gave birth to five children (one while governor), an unapologetic christian committed to her faith, a distance runner who competes in and finishes marathons, a woman who put herself through college on scholarships, and a mother who watched her child join the military during wartime.  This proves to me you are a woman of great strength, honor, integrity, tenacity, courage, discipline with plenty of common sense.  

I decided to do a little comparison of you and I, and the results-well-I thought I would do better than I did.  It wasn't even close.  I know my first person, third person thing is all screwed up, but I think you'll understand.  And it makes more sense that way (to me).

1.  Marriage.  Sarah wins, zero divorces.  Me?  not zero.

2.  Childeren.  Sarah wins, FIVE live births (one while in governor's mansion).  Me?  THREE live births (one while in law school).  I had mine naturally, but I'll bet Sarah did too.  (I get to shout numbers of births, we earned a shout out).

3.  Education.  I win.  College, Law School.  Sarah?  College

4. Work.  Sarah wins, governor! mayor! fox news correspondent! television personality! vice presidential candidate!  Me?  government lawyer.

5. Athleticism.  Sarah wins.  She trains for and competes in marathons.  Me?  I've run a 10k race once in my life and have never, ever run 10 miles much less 26.2, although I am training for my first half marathon in November in Huntington (Whew! There, I said it, made a public announcement to make me meet my goal).

6.  Hobbies.  I bet I win.  I knit, sew, bookbind and rubberstamp.  Sarah?  I don't know, I don't even know if she likes to craft, but I bet her grade school aged childern had access to glitter, glue and crayons at her house, just like mine did.

7.  Faith.  Sarah wins.  She professes devout Christianity and I believe her.  Me?  I'm a very quiet Christian who chafes at most of the teachings I disagree with, plus the divorces are not exactly putting me in grace.

8.  Patriotism.  A draw.  I served in the Army during peacetime and Sarah watched her son enlist during war.  

So.... final score.  Sarah-5   Me -2    with 1 draw

So this woman my friends scorn, ridicule and continue to write off as meritless, as a caricature of the far right, easily dismissed as something of a bimbo?  It's not even close.  Sarah kicked my ass 5-2 and I'm not even weighting the categories!   I can't equate my passion for my hobbies to the value/weight of her faith or her strong marriage.  Of course, these are the same friends who will look at me and say, "I don't know how you do it!" as they shake their heads at my heavy single-mother-of-3 load.  I'll confess, I sometimes get a lift from that admiration.  Meanwhile, back to reality, I can't really even carry Sarah's gym bag to the locker room so she can get in a 10 or 15 mile training run in.  

When all of who Sarah is comes through to me, I find that I really don't care what her politics are, even if they are wildly opposed to mine (which they are, polar opposites) I already like her.  I like her if she's opposed to abortion (I'm strongly in favor of a woman's right to choose), in favor of war (I joined Patriot for Peace and publicly opposed the war in Iraq) and I like her if she takes other stances I don't agree with.  Lots of my friends do not hold my same political views, but they have a lot of other qualities I do like.  So do you.  I think that you and I would be friends if the circumstances (and the fact that we shall never meet) were different.  You stood by your convictions and you didn't compromise, even when it would have helped vote wise.  I guess what I'm saying, and taking a long time to get to, is, I think you got treated unfairly in the media, by the Democrats and most of all by other women who should have stood by a sister who was finally rising to the top, shattering the last glass ceiling in this country (you understand I'm talking about the White House and not the Augusta Clubhouse) cheering her on, political affiliation be damned.  I mean it.  In 2008 I voted for an exceptional woman and a soldier, hardened by war with a lifetime of wisdom.  I voted for a mother of 5, a marathoner, a scholarship student, a christian and a public office holder.  A prisoner of war, a Senator, a decorated veteran.  I'm tired of not speaking up when folks talk about that last election as this next approaches.  I'm tired of saying "I voted for Hillary" when asked, rather than admitting that I did not vote for Barack and Joe, I voted for John and Sarah.  I did.  I admit it.  I did not vote for a political party, I voted for who I thought would make the best president.  Sarah, I dislike and disagree with nearly all of your political positions but I know you are a high quality person that will do a hell of a job at whatever you decide to tackle.  I guess I just wanted you to know I voted gender over platform because most of the ways my life is different from men you already understand.  We need a woman in the white house.  When I lost my dream of Hillary, I turned to you.  I voted for you.  If you run, I'll probably vote for you again, unless Hillary is running.

Sincerely, 

A Reluctant Fan

Washington D.C.

Yesterday was the 101st observation of International Women's Day.  Two days earlier I had the untellable pleasure of meeting United Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.  I was so touched by her graciousness and friendliness.  Words about the encounter still fail me so the pictures will have to speak my story to you.

Cashmere Bliss

I've been dabbling in recycling sweaters made of luxury yarns from sweater back to yarn for a few years now.  I've found alpaca, merino, silk, cashmere, even yak.  Cashmere is my favorite.  It comes from the cashmere (kashmir) goat that lives in some seriously mountainous, cold and rugged terrain.  It has outer guard hairs, but it is the soft downy undercoat that is the prize, it is what the luscious yarn is made of-super fine and extremely warm.  It is also very spendy - just the yarn for a sweater would be about $250.  I have frequently found and reclaimed cashmere sweaters in the past, and it is such a pleasure to knit with, but the yarn is very, very fine and can be difficult to unravel, I usually think the extra effort is worth it.

It is rare to find a 100% cashmere sweater made up in anything other than a laceweight or fine gauge yarn.  A dk or worsted weight is sort of the holy grail for cashmere loving sweater recycling yarn junkies such as myself.  After years of searching (and five dollars at the thrift store) I've finally found one, and it is mine, all mine!

This lavender cabled turtleneck is going to be transformed into about 1200 yards of scrumptiousness.  I wanted to get the photos taken first before I deconstruct it.  I don't know if I'll keep it lavender or if I'll dye it, but I know I want to make a wrap/shawl out of it-sort of an adult blankie to wrap around me when things get chilly, or hard, or I just need a hug.

This stuff is sooooo thick and sooooo soft.  It will be a treat to transform it into something I'll love forever (that would not be a too tight turtleneck sweater).

My best guess, before disassembling, is that it is worsted weight.  That's a nickel there, about an inch across, and it is measuring about 4.5 to 5 stitches per inch.

I don't drink the Kool-aid

I dye with it.  I learned that protein fibers (fibers that come from animals and silkworms) will take up food dyes easily and with the addition of a bit of acid, like vinegar or citric acid (the stuff in Kool-aid) the dye becomes colorfast.  It doesn't work on plant fibers such as cotton, linen, tencel, ramie and nettle nearly as well.  I've tried it on wool before and it's like magic-it works and doesn't wash out.  Depending on the color of yarn you start out with, you can end up with very different color even using the same dye recipe.

About a week ago I started working on disassembling a handknit sweater made with what I believe is handspun alpaca.  There were several colors used in the intarsia patterns but the main color is a sort of grayed lavender.  I skeined up the top front portion (maybe 50 0r 60 yards) and tied it loosely in 4 places with waste yarn so it wouldn't turn into a tangled mess while dyeing.  I then presoaked the skein in warm water.  You can dye it dry, but the effects seem to be very uneven and mottled, and I wanted something more consistent.

I used a packet of cherry Kool-aid to start-I got a saucepan, filled it 2/3 of the way with hot water, and emptied in one unsweetened packet of Kool-aid.  Over medium heat, I stirred the pot until all the powder was dissolved, I added the presoaked and squeezed-so-it-wasn't-wringing-wet alpaca skein and gently stirred it to distribute the color and immerse the yarn.  I turned the heat to simmer and let the dye soak into the yarn, gently stirring it occasionally, paying special attention to the areas that were loosely tied with the waste yarn-I wanted to make sure the color permeated those areas too, sort of the opposite of tie-dyeing where you don't want the dye to get into the parts you tie off.

I pulled the skein out with a wooden spoon when the water in the pot was nearly clear.  I thought the color was too candy colored and wanted a more nuanced tone, so I dug around in my cake decorating supplies and came up with Wilton's food dye.  I added a bit of red and a bit of burgundy to deepen the color.  Before adding the food colors, I mixed them with some hot water and added the mixture to the saucepan, while holding the dripping yarn out of the water.  I was afraid that if I added the color into the pot with the yarn in it I would end up with a few dark spots and that's it (can you tell I've done that before?  because I have).  After stirring in the new color, I also added a glug of white vinegar to set the color.  There may have been enough citiric acid in the Kool-aid to act as a mordant, but I didn't want to take the chance.  Next, I lowered the wet yarn into the new dyebath and gently stirred, letting it soak up the color.  Still not satisified, I added the burgundy in the same manner.

In the end, the alpaca absorbed all the dye, and I was happy with the end result-it always lightens as it drys.  This kind of dyeing is also very safe.  You can use your regular cooling utensils and pots.  This is not the case with other dyes-those should be used with only dedicated equipment, far away from food preparation areas.  Because we ingest food safe dyes, they are safe to use in your kitchen.

So... without further adieu, this part of the garment was used

From this sweater:

To transform into this beautiful rosey-coral yarn.

Here's a closer shot:

and even closer:

I was pleased with the results.  I'm not sure I can replicate the color, even though I wrote down my recipe, because I wasn't at all scientific about the amounts I used, just a third of a tiny spoon of each of the Wilton's food colors.  I love that little spoon, it's got a hand hammered steel curlicue handle.  I used to have 4 of them, but we are now down to just the one.  Where in the heck have the other three spoons gone?  Three non standard sized spoons?  I'd like to think I've at least cleaned the entire house once between the time of their disappearance several years ago and now, but none of the others have ever showed up.  One of those mysteries of parenting that make you believe that The Littles aren't make believe!