~ KAL April sock knit a long! There is still time to join! Knit any pair of socks in any yarn and any size during the month of April! As long as you finish by the 30th and post photos in the Ravelry Group before noon on May 1st, you will be entered to win 2 balls of Knit Picks Felici Sock yarn in the colorway Cochineal!
~Knitting: I've been working away on my KAL socks! The first one was only 28g, so I can totally get a whole pair of Aaron socks out of one 60g ball! Yay! I've only got foot and toe decreases left to do on the second sock!
I've also been slowly working on my Wedding Shawl! I'm using the Raindrop Shawl pattern by Renee Strouts! I'm only doing 1-2 rows at a time, because sometimes that's all the brain power I have to spare!
Finally, I started my Simple Knitted Bodice by Stephanie Japel, using some Knit Picks Swish!
~Spinning: I've FINALLY finished the first oz of merino/tencel I bought at Madrona! I still have one more oz to do!
~Free Entertainment!
- Wrighttales by Lisa Wright on Podiobooks.com These stories are fun and light, and family friendly!
- I've been listening to back episodes of The Manic Purl Podcast with ChrissytheGreat!
- I've been teaching myself a bit of conversational Spanish with Coffee Break Spanish! The show has an awesome layout and the hosts are very charming! Check out all the language learning podcasts offered by Radiolingua at their homepage!
~Sales!!
- SALE UPDATE: Sunset Fibers no longer has any more of the merino/bamboo/silk blend because I bought it all! They do have merino/tencel blends, camel/silk blends, and POLWORTH!!! for much less than other indie dyers! Her site doesn't list everything, but if you send her an email and tell her what you want, she can hook you up! Her polwarth handdyed stuff is only $17 for 4oz! If you buy from her, tell her I sent you!
- Knitty has a coupon code in the knittyshop that will save you $5 off a $50 order! Enter coupon code "gatherparent" in the checkout to save thru April!
Elsewhere:
This next Tuesday, April 22 is Earth Day! Visit earthday.org and enter your zip code to learn about free demos and workshops in your area!
~Tip of the Week:
This one came from PrairiePiper on Ravelry! She told us that a dishwasher repair person let her in on the secret that you only need 1 tablespoon of dishsoap in your washer! This made me think of all the other things we use too much of! Shampoo, laundry soap and handsoap to name a few. For shampoo, a dime sized amount in my palm washes my hair and my hair is halfway down my back! For laundry, I only use 1/2-2/3 of a capful in the washer instead of a full cap! For handsoap, I take an empty soap dispenser and fill it 1/4 with soap and the rest with water! That eliminates the need to wet your hands before washing, and it makes your soap last 4x longer! On the same note, if you add 1-2 cups extra water to juice concentrate, it doesn't change the flavor of the juice, and you get more juice! Thanks PrairiePiper for getting my brainjuice flowing!
~How I Saved the Week!
I bought some Easter egg dyeing kits at Target for 90% off! They were only 30 cents each, and I'm going to use the dye tabs to dye some yarn!
Also, I'm happy to relate that the garbage cut-down has been going well! We only produced 1 bag of trash the last 8 days!
~Worth It!
Knit Picks Swish Worsted. 100% superwash merino, 50g balls with 110 yards per ball. $3.79 per ball, so about $.29 per yard!
Pros:
Superwash!
Colors are nice
Super soft, and gets softer after washing and drying
Shows off cables really nicely
I've used 2 balls, and so far no knots or splices.
Cons:
Some color runs during the first wash, so wash with like colors the first couple times.
Splitty when using sharp needles.
Gauge is weird during washing. Before/ after washing, 2 of the needle sizes went up after washing, 2 sizes the gauge went down. Weird. If you are going to use this yarn, KNIT A SWATCH AND WASH/ DRY IT!
Overall: Worth it!
~Contact info:
Ravelry: Roue
Ravelry Group: KnitCents
Twitter: Roue0824
I'm thrilled that my tip is in the podcast! Can't wait to listen! Thanks.
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