I See Rainbows

I love rainbows and what better month to make a rainbow cowl than the one where gay marriage is (finally) legal in every state in the United States.  It's Purl Soho's Classic Cowl knit with my own handspun yarn.  You can see the details here.  It's a pretty fluffy cowl and it makes me want to either cut my hair short or grow it out so I can pull it up.  Seeing this pattern makes me want to knit a pair of matching socks, which makes me want to plant dye the yarn myself and learn to make self striping yarn.  Oh how crafts can build on one another!

Actually, I am planning on doing more in the way of plant dyeing this summer.  Unlike the previous times I've ventured into plant dyes, this time I tend to make many samples trying out different mordants/modifiers and in general learn before I leap.  Last time I leapt into indigo dyeing, accidentally making my vat double strength (which meant I was rinsing the residual indigo out for days upon days) and tying the yarn too tightly (meaning little bits of undyed yarn remained under each tie.)  It took over our tiny kitchen, as I did it in January, and left me with lots of full skeins of not so great looking yarn.  So, this time around I'm making mini sample skeins with this absolutely adorable sample sized niddy noddy, dyeing in summer when I can do it outside, and using superwash wool so I can rinse vigorously without having to worry about felting.  I also plan to document my process better thus I'm sure you will be seeing my results here on the blog.

This cowl puts me at 4391 meters toward my 5K goal for this year's Stash Dash hosted by the Knit Grillls.  I've got until August 14th to knit a mere 609 meters, but to be on the safe side I better get cracking and start a pair of socks or something.  Hmm...

Joining in with:

Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On

Ginny for Yarn Along