Peace!

I actually love these so much that I really don't want to send them off. Just the colors make me want to keep them! The peace sign is knit in bulky Gaia in the Talulah colorway by Lollytree Yarns. I only had a little scrap of it that Mrs Lollytree sent me along with some adorable stitch markers and some white Cestari that I used to make the Hello Kitty shorties. I love this colorway so much that I really MUST get some for my own use. Seriously, I think I need a hat and scarf for myself out of it. Not only is the colorway scrumptious, the yarn is so soft and squishy!

I started the legs with totally different colors and decided I didn't like it at all. They needed to match the Talulah better. So I ripped them out and went through my scraps again and tried to match the colors as closely as possible. The burgundy color is one I dyed myself and apparently didn't set it well enough because it bled on the blue and yellow (curses!). I tried to get it out, hoping my trick from the Lost in the Woods longies would work, but alas, that was a one time deal. In the process of trying to get out the dye transfer, the longies felted a little so I was afraid that changing those few stripes would be impossible and I'd have to knit them all over again. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. It's pretty hard to tell which stripes I re-knit now unless you know what you're looking for, and that' s just fine with me!

For the stripes on the legs, I used a random stripe generator on Biscuits and Jam.com. Coolest knitting tool EVER.

Details of remaining color transfer. GRR!!! Must remember to lanolize with vinegar.

Here's the little girl who ended up with them. I wanna squish her cheeks. I seriously gotta get me a little gir!!!

Hello Kitty Shorties

I think these turned out really cute. The colors are beautiful, there's very little pooling, and the design was easy and very cute, if I do say so myself :). However, I have decided that although I see the merits of Cestari Superfine as a soaker yarn, I don't like knitting with it. It's very soft and squishy and thick, which makes for a very good soaker, but instead of being springy and slightly stretchy like most wool yarn, it's very stiff like cotton and very tiring to knit with. Plus, it has LOTS of little twigs and grass and (shudder) brown bits that could only be leftover bits of dingleberries! This is no reflection at all on the dyer, Lollytree Yarns, which are beautifully dyed, and I wouldn't have been able to finish this one without some extra help from the dyer (she sent me some white cestari superfine to make the Hello Kitty face) and I LOVE HER!, but I do not like this yarn. This is the second one I've made and I had my doubts with the first one, but it turned out so cute and I figured the twigs had to be an aberration. Why would people be so crazy about such a poor quality item? But it was not an aberration, and yeah... I would recommend something else. My new mission (or maybe just my continued mission) is to convert the world to alpaca. I love alpaca. Especially when it's blended with wool. Then it has the luxury of super soft, lustrous alpaca, and springy, stretchy, lovely wool. Maybe I can get the Lollytree Yarn girl to dye me some alpaca and convert her! Maybe that's what I'll have to do :).

Funky Punky Monsters

I totally forgot about putting a link to the dyer of this incredible yarn! It's incredibly soft and squishy and fun to work with and the dye job is beautiful! It's from Lollytree Yarn and comes with a cute little beaded stitch marker that I absolutely love.

I love the way the face turned out on this one. The yarn was so busy that I was afraid it wouldn't work, but I think it turned out really cute. Especially the eyelashes. I've been learning so much about embroidery. Who woulda thunk? I never ever expected that I'd be into embroidery, but just making eyelashes makes me think that I need to learn more about yet another needle art.

Don't you love the way the yarn stripes on the legs? Way fun. The mom I made these for just sent me some more yarn from Lollytree (totally in love with the fact that the seller sends along a cute little stitch marker. I know I already mentioned that, but I really really love it. The newest one has a little flying cow on it. SO CUTE!) to make a pair of shorties with Hello Kitty on them. The yarn is ADORABLE in cotton candy colors. I can't wait to dig in!