Kool Aid Popsicle Dyeing

I came across a DIY post on Tumblr that showed how you can freeze watercolor paints in ice cube trays and then use the frozen paints to "draw" on fabric or paper. I instantly thought I could do that with Kool Aid and yarn! I just had to wait for my Oregon "summer" to cooperate. I needed it to get sunny and warm enough to melt the ice cubes.

NOTE: This technique will NOT work on cotton. Kool Aid and food coloring will only dye wool, silk or other animal fiber/hair.

Remember to wear your gloves! I took one packet of Kool Aid and mixed it with just enough water to fill 3 ice cube sections (do not add sugar! Just KA and water.) Then I froze them.

I used:

Kool Aid grape

Kool Aid strawberry

Klass brand pineapple

Klass brand hibiscus

Klass is a Mexican version of Kool Aid that I picked up at a Latino grocery store.

I soaked my WOOL yarn in warm water and vinegar for about a half an hour. I gently squeezed out the water and then laid it into a glass 9x13 baking pan. I put the frozen dye cubes on top and set it outside in direct sunlight.

When I first put the dye cubes on the yarn.

After an hour in the sun.

Once it was completely melted- in my case about an hour and a half- I covered it with saran wrap to help raise the heat and incubate the yarn. In hindsight, I could have just covered it when I first put it outside to melt. You need the yarn to reach about 180 degrees Fahrenheit (really, you just need it to be HOT!) to set the dye in the yarn. You could also cook the yarn in your oven or microwave it for a few minutes but I wanted this to be a solar project. So I covered it and left it outside all day.

Yarn steaming in the sun.

You'll know it's done when your baking dish is hot and the liquid in the yarn is clear- that means that the yarn has absorbed all of the dye. Bring yarn inside and let it cool down to room temperature. I then gently washed the yarn in warm water with some Eucalan (again there should be no dye washing off- your yarn bath should be clear. If it is running color, stop washing immediately and put back outside to cook some more. Or wrap it in saran wrap and nuke it in the microwave for a few minutes.) Gently squeeze the water out and then allowed it to air dry.

I'd say this was a total success!

Name: Summer Popsicle

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian Highland Wool

Weight: Bulky

Yards: 137 yards

Update! See more Kool Aid Popsicle yarn that I dyed with notes and tips on this post.

Silas turns two!

My younger son Silas turned two! I've compiled my favorite photos of him from the past year- one from every month going back to his first birthday.

Silas on his second birthday.

Silas on his first birthday.

Inspired by Katie Aaberg.

Black Sheep Gathering 2011

This past weekend Black Sheep Gathering came to town. I love going. All the fiber, all the yarn! This was probably the best time I had because it wasn't super hot. Last year I said I was going to sign up for classes next time but I didn't. I've been too busy and just had a blast looking around.

Lots of fiber from The Fiber Addict.

An amazing needle felted wall hanging.

Beautiful drop spindles with additional shafts. Spin then remove!

My friend Kacy spinning for the first time.

Silk worms busy at work.

A rainbow of colors. Cotton cones from Eugene Textile Center.

Sparkly yarn from Huckleberry Knits.

My purchases L to R:

Eugene Textile Center Argentina Yarn Polwarth/Silk blend dyed purely with indigo.

Huckleberry Knits Blue-Faced leicester/Silk Lace, Weeping Willow.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, Bag Lady.

Beer Bread

My husband brews our own beer. It's amazing. After he's done, we have a bunch of spent grain left. Usually we give it to our hens to eat but recently I've been making bread out of it.

3 cups wet spent grains

1.5 cups warm water

1 tablespoon bakers yeast

1/3 cup brown sugar

3-5 cups flour

Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together. Allow yeast to bloom. In a large mixing bowl, add grains and yeast mixture. Using a mixer or your hands, start adding flour until dough is no longer sticky. Place in large, greased bowl, cover with a towel and allow it to double in size- approximately an hour. Punch down dough and place in two greased loaf pans, allow to double in size again. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until brown and knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

A picture of the spent grains ready for baking.

Here, I didn't split the dough into two loaves but rather baked it as one large loaf on my pizza stone. It was much crunchier and would makes a great addition to a meal. But I prefer it in the two loaves. It's softier and is a good sandwich bread. Enjoy!

Our hens enjoying their spent grains.

Hella Nutella

Two posts in one day?? I know! But you can see why. My friend Liz has an amazing food blog, The Food of Love Play On. I have made several meals from her recipes and they've all been outstanding.

Today, I made her Hella Nutella brownies. I like to call them Fuck Yeah Nutella Brownies. They taste amazing and were so easy to make! I like my brownies chewy instead of cakey. These are perfectly chewy. I don't like nuts in anything! But after eating these I realized I don't like peanuts or walnuts in anything. The hazelnuts are great! Liz nailed it when she said, "They added just the right amount of crunch to this surprisingly light, yet chewy brownie."

Do yourself a favor and make these. Now. You won't regret it.

International Yarn Bombing Day

...What a group effort!

This year held the first annual International Yarn Bombing Day on June 11, 2011. My knitting group, the Eugene Knotty Knitters decided to yarn bomb a bicycle and pedestrian bridge in Eugene, Oregon. There were so many great pieces. I've said it before, but I am in so much love with my crafty friends. Their art is so inspiring!

You can read more about our yarn bombing at The Knotty Knitters blog. And I was a guest blogger for Yarnbombing.com.

My contributions to the bridge were a few railing cozies, a pom pom garland and a loooooooong cozy for the bridge that measured 42 feet. After we added the other cozies, it was over 50 feet in length. Amazing!

Bolder Boulder

This past Memorial Day weekend I visited my sister who lives outside of Boulder, Colorado. I knew I wanted to yarn bomb something in Boulder so I looked on online. I came across this "Bull Elk" statue by Jim Agius. I thought it would be great to knit the Elk leg warmers that looked like tube socks.Since I had never seen the statue personally I had to guess what size to make these leg wamers. Luckily they fit!

As I was installing them my sister remembered that the very next day in Boulder was a huge marathon! What amazing coincidence that my yarn bomb worked really well with the neighborhood theme that weekend!

Happy to help this elk get ready to run in the Bolder Boulder.

Stash Buster

... what would you have found?

Finding your parents' stash. What does that mean to you? Did you come across your dad's old Playboy collection? Did you find their bag of pot and rolling papers? Or was it something as innocent as finding your hidden Christmas presents?

For knitters, it's something quite different. A stash is the collection of yarn knitters have.

As you can see, my little boy has indeed "found" my stash.