Crayons and Kool-Aid

"Mmm, yummy green crayon!" says Marie. Thank goodness it is non-toxic and washable, right?! About 20 minutes prior to the crayon-eating event, she was actually using her crayons to "draw" on a sketch pad.

I finished knitting Marie her first pair of diaper soakers. She doesn't need any since she wears disposables. But, I thought it would be fun to knit some as covers to wear during the summer. Here's a picture of soakers, made from Patons Classic Merino Wool and Wool-Ease. They're really droopy! I think the leg openings are too low. Good thing they're the trial pair because with the next pair I plan on using my Kool-Aid dyed yarn (see next picture).

Here is my first Kool-Aid dye job on a skein of Patons Classic Merino Wool (winter white). I used the following flavors:
1. orange
2. lemonade (yellow)
3. pink lemonade (pink)
4. grape
5. berry blue (blue)
6. lemon-lime (green)
7. strawberry (red)

I used the microwave method. First, I unwound the skein and simultaneously rewound it into a circular ring/hank. After securing it with ties of scrap yarn, I soaked the yarn in lukewarm water and Wool-Lite with a glug of white vinegar. After rinsing it, I put it in a microwave-safe dish. Then, I painted it in wedges like pie slices with an infant medicine syringe using a mix of 1/4 cup lukewarm water + unsweetened Kool-Aid packet. Next I microwaved it 2 minutes, let it rest 2 minutes, and microwaved it again for 2 minutes. I let it cool off, washed it at the yarn's temperature in Wool-Lite, rinsed it and squeezed out the water, and let it hang dry for a few days. With this yarn, I think I might start out with a diaper soaker pattern, but at the end, turn it into shorts. We'll see!

I finished the waist decreases and several even rounds of Green Gable. Instead of k2tog, k2tog, I used ssk, k2tog. Either way looks wonky to me since the only waist shaping I've ever done used 4 darts rather than pairs of decreases at the sides. Finally, I finished the first sleeve of Sunset Pullover. So, now I've got the 2nd one to do before starting the body of the sweater. Since I strayed from the Kidlet Tank pattern the first time I attempted it, I decided to try again but with a different yarn: I'm using TLC Cotton Plus in Thistle. Also, I ordered an alpaca/tencel blend yarn called Peruvian Collection Quechua from elann.com for The Somewhat Cowl. I chose rich olive for the color. I think it'll look nice with a chocolate brown cami underneath.