Kitchen Sink Dyeworks

A while back, I started a free online sock class to teach the magic loop technique (my absolute, deeply-loved, favorite technique for knitting in the round).  The class project was a teensy pair of toddler socks, which could then be donated to Children in Common, a charity benefiting kids in orphanages in the former Soviet Union, establishments which are underfunded and underheated.  The class was a brainstorm resulting from a flurry of craft writing that was making the rounds on the blogs of some of my favorite folks, all about the “Power of Free”. ,

I had originally been hosting the class on a Ning social networking sitewhich was free at the time.  Ning is changing their business model to pay per month for hosting, and when I thought about whether or not this was the best medium I could pay for to get the class out there, well…it wasn’t.

So, now I’ve decided to make it easier for more knitters to access the videos for the class by moving the video materials to YouTube, and the supplemental materials (pattern PDF,…etc.) to my design blog, piebirddesign.com.

The full class materials list with file and video links can now be found here:
http://piebirddesign.com/classes/free-online-sock-class/

My piebirddesign YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/piebirddesign

If you haven’t signed up previously, come on over and check out the videos!

If you’ve enjoyed the class, please help spread the word by directing people to the new class page.

And if you’ve finished a pair of socks, drop me a line, I’d love to see your projects!

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Cooking up new colors! I’m editing photos and updating the online shop now, so look for an announcement soon!

(Those oranges? I’m crazy about them. Crazy, I tells ya.)

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Martha Stewart Living has a great project post on making your own custom knitting needles. 

While hardcore knitters might scoff at the idea (stainless steel built for speed, bay-beee!), I think this would be an awesome project to do with kids.  The tools are pretty safe, with the exception of the epoxy to attach the button needle stops (you do that part, K?), and you get to paint the needles with acrylic paints before sealing with butchers wax, so I can imagine all sorts of fun kid art decorating these needles.  Try a 1/4" dowel and worsted yarn for a start-to-finish scarf kit.

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Image: http://www.etsy.com/shop/UkrainianTreasures

My very first exposure to dyeing wasn’t on yarn, or fiber, or even fabric.  It was on eggs.  Sounds pretty average, right?  Hard-boiled eggs, vinegar, dye pellets?  But I’m Czech and Ukrainian (with a wee smattering of Irish and Scottish), so these were not your standard, American Paas Easter eggs, with crayon drawing and pastel colors (We did those too, so that we could play with them and eat them!).  My first real dyeing was on Pysanky, traditionally decorated Ukrainian Easter eggs.

Image: http://www.etsy.com/shop/thebeadbunny

Pysanky is basically batik on eggs, a wax resist dyeing process.  A small cupped stylus (a kistka) is heated with a candle flame and used to apply thin lines of beeswax, and the eggs are dipped in a series of alkaline dyes between layers of wax, from the lightest colors to the darkest.  Then the dye is melted off with a candle flame, and the eggs are sealed with glossy varnish.  This is all done, at least with my family, on intact, raw, room temperature eggs.   I think you can tell from that description that this would NOT be considered a kid-friendly process these days, but I grew up in a non-coddly household and learned pretty early on not to stick nasty work materials in my mouth and to respect fire and sharp objects, or else. 

So now the smell of melted beeswax brings on instant childhood nostalgia, thinking of all those happy hours with heads bent over our work at the kitchen table, learning to melt the wax without creating too much soot, applying delicate lines of wax, learning which colors layered best.  And the magic of holding your wax covered egg next to the candle flame, and wiping away the beeswax to reveal your brightly colored creation.  I learned all of this from my mom, who taught classes on Pysanky, and created amazingly detailed eggs.

My Grandma Tarasovich used a different method, sticking a straight pin into the eraser of a pencil to make a stylus, then dipping it into a candle to gather wax, making teardrop shapes in pattern, and then dyeing the eggs in solid colors, like this:

Image: Better Homes and Gardens

So began my love of pattern, color, and appreciation of handcraft and a bit of elbow grease.  Oh, and obsessively detailed work.  Thanks, Mom!

Interested?  The lovely folks at Learn Pysanky have online tutorials and links to suppliers and workshops.

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Vickie Howell has a cute, fast knitted shamrock pattern on her craft blog this week, great for St. Paddy's festivities! 

It uses scrap sock yarn, and she shows you how to use iron-on crystals to glam it up.  I'm thinking of using beads or tiny buttons, since I always have them on hand in my heap of craft supplies.  And I'm never at a loss for sock yarn scraps, so I can imagine these in KSD colorways, Grass, Goldbug, Liam.  Snazzy!  I wonder if I can whip up a couple to wear to the St. Pat's party at Ms. Molly's this weekend?

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