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Kool-Aid. Oh Yeaah.

So I recently discovered an article on Knitty http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html

about Kool-Aid dying yarn and could not wait to get started...although perhaps I should have waited, since I have important Christmas knitting that is still unfinished. But this was lots of fun!

My cousin has been requesting some wool longies for her new baby and I will happily oblige. However, being a student (and currently unemployed) I wanted to be able to make the longies without spending too much money. Luckily, my mom had some old wool yarn laying around that she was not planning to use. The only problem was the colors were very boring. Especially for a baby. So, the Kool-Aid dying begins.

Things I learned while Kool-Aid dying yarn:

• Make sure the yarn is completely saturated prior to submerging it in the Kool-Aid water. This will help to prevent uneven dying. DO NOT do what I did in the picture above if you're looking for a solid colored yarn. It will result in yarn that looks like the pink splotchy yarn in the picture below.

• Lemonade Kool-Aid will not turn blue yarn green. At least not two packages. It won't even become a different shade of blue.
• Cherry Kool-Aid will turn blue yarn purple. Yay!

• My camera sucks. So I know thats not exactly Kool-Aid or yarn related...but look at these pictures. : (

Christmas Time is Here!

Well. Computer is back from vacation. A simple restarting can do wonders. Anyway...time for me to show off my Christmas wrappings so far.

I was really proud of myself... I didn't buy a single thing for these wrappings. Everything is either reused or homemade. I learned to make gift bags (a trick I will post soon) and boxes from this great video on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-to-make-a-box-out-of-paper-scraps-243/. Definitely worth checking out.

Here are the bags. Nothing but some scrapbooking paper, double stick tape, Crayola markers, and some $1 rubber stamps from A.C. Moore & Micheal's. I have a bit of a problem when it comes to those dollar stamps. ; )

And here's a close up of one of my paper boxes (I have a book of scrapbook paper that came with some sheets I'm not too fond of so I folded them inside out and covered them with some festive stamps). Also, my attempt at wrapping a lip balm like a candy cane...not my best work. Haha. Anyway, just thought I would share my attempts to cut down on the wrapping purchases this year while trying to reuse a bit in the process. Perhaps it will provide a bit of inspiration.

Well. Here it is. The first entry. I'm new to this, so bear with me. I was hoping to get a good start tonight. I just finished with finals and I am taking a few days to be lazy/knit/be crafty. Unfortunately my computer has other plans. My memory stick reader seems to have gone on vacation. But as soon as it decides to cooperate, I have lots to share!