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Thursday, June 08, 2006
Just What I Need – Another Hobby!But first... a trip to New York, starring an expense account and a sock.5:30 am - Union Station, Washington, D.C.  6:00 am - The Sock Enjoys the Comfort of the Acela Express  10:00 am - The Sock Researches at NYU's Law Library  4:00 pm - The Sock Relaxes in Bryant Park  Overall, it was a blast - although I'm fairly certain it was a waste of money for the firm. However, since it wasn't my decision to go, I just made the most of the day. I spent most of the afternoon wandering around Manhattan - I got a mani/pedi, had a nice lunch/dinner, and enjoyed just watching the city on a cloudy Monday. And when I got home from work on Tuesday, my new hobby was here... I couldn’t help it… I just had to order myself some “big-girl” dyes. I’ve done kool-aid, and I knew it just wasn’t going to cut it. So, thanks to the folks at ProChemical, I’m now the proud owner of the “springtime,” “summertime,” “autumn,” and “winter holiday” dye kits. I was particularly attracted to the kits because they included citric acid, synthrapol, and instructions – all I need to contribute is yarn, table salt, a pot, a spoon, gloves, and some plastic wrap. Hopefully I won’t make too big of a mess of things … And I have plenty of yarn to play with.   I’m going to start with some crappy naturespun stuff – I got it at a yarn swap, so I’m not too worried that I’m going to turn it into something totally unusable. I think I’ve had it for 2 years now, and still have no plans to use it for anything, so I think I might try some stripes or something. Once I’m convinced that my dyeing efforts won’t turn everything into a giant pile of crap-yarn, I’m moving on – next up will be the 500 grams of sock yarn (60% merino, 40% acrylic) I bought in New York on Monday. It turned out to be about the same price as the dye-your-own stuff from Knitpicks, and since they’re backordered until the end of June, this seemed to make sense. Then, if and only if I am FIRMLY convinced I don’t suck at dyeing in every possible way, I’ll tackle that grey sock/lace – weight cashmere that somehow ended up in my bag leaving the Big Apple. (There may also have been some beautiful deep jade green cashmere laceweight, but really, what’s a little cashmere between friends?) If I like what I’m doing, I’ll also be placing a knitpicks order once they get the sockyarn back in stock, and I’ll go crazy with some more sock yarn and laceweight. I’m so excited. When the dyes came yesterday, of course I had to look at all of the little containers and say “oooooooooo.” I went to bed last night firmly convinced that I would kick some serious ass in the hand-dyeing department. When I woke up this morning, though, it occurred to me that I have ZERO clue as to what I’m doing, and perhaps a few references might be in order. So thanks to my free Amazon Prime trial membership, I should have these babies tomorrow or Friday.   So sometime in the next few weeks, I’m having a dyeing adventure. Is it a bad sign that I’m a little upset that Cricket, being jet black, isn’t amenable to Technicolor experiments? Oh, and Shanti - I may have kinda started Elizabeth I a little bit.  And I think Good Old Queen Bess may be accompanying me to the beach this weekend - that's right - more tough work at the law firm... the summer associates retreat in Charleston. It's a tough life! Labels: Dyeing, Elizabeth I, Socks 0 comments || # |
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