Of Yarn and Kool-Aid

It seems that the farther I get into my journey to find non-medicated solutions for my headaches the harder it is for me to concentrate.  Which makes blogging a mite difficult.  Why sit down to write when I can watch tv, play on my phone, and knit all at the same time.  This is probably why I still have not finished the second Outlander book despite reading it for almost a month.  And why my nails have gone unpainted for over a week  It all just takes too much concentration.

Luckily when my friend Erica came to visit over the weekend we found activities that work for my wandering brain.  We dyed yarn!

I never thought I would dye yarn, but this is probably the same part of me that never thought I would magic loop or knit socks.  Erica brought the yarn and I bought the Kool-Aid.  The entire process was ridiculously easy.  First you soak the yarn.  Then you put dye in water, add the yarn, and microwave on two minute bursts until the dye is completely absorbed and the water is clear.

I am really pleased with how our yarn turned out.  We made two variegated and one tonal, which I plan to use in some combination for colorwork mitts. 

And because we used reds, oranges, and pinks (because that was the whole selection on a Sunday at Kroger) I was able to turn these in for my Potions homework for Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup.

Now if I could just concentrate enough to finish these socks. 

Knitting at last week's Metric concert

Of Most Aggravating Socks

Thank you to everyone who reached out to me after my last post.  I never realized how little I sleep until I started tracking it.  But that is neither here nor there after a weekend like we had.  You see, one of the fun crazy things I get to do with my job is run a merch booth for a children's theater series.  Which means I spent my weekend selling pirate gear to hundreds of excited little tots.

On Friday I cast on a new pair of socks out of some Patons Kroy that I have been sitting on for a while.  They are doing a KAL over on Knitting in Circles for a very lovely pattern that I was very excited to knit.  I worked on it through all eight shows but finally had to admit yesterday that the pattern just isn't for me.  I find the key design element annoying to knit.  How sad is that?  I want to love the socks but that key element? It just drives me batty.

Fortunately I already had another skein of sock yarn wound and ready to go.  A magical skein from Gnome Acres in the colorway Stars Hollow.  I'm knitting the Breaking Hearts pattern.  Seems appropriate.

A November Return

Hello all!  I hope you all had a good October.  Mine was different from past years.  I found myself at the end of September struggling with some health issues that made concentrating on anything very difficult.  I have talked pretty openly here about the car accident I was in several years ago.  One of the probable results is a series of headaches that I have put up with ever since.  Probable because there was so much going on in that month that it is impossible to definitively pin it on the accident.  I could go into excruciating detail (I actually just did but then realized how boring that really is) about the things I have tried to make them go away, but I like you guys too much.  Let's just say that October began with me paranoid and confused enough that Chris supported my decision not to let my doctor put me on any more medications and instead we are focusing on reducing my stress level and looking at other options.

Long story short, I decided to make myself take the month off from any obligations, including working on the blog.  But that does not mean I have not missed all of you.  In the midst of all the weird brain stuff writing has been something I really look forward to, even if it has become more of a struggle.

Alright.  Now that I have got that out of my system, time to go cast on all the things for Knit and Crochet House Cup!