Like many of us, I have entertained the fantasy of knitting an afghan from my sock yarn leftovers. I even started one a couple years ago but quickly discovered that there are significant gauge differences between the standard 75/25 superwash/nylon yarns of Opal, Regia, and their ilk, and the 100% merinos of the artisanal dyers.
>>>frog pond.
Now I am trying again. This time I hope to compensate for the difference by varying my needle size.
So far, so good.
The ruffly edge is my provisional cast on using Tahki, which is a DK weight smooth cotton yarn. Haven't decided yet whether I will go with a knitted border or attached i-cord, but that fiddly part where I have to pick up a gazillion stitches just got eliminated.
The square at upper left is Blue Moon Socks That Rock lightweight worked on a US2.5 (3.0mm) needle. The rest is various standard sock yarns worked on a US#3 (3.25mm) needle. I think my strategy is working :-)
Now, please direct your attention to the yarn cake at upper right. I dyed that last night with some strawberry Kool-Aid.
Before and after:
I got pretty much exactly what I wanted. A bit less color would have been better, but I am happy with this. The formula for Kool-Aid dyeing is one package of Kool-Aid per ounce of yarn. I had .9 ounces of the leftover yarn and used about half a package of Kool-Aid.
Now comes the part where I beg for yarn.
Last year I used up a lot of my sock yarn leftovers when I made the doggie poop bag holders for the local animal shelter. I still have a lot of full skeins that I can steal from, but my supply of leftovers is limited.
If you have some sock yarn leftovers that are burning a hole in your stash, would you consider sending them to me? Each square takes xx grams of yarn. Please do not send me full skeins -- that would be way too much and I would feel terribly guilty and have to do some ridiculous penance like scourging myself or fasting for a month to mollify my conscience and you don't want that, do you? So, leftovers only, please. E-mail me for my mailing address -- click on "About" at upper right corner of blog to get e-mail addy.
TIA!
