What you can't dye with food coloring

If I got a dime for each time someone asked me about dyeing acrylic or cotton with food coloring/Kool Aid I would be a rich woman. I decided to answer these questions once and for all by creating a video showing people what you cannot dye with food coloring.

Surprisingly, the 100% organic (unbleached) cotton that I used in this tutorial did pick up some color. I am not sure how colorfast it is, but there are certainly more efficient ways to dye cotton vibrant colors. (Compare the cotton color to the 100% wool!)

Peruvian Knits

Looking at stunning Peruvian knitting patterns makes me itch to start knitting a new earflap hat. Here is a great tip, if you cannot find a pattern you love, start looking at photos for inspiration. It would not be hard to convert the llamas below into a chart!

Hand Knit Gloves with Llamas at the Pisac Market, Ruins at Pisac, Peru

Photographic Print

Miller Hopkins,...

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Knit Chair

I'm not sure if I would call this yarn bombing, because I don't see this as an act of graffiti, but of home decoration. Whatever the case, this chair is surely a work of art. Now I want to figure out how to make one of these myself...

Photo credit Lorna Watt via a Creative Commons License

Plan Ahead

This is an intersting yarn bomb that shows a message. "Magda Sayeg, founder of Knitta, takes knitting out of the home and onto the streets. In Plan Ahead, she intricately weaves a playful message to pedestrians, bikers, and drivers onto an ordinary fence using colorful yarn. The message – to plan ahead – is reinforced by the artist’s choice to shrink the last to letters of the phrase and bend them vertically into only the small bit of space left over at the end of the installation, as if writing in a notebook and running out of space. Plan Ahead directs viewers' attention to Brooklyn's waterfront environment and examines the occasionally contentious, often harmonious relationship between nature and constructed space."

Photo credit New York City Department of Transportation via a Creative Commons License

Knitting Machines

I wanted to be able to make my on blanks (not necessarily sock blanks) for dying yarn so I purchased an inexpensive knitting machine. I selected the NKOK Singer Knitting Machine even though it had poor reviews. I think that anyone who purchases a crank knitting machine expects fantastic results... but since I don't care about a few dropped stitches when I plan to unravel the projects anyway, I thought it would work well for my purposes. Expect to see some dyeing experiments with these blanks in the future!

Knitting while Working Out

I'm not sure a slenderizing machine really counts as working out, but I have thought about knitting while using stationary bike pedals like the InStride Cycle. I fine these leg rollers terribly amusing, and it makes a fantastic knitting picture!

Pat Ogden at Slenderizing Salon Knitting in Padded Chair While Leg Rollers Work from Thigh to Ankle

Photographic Print

Eisenstaedt,...

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Dyeing Yarn with Tea

You can dye yarn with so many different kitchen products. The following tutorial will take you through dyeing 100% wool yarn with three different types of tea.

Girl sitting in the Garden

Girl Sitting in the Garden, or the Knitting, 1879

Giclee Print

Manet, Édouard

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I really should get a print of one of these art knitting images for my future knitting studio! (along with many vintage knitting magazine covers)

Cute Knitting Patterns For Every Season

I find it a bit harder to knit in the summer. The warm weather sometimes makes it hard for me to think about creating warm garments. If your fingers are itching for something to do, there are many knitting patterns available for a variety of seasons.

Get free knitting patterns, ideas & special offers + a FREE ebook, “15 Free Cute Knitting Patterns For Every Season.”

Ziyal Cowl

I never tried smocking in my knitting until I cast on the Ziyal Cowl. The simple ribbing in this pattern is jazzed up by the smocked stitches. An excellent tutorial accompanies the pattern, so don't be afraid to try to do this yourself!

Crochet Measuring Tape

Some people think it is hard to get a gift for a knitter, but there are many fun things out there including some darling crochet tape measures! Why not get a crochet measuring tape for your favorite knitter or crocheter?

I *Heart* Yarn

This is a fun yarn bombing project. I am not sure what kind of fiber creaft created these bench wraps (or if it is acutally just wrapped.) But it looks great!

Photo credit TEBart via a Creative Commons License

Knitting in Art

Here is another lovely painting featuring a knitter.

Knitting

Art Print

Watkins, Anthony

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Drafting Mawata

To this novice spinner, spinning silk hankies are one of the easiest fibers I've ever worked with. Because the staple length of silk is so long you can actually knit directly with the unspun fibers!

Knit Bracelets

If I could bring knitting into every aspect of my life, I would. Imagine my delight when I came across the following Ravelry project for knitted bracelets! There isn't a pattern to these beauties as much as a tip by the knitter on how to create your own.

Young Girl Standing in a Doorway Knitting

I'm not very good at knitting while standing... which is why it still boggles my mind that there is a world record for longest scarf knit while running a marathon!

Young Girl Standing in a Doorway Knitting, 1863

Giclee Print

Meyer von Bremen,...

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Don't forget the base!

So frequently we see poles yarnbombed, but rarely do we see the feet of the pole taken care of as well. I also like that these are circular granny circles, I think the gaps in the yarn bomb are really cool looking.

Photo credit Lord Jim via a Creative Commons License

Now this is a bath for a knitter!

When Vogue Knitting shared the following image on facebook, I felt delighted. I have so much yarn in my stash, that I could almost recreate this picture (although the bathtub in my home doesn't have feet... I'd have to bring all of my yarn to my parents' house!)

Stag Beetle

The designer considers the legs of this amazingly crafted Stag Beetle to be a cheat, but as a fellow insect designer, I don't think that they are a cheat at all! In fact, I think that the knit body gives a great representation of armor (which is funny since it is actually soft.)

The pattern includes a printout for the legs and antennae so you don't have to recreate the form.

Thank you, Ginny, for the submission!

Making of the Natural Gas Commercial

If you thought the natural gas commercial where heat spread over the house as knit wool, you will love to learn about how they made this video! I cannot imagine knitting all of that just to unravel it, but it makes a super cool effect when played in reverse.

Natural Gas Commercial

The idea of the film is simple. How to visualize the warmth of natural gas? By the use of the stop motion technic, we see how warmth spreads through the house as knitted wool. This is one of the coolest uses of knitting in a film I have ever seen.

Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff

There is nothing worse than making toe up socks and then being unable to fit them on your foot because the bind off was too tight. The following video shows a wonderful method to make a "surprisingly" stretchy bind off that incorporates a YO before the K or P stitch.

Who are the Twilight Taggers?

Whenever I am doing research on yarn bombing for new KPOTD posts, I find the most amazing projects done by the Twilight Taggers.

Bali, the fiber artist behind the Twilight Taggers, is located in Melourne Australia and designs these incredible projects. You can contact her if you are interested in commissioning a project. I wonder how many other people are involved, or if she does all of the knitting herself. Today it is not about a single piece of work, but about Bali's collection. Make sure you check out her blog to see all of the amazing things she has accomplished.

Go Get!

Go Get! Twilight Taggers did some yarn bombing for go get (a car sharing service) What a way to get noticed!

Photo credit Twilight Taggers via a Creative Commons License

Photo credit Twilight Taggers via a Creative Commons License

Naughty Knitting

There are many naughty knitting patterns out there, but there is one that makes me giggle every time. (PLEASE NOTE: the following link will take you to knit images that are mature in content in a cartoonish way. You may not want to open this at work!) The Phallic Chapstick Cozy would make a wonderful favor at a bachelorette party.

Cake Dyeing

What happens when you wind yarn into a cake (ball) first and then stick it in the dyebath? Check out this great step by step article to find out!

Craziest Yarn Bomb

What is the biggest hat you have ever made? Have you ever thought to make one for a bus stop to keep the roof from leaking? AllFreeKnitting shared this fantastic photo of a bus stop cozy (or a bus stop hat?) I am very impressed by the design, because there is a lot of cohesion, now just squares stitched together. I highly recommend that you take a peak!

Prime Factorization Sweater

I look for crazy science knitting patterns frequently, but there are also many intricate math knitting patterns out there too. The Prime Factorization Sweater features squares composed of the prime factors of the number (starting in the bottom left) where each prime number has its own color. Brava!

Yardage Estimates for Sweaters

How much yarn do you need for a project? Elann has a useful chart to help you determine how much yardage (well, meterage) you will need for a given sweater project. This chart contains chest measurment vs. yarn weight. I highly recommend taking a peak.

Dyeing Wool/Acrylic Blends

I started dyeing yarn because I had a ton of 20% wool/80% acrylic remaining from my sampler afghan. In response to many questions I received about dyeing acrylic on YouTube, I decided to create the following video:

P.S. You cannot dye 100% acrylic using these method!

Knitting Girl

It would take a long time to knit anything if you had to pose for a painting mid-stitch!

Knitting Girl, 1869

Art Print

Bouguereau,...

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