So I've been busy :P

I haven't blogged for a few weeks, I began to a couple of times but got sidetracked again :) Very busy dyeing my little fingers off but have also been knitting, sewing and dyeing for a swap I was involved in on Rav!

unfortunately I was rushing to the PO to get the express deadline and didn't take a pic before I posted it all off, but the pic up above is the Travelling Woman shawl I knitted for my recipient Vanessa! I also hand dyed some Quilters cotton in shades of deep blue and jade and sewed a wee project bag for her. I hope she likes it all and can use it. Its in a gorgeous BFL Evoke sock yarn called Depth from the Yarn Cafe.

Amazingly my swapee also knitted the same shawl for me in almost identical yarn, in fact yarn that I almost bought for Vanessas shawl, which I absolutely LOVE! So I'm very spoilt :) here is a piccy of my lovely shawl and I also recieved an awesome scarf, some amazing buttons and gorgeous fabric from my swap, plus some goodies for the kids! I really need to take another pic of this gorgeous shawl, its so lovely to have received one back the same that I knitted :D

Then I played with some more dyes, who needs boring white socks anyway :P Kayla loved her new "shoes" lol. Though she does know them as socks now, she loves them. Wore them all over the yard so I had to then scrub them clean again :) I've just dyed a heap more for us, my SIL and gorgeous nieces and a friends daughter too. I love dyeing socks! I 've also dyed a heap more shirts too but you'll have to head over to the FB page to check those out, if you haven't already.

I've also been experimenting with bleach tie dyeing, and overdying with bright colours, a good result but unfortunately the colours did wash out a little too much (could have been I left it soaking too long too). I'm not sure whether the dyes weren't strong enough or the bleach stopped them reacting with the fabric properly, but its fun and will investigate further and get some more ingredients for a better go next time.

Next up is a shibori experiment, I'm having so much fun exploring the realm of fabric dyeing, I definitely need to dye some more quilters cotton too and make myself another project bag or two. 

anyway, enough for now, Happy Mothers Day to you all! Thanks for listening :)

Some explosions of colour

I've been flat out with some orders and some fabric experimenting. I love the way they turned out and hope I get to dye some more and get sewing soon :)

Dyeing with large pieces of fabric is much more time consuming, depending on technique used. These pics were taken in the shade so are a little darker than how they are, but in direct sunlight they were washed out. I need to find the perfect time and place for photos, the clothesline will do this time however!

This was a test on some cotton drill, several different techniques but using just mulberry, fuschia and violet dye, I did another test on some cheesecloth (not pictured) with more colours and that turned out well. It will become a rainbow skirt for one or both of the girls :)

These are also cotton drill, a custom for Maggie Made Pop over and check out her site, she has some awesome 3 in 1 baby bags that convert to a playmat and sleeping bag for on the go with baby! I can't wait to see the end result! You can also find Maggie Made on Facebook and Made It and get sneak peeks of whats coming :)

A sneaky peek at whats coming

These aren't all for me, in fact maybe only one. I am exhuasted, and there are even more hiding in the wash, the dyeing bucket and on the drying rack lol

Hoping they are something yummy for everyone, I love them, in fact I'd keep nearly all of them! Trying to dye boy colours is proving challenging but I made up some more colours tonight to make it more interesting. Will need to order more dyes next week too, running out of supplies and some colours.

Plenty more white shirts are awaiting me too, all prepped ready for dyeing but I think I'll take a day or two off and just finish off the ones curing and washing now.

Having a fantastic time with it all though. My facebook page Rainbows and Ringlets is at Rainbows and Ringlets drop by sometime! I'll be doing a giveaway soon when I reach 100 fans :)

Creation central

I am really pleased with these items, have been trying a few more techniques and dye combos, some good some need work. But very happy all the same.

Have been thinking of opening a store or similar for some time now, well nearly a year, but wasn't sure what to make or sell. At this stage I'll be selling dyed items, but I'm pretty keen to sew some things too. Will see whats in the wind.

Just a couple of my favs from this last dyeup...I bought some more shirts today so back to dyeing again tomorrow!

A Spring Garden Tee

Finally another knit finished, I have so many things I want to make and so little time to do so!

Love the top its pretty, although the pattern could have been explained a lot better. Thankfully I had others previous questions to look up on Ravelry, and they were exactly what I was wondering, so it wasn't just me lol. I made a size 2 so it will fit her better in spring but I'd rather that than it fit her well now and not in spring :)

March Sewing challenge complete! Meet Baby Bows

This is Baby Bows, she's one of the first softies I saw and just had to make her. She was quite easy too :)

Spotlight running true to form didn't have anything like craft velour, she is actually made of swimwear lining, which works really well! My friend Chris was working so I asked her advice. She suggested the swimwear lining and its awesome stuff. She's made some amazing dolls before, usually funky looking ones (not for kids lol). Its very stretchy and is soft, though doesn't have the plush softness velour does of course. Super stretchy though and wonderful for stuffing.

All in all I'm very impressed with how she came out. She has two faces, one sleepy and the other awake. Her face didn't come out perfect but Kayla didn't care :) She loves her to bits, she won't leave her hat on though, and has given her lots of kisses and cuddles. I'll have to hunt down some more cute clothes for her too.

But I love her, Kayla does too and my March sewing challenge is complete!! Yay!

Baby Bows free tutorial is here

Finally an apron!

My darling daughter has been waiting since christmas but other projects kept getting in the way :) finally she has an apron, which I am hoping will encourage her to help out in the kitchen.

Here's a pic of E and her apron, an unwilling model but quite pleased I made something for her this time!

I was tempted to add some embellishments in shape of a pocket, but maybe next time as I had too many other projects on the go! It is reversible, which she was pleased about, although it "doesn't look like she imagined it would" apparently LOL. But she's happy all the same :)

And the Woollybutts JDRF fundraiser was a roaring success, my Project bags sold for $47.50 (yay!) and a total of $3408.20 was raised, how AWESOME is that!

I have heaps of other things to blog but will leave them until next time!