Silky Sack Almost Done

I worked some more on the Silky Sack, and I've almost finished knitting it. I put the bag part on a holder to make sure I have enough yarn to knit the strap. You know, i-cord really isn't fun to knit. It seems to take much longer to do those stitches than just regular knit stitches. And making an i-cord a million miles long so that it felts to the right size isn't all that exciting. I know it makes more sense to have knit the strap before the bag to be sure to have enough yarn, but I'm really not so sure how far this yarn will go (since I didn't knit a sample). So, since I figured I could always make some beady strap after the fact, if need be, I just dove into the bag part. Now that it's reached a decent enough size, I'm dealing with the strap. May seem a bit backwards, I guess, but it's working so far.

In other knitting news, I have forgotten to mention two of my little experiments over the holidays. One was my first pair of socks (though I've knit some slippers before, so I understood the concept). And, all without a pattern. They were little, since they were for my 14-month-old. So, they knit up pretty fast. I was surprised how well they turned out for a first try. My only gripe is that I did them with a yarn with no stretch to it, so they don't stick to his foot very well. We all know that a toddler in motion needs his socks velcroed to his feet if possible. I could always remedy this with some elastic thread around the ankle. I just need to find a good source of this kind of elastic around here. I still haven't found one.

The second experiment was really fun. I had great results. I have a few balls of natural wool (undyed). So, I chopped off enough to make a couple of little skeins. I loosely tied them up, then put them in a bath of food-coloring, water, salt and vinegar. I've seen all the "kool" (so pathetic) results people get from Kool Aid dyeing, but you try to find Kool Aid in France! No Jell-O either, which I've heard also works. But, what you can get in the cake decoration section of most supermarkets is food coloring (only yellow, red and green, but it's a start). So, I threw some of that in. Worked like a charm!

In case anyone is interested, and can't get Kool Aid (or maybe food coloring is cheaper??), here's my procedure:

Pour water in pot large enough to cover wool with water (as if you were cooking rice - no need to skimp on water).
Mix desired quantity of food coloring (I used about a teaspoonful of green and a couple drops of yellow to six to eight cups of water and got bright limey green) into water.
Add a teaspoonful each of salt and vinegar (salt helps the dye penetrate the wool, while the vinegar helps with colorfastness).
Bring to boil.
Turn down so that it is just simmering.
Place wool skeins in water and simmer for 35-45 minutes.
Remove from heat and let sit at least over night (I just covered mine and let sit for several days, since we were going away).
Remove wool from water and gently wash with wool washing soap and cool water.
You may remove excess moisture by gently squeezing wool from top of skein to bottom then rolling in a dry towel.
Hang to dry (in the shower or on a line outside, whatever your preference).

And, voila! It was really easy. I'll post photos of the finished product when I get a chance.