So, after hearing back from Little Dresses for Africa, that’s what I’ve decided to do for Lent. I’m so antsy for Spring, I don’t really relish the idea of knitting wool hats, you know??

I had posted at Facebook that I probably wasn’t going to give up anything for Lent this year - a first for me. (I’m not Catholic. I just observe Lent in my own ways.) Fasting isn’t really an option, what with the nursing newborn and all. I have traditionally given up something bad for me physically and something bad for me spiritually. (doughnuts and gossip, for example.) But, I’m so perfect this year, I have nothing to give up.

what?

are you chuckling?

OK, I just can’t think of anything.

And then one of my awesome Facebook friends suggested using Lent as a season of giving.

I started out by looking at the links posted at Amanda Soule’s Mama to Mama page. I have it narrowed down to either Little Dresses for Africa or The Dulaan Project. I’m not sure if it’s possible to just simply sew dresses and send them off to the Little Dresses people or if they have more requirements than that… I’m waiting to hear back from them.

Anyone local want to join in? Have thoughts on which project you’d like to do?

PS, regarding Lent, or really any traditional observance, “One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike.  Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.  He that regards the day, regards it unto the Lord, and he that regards not the day, to the Lord does he not regard it.  He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks.”  -Romans 14:5,6

Thought I’d share some of my favorite Etsy sellers…

First, Siam2U

You can’t have this awesome skirt because I just bought it. Organic cotton, embroidered, wrap skirt, $19. But you can have other, equally-awesome skirts, fisherman pants, or dresses.

Next, Babus.

I bought one of these felted wool toys for Genna for Christmas. It’s fun and I love the texture. She could care less about it at this point, though. :-)  Free shipping thru February!

Catzinthehouse has nice wooden stuff.

I bought Genna a teether for Christmas from this shop. At that time, they offered mostly children’s products, but I see they’ve branched out now. (CPSIA?)

GirlwithaSword

While it would be inaccurate to say I’ve ever bought anything from her Etsy store, I shop her in-person store a LOT! (Prairieland Herbs) Maggie makes awesome dyed stuff, all using natural dyes largely (or exclusively) from their farm. Way cool.

MiaJean is another local gal.

I have ordered a bag from Mia and can’t wait to get it! I’ve seen them in person, and they’re great!!

So. I’d read a bit about dyeing silk, and how it CAN be done with the dyes I already have - fiber-reactive dyes. But that those dyes may shift or the results might be unexpected. And I guess I didn’t read much about exactly HOW one might dye silk with the fiber-reactive dyes. I just gave it a shot. I bought four silk squares to make playsilks for Wally.

The first one, I did low-water immersion dyeing with red dye. It turned out BEAUTIFUL. I didn’t photograph it and it went missing shortly after it was washed out. (I’ve since found it. Wally was playing with it. yay.)

So, I figured, alright! This is easy! And dyed the other three. The one on the left in the picture is a nice lemon yellow, as it was supposed to be. The middle one was supposed to be purple, but is instead a kind of raspberry with streaks of green, which is alright. The one on the right was supposed to be Kelly Green. mmm hmmm.

I will PROBABLY try that Kelly Green one again, but with a different color.

Clearly, if I were going to make more (which I’m not), I really should get silk dyes.

I also batiked some more hankies. I haven’t gotten into any overly complex designs with the batik. Some day when I don’t have to batik with littles at my feet, maybe! But I’m digging these simple designs for now. I particularly like how the dye turned out on these - I tub dyed them, but I used a very small amount of water - enough to submerge the items, but barely. It made the dye kind of variegated - there are light smudges, and dark smudges, instead of just one solid color.

A few people have asked me to make some of these for sale, instead of just for myself, so here you go! Super fun, Super funky Tie Dye prefolds.

OK, I wish it were spring, so I’m having an I Wish It Were Spring Special at Boulevard Designs - free shipping through the end of the month!

Come check out the many dyed items I have listed right now, as well as tote bags and baby shoes.

Um, this shirt looks like vomit.

So, recently, I’ve made Shibori headscarves.

I love the way they look, and I love Shibori in general. You take the fabric, wrap it around something cylindrical, tie it up, scrunch it down, and dye. You can get different results depending on how tightly you wrap the fabric, how much it overlaps, whether you fold it first and how, etc. I’ve found that even people who generally would say they don’t like tie dye say they like the way Shibori looks. And it’s So Much Fun!!

These here are all destined for Etsy. A few of them have been listed already.

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If anyone reading this has not tried tie dye, you really should. Just get yourself some RIT, even - it’s widely available and cheap. (The results won’t be as good, but if you’re just playing around for fun, who cares??)

Randy’s socks, done!! And, I might knit him socks with bulky weight yarn, but probably not DK weight any more. These took forever. And he’s got really large calves, so I probably should have addressed that with the pattern, but I didn’t. He says they’re really comfortable, though.

Here is the project page on Ravelry. And the pattern is Widdershins at Knitty. I used Paton’s Stretch Socks and size 2 needles.