I have never really been into dying yarn before. For my last swap I bought my swapee some Kool aid sachets from wired for fibre, so I got a couple for myself just to give it a go.

Now it astounds me that people drink this stuff. If it is toxic enough to dye then it can’t be good for you.

Anyway – the three flavours I got were tropical punch, mango and black cherry. The wool I used was spotlight basics 100% wool in cream.



I used wired for fibres Kool Aid 101 tutorial which was just fine.

First I wound the balls into a hank using my niddy noddy.



Then I soaked the two hanks in cold water for about an hour.
I put the sachets into old soft drink bottles and put about 1 cup of water in each.
The first ball (in my lasagna dish) was quite wet still when I poured the dyes on it, so the colours blurred a lot.



The second ball (in my pie plate) I wrung out so it was just damp. This tended to hold the colours a lot better; not so runny.



I used my food dishes because you cover them with plastic wrap and microwave them.
And to my surprise once they were cooked the dye was set. The water around the wool was clear. After letting them cool, I rinsed them off and hung them out to dry.



Then wound them into balls.

The one that was wetter is a lot more subdued where the colours ran together. The other one has quite distinct areas of each colour.

So now what do I do with them.

I guess they will just sit and wait for something to inspire me.

I really should do a knitted and crocheted swatch of each just to see how they look.

But now that I have had a go at dying I don’t think I will do it again. It was fun …. but not for me.

I have just joined an Aussie swap on ravelry that involves making a project bag. I promised that I would dig up some suitable tutorials and links.

U-handbag (UK) is a great resource for making bags and it has a great post on bagmaking for newbies.

Nicole Mallalieu is an Australian designer that focuses on hand made bags. Her site has lots of great patterns and supplies and her blog is full of tips, techniques and tutorials. Another good Aussie selling hand bag supplies is tall poppy craft.

Here are 5 of my favourite free patterns that I think would be suitable.

From all people quilt the grab bag pattern (pdf file)

I have made a few of these and they fit a one skein or sock project very comfortably.

Patchyapple has an excellent free tutorial for a boxy bag. It think these fit a small or sock project perfectly.

Martha Stewart has a tote bag using bias binding to hold it all together.

This is the one I made from that pattern. It is good because it can easily fit a magazine or pattern sheets in the side pockets. It is a little tricky to get a hang of using the bias binding though.

This pyramid purse is a free pattern at Living Creatively. It is quite small but I think it could be sized up to make a decent sock project bag. This is very similar to the ever popular sunny-boy project bag.

For a good tutorial for a standard lined tote bag not so fancy nancy has a tutorial for a beach/market bag.

This could easily be made to any size and it has great step by step photos.  The steps to make this bag are fairly simple and is an excellent starting point to make any type of tote – eg add pockets or shorten the handle, or make two handles.

And if you want a tutorial to make absolutely anything go to oneprettything.com. She has a list of tutorials of things to make for crafters and it includes pin cushions, needle rolls, sewing machine covers, post office bags (great for an etsy seller), covered tape measures and cloth labels. Well worth a look.

I hope this helps.

I have been so distracted getting all of my sewing done that I haven’t had time to think, or blog or read anyone elses blog. I have so much to catch up on.  Everyone else is busy too!!

Here are a few things from my pile ….

Some placemats, napkins and coasters and napkins from assorted tutorials from the sew mama sew handmade holidays list. Thanks go to Sheridan for the great idea.   They will make a perfect present for some non blog readers.

This is a matching food cover for their outdoor table.  I used some cream bridal tulle and made a wide binding.  The perfect thing for an outdoor Aussie summer Christmas.

I also made my little girl a robot. Late one night it hit me that all of her friends and cousins would be getting one. It would break her heart if she figured out she was the only one without one.

It is very pink.  I have really been making an effort to collect some pink fabric.  It might not be my favourite colour, but it is hers.

I have spent almost every spare moment I had this weekend making and finishing Christmas presents.

I can’t go into too many details but I managed to complete at least 5 gifts,  make a few gift bags and also a zippered pouch.  The pouch is from this tutorial and is for my handbag to carry the necessities.

I made a couple of these and decided I needed one too (to match my pouch). Being as clever as I am, I didn’t look at the pattern for mine. I knew how to do it; I had just made x number of them. Needless to say, it didn’t turn out quite like the others. I forgot to divide the pocket for pens and attach a ribbon as a closure. C’est la vie.

It is a good pattern and I did make some adjustments.  I quilted the exterior and because of my lack of timtex I replaced it with cardboard from our favourite breakfast cereal box.  I have also made the competitor and definitely prefer one over the other, but that might be a post for another time.

We also put up our christmas tree this weekend and as you can see our little boy was no help at all.  The little girl did try, but she only liked the blue and silver balls and they all had to go on only two branches!

Since I drafted the last post I have been thinking about the handmade pledge that I made.

The pledge was to buy handmade for this holidays. I don’t think that I am actually going to BUY many handmade things at all. Maybe one or two special gifts are from etsy, but the rest is home made. I have made every thing myself.

Do you think that still counts?

Sew Mama sew has the right idea with handmade holidays. Maybe I should have taken that pledge instead.

She has a fantastic list of tutorials now. Everyday is some new theme with three or four ideas on each. I would be surprised if anyone didn’t know about these yet, but I thought I would mention it just in case. (Go have a look here Kerrie)

These are on my to do list for our house (not gifts) AND I am going to make myself one of these lunchbags too. Pretty cute hey.