Feeling that need to make things

I had a particularly hard week last week, made worse by a particularly terrible first session with a new counselor, who instead of helping me with my anxiety increased it by tenfold. I was relieved when the weekend came (but you know, also anxious because of how quickly time is passing by). Instead of falling into a stress-induced rut, I decided to get crafty.

So I made a big KnitPicks order (because that’s what I do when I’m feeling down- I eat and spend money), which includes two skeins of bare yarn for hand-dyeing! I was really inspired to attempt dyeing yarn after watching an episode of the podcast Knitting with Dolls. I did some more research and found these tutorials quite useful (KnitPicks, Chalklegs, Instructables).

Naturally, I decided I couldn’t wait for my order to arrive, so I went to Michaels and bought a skein of Patons worsted wool yarn and 4 bottles of food coloring (blue, pink, yellow, and red). I literally had no plan when I decided to attempt dyeing the yarn. Here is the result:

I was just like, ALRIGHT LET’S DO THIS. (/insert World of Warcraft reference here).

I dyed a skein that reminds me of when I tie-dyed shirts as a kid. XD This wasn’t quite what I was going for, but I at least divided the skein into two hanks, so I can practice dyeing again before attempting it on the nicer skeins I purchased from KnitPicks. I need to figure out how to mix the four colors I have to make more colors, that are less neon. I’m not sure what to make with this…

I also made some more shrinky dinks (my sister asked for Neko Atsume ones) and some dish clothes (for my mom).

I really enjoyed making the dish cloths, and followed this pattern in order to achieve that waffle look. They’re a bit sloppy, but I made them with scrap yarn, and they’re not meant to last forever.

One more thing I want to mention – :3 I received the swap package I mentioned from my dolly friend. I was anticipating its arrival because I like to stalk my packages on the USPS website. I was ecstatic when I saw the contents of the package.

My friend and I did a swap – crocheted and knitted things for sewn things. I’m blown away by how well-made the shirts and the dress are, with all the tiny details (tinnnyyy buttons), and the adorable fabrics. She also made the kanzashi style hair clip. I don’t have enough shirts in my doll wardrobe, nor long dresses, so these are welcome additions. The package really brightened up my day. ^^ I put the two shirts on my girls, and haven’t decided who to put in the red dress (I’m torn between Finley and Rory).

Reese is wearing the pink shirt and hairclip from the swap, a tutu from MINIJIJO, white tights, and pink shoes from QMagicDoll.

Elowyn is wearing a beret I knitted, the green shirt from the swap, jeans, and stock shoes.

I hope everyone has an awesome (rest of) Sunday, and Monday flies by painlessly.