Spring time urges

Every year when Spring comes around, I get the urge to sew, and to dye. The urge to do some spring cleaning is there too, but very weak. I turned over the basket where I keep my sewing threads, they were all tangled, and I had to wind all of them, so I arranged them by color. I even found a 1 Schilling coin, which was the currency in Austria, before the Euro. I gave the coin to my son, who's very sentimental about things like that.


So, out came the sewing machine and since I like all kinds of bags, I was looking for a project bag pattern. I found one too! It's called the Two Kates project bag, and I could not stop at one!



It was so much fun sewing them. The only regret I had was, that I used fabric from my very old stash (some are a little newer), still left over from my patchwork and quilting days. I still have lots of left over. They all have a different fabric on the inside, but they are not really reversable, but very roomy. I like them, because they are not drawstring bags, although I like those too.



If you are shaking your heads, thinking, "What's she going to do with all those project bags?", I'm telling you. I'm going to give them away as gift bags. No contest though, I'm going to decide as the mood strikes me. Coincidentally, April is the anniversary of my blogging life. I've started blogging three years ago! I would have stopped several times during that time, would it not have been for YOU, my readers, and especially those, who leave comments on a regular basis. Thank you all very much!


(for some reason this yarn was VERY hard to photograph, it was not the colores, but my camera wouldn't focus right)

This weekend I grabbed the dye pot again, and decided to give the yarn cake dyeing technique another try. I DO really like the results I'm getting. It's just a time consuming thing to do, and I think I'm done now for a while. Here you see what I call "Mountain Lake" and "Key Lime" sock yarn. I've already cast on for socks with one colorway. It took me a long time to find a stitch pattern for it. I hope it works out like I want it too.


(our front yard has no color so far, the tulips are just peeking out, and you can see the "bloody toes socks" in progress, as I call them)

The other colorway will be Bea's socks again. I like the pattern that much. :o) It's going to be available for free in German and in English as well, as soon as the test knitting is done. Bea, correct me if I'm wrong! You can find instructions on this dyeing technique in Bea's blog post.
Now, I better get back to work, so I'll get to the fun part sooner.