It's Cast-On Day for Love In Stitches' Sockmas 2022!
I'm probably a few rows into my socks when this goes live, but what a better way to celebrate than showing off the yarn cozies I made to use for this event?
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Quick Recap
I started these cozies back in October. I bought Knitty Natty's Yarn Cozy Bundle from Ravelry, which included knit cozy patterns for 20-, 50-, and 100-gram cakes. The pattern I followed was "Yarn Cozy Lite," which makes the 100g size.
My goal was to make two of these cozies to use in time for Sockmas. If you're confused as to what Sockmas is, it's a 3-week sock-making event hosted by Knitty Natty, a fellow knitter and designer, the face of YouTube channel Knitty Natty, and the organizer of the Love In Stitches membership. I'll link her YouTube here for you to check out.
Sockmas runs from November 25th to December 16th. The goal is to knit or crochet as much as you can of a pair of DK-weight socks in that time (see what yarns and pattern I chose). You don't even have to be part of the membership to participate! The event is open to whomever wants to join, but if prizes are your thing, you have to be a member. I don't care about the prizes; I'm just excited to be making my first socks and doing it with so many others!
In preparation for the cast-on party, I wanted to finish my cozies a week before the event started on November 18th... and I did!
The Reveal
Ta da! Not much to look at, I know. But give 'em some yarn cakes...
...and they come alive! Their purpose shines. I mean, I would come to life, too if I was stuffed with cake on a regular basis like a little Bruce Bogtrotter. Real and not yarn cakes, though. I'd cease to be if I was filled with yarn... too much fiber and all...
But apart from actually knitting these up, the big victory for my yarn cozies was over-dyeing them, and I have some thoughts about that now that I'm on the other side.
The Dye Process
Prepping to Dye
Dyeing these cozies was a learning moment for sure.
I knew I wanted to use my RIT dye, but what I didn't account for was all the other equipment I'd need to make that happen. I was at my parent's for a few days when I wanted to dye these, and my mother and father pulled through for me for dye tools.
My mother gave me her old enamel canning pot*, a wooden spoon that got too close to the burner, plastic measuring cups, and a few metal measuring spoons that she had duplicates of. My dad lent me a funnel to transfer the extra dye bath into a container once it had cooled. Hooray to reusing!
*only use stainless steel or enamel pots and equipment for dyeing. Aluminum is an element used in certain dye mixtures, so it can mess with your dye bath.
**It's VERY important to know that when dyeing, NEVER use equipment that you use for food. Dyeing needs separate pots, spoons, etc. because it is dangerous to ingest. Wear gloves. Wear a mask when using powders. DO NOT inhale the dye pot steam. Keep your food stuff for food and your dye stuff for dye.**
Once I had my equipment called for, I needed to determine the dye bath mix ratio. The RIT dye bottle had instructions, but their measurements were for 2lbs of clothes. I had two multi-ounce-weighing cozies to do. Mathing was needed.
I didn't weigh the cozies beforehand, so I guessed them to be 4 ounces total. From there, I did this lovely math exercise:
2lbs of clothes gets half a bottle dye and 3 gallons of water.
2lbs= 16oz , half RIT bottle= 3.5oz , 3Gal= 384oz
16oz:3.5oz:384oz /2=
8oz:1.75oz:192oz /2=
4oz:.875oz:96oz
What is .875oz in fraction: 7/8
What is 96oz to cups: 12 cups
7/8oz to TBSP=1.75TBSP
4oz : 1 3/4TBSP : 12 cups water
My dye pot needed:
4oz materials : 1 3/4TBSP dye : 12 cups of water
Dyeing The Cozies
With my new mixing measurements on hand, it was time to dye.
I followed the dye bottle instructions for this: filled the pot with its proper amount of water, dumped in the measured dye, let it heat, added a bit of detergent, then threw in the cozies and stirred for 30 minutes like a witch at her cauldron.
The cozies took color pretty fast, but I noticed they were looking bluer than I anticipated. I had a yellow liquid dye in my stash, so I hesitantly added it to the bath by the cap-full for a total of four caps. It made the bath change to the pretty turquoise I was imagining, but I don't think it stuck to the cozies in the end. That's more than likely because the yellow dye was a general purpose one and wasn't made for synthetics like the teal dye. General purpose RIT dye can't fix itself to acrylic like RIT DyeMore can. It made the dye bath pretty, though!
I let this new solution go for about five more minutes before I pulled the cozies to rinse and dry. I'm curious if I had added the yellow dye at the start if it would've affected the color more, but again: general purpose RIT dye can't bind to acrylic, so I don't think it'd change the outcome. I do have the remaining dye bath stored away, so I could test to see...
Final Thoughts
I'm very happy I decided to make and dye these yarn cozies. The new color better suits my likes over the pale pink they started as. They even match my office chair, which was unintentional, but it goes to show how much I like this tint of teal!
The Yarn Cozy Lite pattern makes for a good travel project, too. I worked on this at the doctor's office, in my car before appointments, and at night as a relaxing end to my day. Once you're past the initial increase rounds, the pattern is a simple repeat ribbing for a few inches, so it can be done without much thought.
I greatly enjoy the ease of transportation these cozies give my yarn. They're currently housing my Sockmas skeins as intended, and I can quickly pull them out of my project bag and place them on my desk without fear of unwinding or rolling, which is good for my knitting flow. They pack away just as well and keep my bag nicely contained.
My Sockmas cakes are only 56-grams apiece, so I may've been able to get away with knitting the 50-gram cozy pattern. I wanted to make the bigger version first since I typically knit from bigger skeins, but I may add the smaller size to my list of future projects. They're coming in handy so far!
What about overdyeing? I strongly recommend it. If you have colors in your yarn stash you're not thrilled about, definitely consider RIT DyeMore. I have renewed excitement for my own stash now that I know how well this particular products works for acrylics. And I have a lot of acrylics. You never know what ho-hum yarn in your storage will become a lively little number after a dip in some dye!
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I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving or Thursday. If you're shopping this weekend, stay warm, stay safe, and stay mindful about the people around you, especially cashiers and retail workers!I
(If you need some gift ideas for knitters and crocheters, check out my three-part gift series with Part One here. I share with you some common and some not-so-common presents to give the yarny people in your life)
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