Francy & Robin, please make sure you either knit LOOSELY or maybe use bigger needles to knit with the Cascade Fixation yarn. If you knit tightly with it, the socks will be too tight to wear. Ask me how I know!!!!! Had I made the socks looser, I think I would have liked them, as I did wear them a couple of times. But they were almost too tight, so I quit wearing them as my feet swell. I, personally, don't care to work with that yarn again. It might not be so bad now, as I have learned to knit a bit looser that I did when I made that pair using the Cascade Fixation. You have to remember the elastic in the yarn won't stretch anymore than it already has if you knit tightly. If the yarn is relaxed in the stitches, then the elastic will still stretch. Am I making sense? It's 10:30pm and I'm tired! Tami

The website sandra referenced also mentions kool-aid dyeing, and a third option (very appropriate this time of year) could be Easter Egg dye tablets! Snap them up at 1/2 price the day after for some cheap fun. Google can lead you to lots of yarn dyeing tutorials, even Kool-Aid color charts. Sorry, not enough time to reference my favorites right now, . . . because. . . I want to tell you about yesterday's thrift store finds. I was fortunate to hit a Salvation Army shop that is clearing out their winterweight sweaters for 99 cents! It's spring! Maybe some of your shops will do similarly. I found six: Old Navy, 70% cotton/30% lambswool, worsted weight, LIGHT BLUE with a KETTLE-DYED appearance Valerie Stevens ?, 100% LAMBSWOOL, sportweight, MARLED LIGHT BROWN, tan, & burgundy. Kind of blah, so maybe I'll over-dye it Outback Red, 100% wool, fingering, NAVY and med. blue TWEED WITH teeny ORANGE NUBS, and Very NEAT BUTTONS Weathervane, 100% wool, heavy worsted CREAM. This one will be dyed for sure. Open Country?, 100% Shetland wool, sport, OLIVE HEATHER, WITH a deep red, rust, yellow, and brown FAIR ISLE BAND. Yes, I'll save the contrast color bits, and store them with the olive, because one row across the front or back of a man's sweater is about equal to a row on a hat, and the color planning is already done for me. French Connection ?, 55% SILK, 30% acrylic, 15% ANGORA, Very Fine weight, multishaded grey. Don't know how successful an unravel this one will be, but I LOVE the 5 steel grey mother of pearl BUTTONS! Do I know now what any of them will become? No, and so I warn you again, this can be habit-forming.

Socks, I'm sorry to hear about your injury. How did it happen? I hope you're not in too much pain. But more knit/crochet time can't be all bad, can it? I never get sick, but I've often said I wouldn't mind being just sick enough that I had to stay home from work with the ulterior motive being that I could spend my time knitting and crocheting. I'm glad your family is helping out. Try not to stress too much about everything. I just finished the knit round ripple and am rather pleased with myself. Crochet is a walk in the park for me. Any large knitted item is much more of a challenge for me. And it was knit on circular needles and the whole time I kept thinking, "It's not gonna be big enough", because I couldn't stretch it out to look at it. But once I bound off all the stitches and blocked it, I see it's just right. Finished the bonnet last night and hope to start the booties tonight. DH took a picture of the blankie for me, but hasn't posted it to my site yet. You bet I want to show it to you. I also started another crocheted round ripple in the colors of Mary Maxim's Peaceful Pastels. I just happened to have all of the colors in the exact yarn it called for in my stash - except the peach, which of course, is the third color, so I'm at a standstill. Lots of places around here carry Bernat Baby Coordinates, but nobody carries the peach. So I had to order it from Joann's. And how could I order just the peach? I mean, you know, I had to order at least $30 worth to get my free shipping, so I ordered some more yarn. Call it my Christmas present to me! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Yea !! I found my Annies Attic Mile a minute instructions I'm tired of making hats and misc granny squares for later use. I can get busy on one of these