I've been working on updates for all of my patterns, slowly and as I have time. Some of my patterns simply need a fresh look and design change, but several of them need some major overhaul! I'm starting with the easy ones, to be sure, and today I've got two to share!

First on the update list is the Sandoval Hat pattern. This hat, one of my all-time favorites to use, needed just a few bits of information added and changed. As I've worked with the Sandoval Hat, I've been slowly adding a few more sizes. I've made Sandoval hats for babies, toddlers and children in the last few months, and I thought it was about time I added those sizes to the pattern so everyone can use them as well!


The Halloweenie Beanie was one of the very first patterns I ever wrote. I wanted a simple hat I could donate to the local maternity wards during the fall, but didn't find a knitted pumpkin pattern I particularly liked. I revamped this pattern once in the past, updating the stitch counts, sizes and such, so all she really needed was to be updated to my new pattern design.

In the next few weeks and months I'll be updating all the rest of my patterns, hat patterns first and the rest after that. If you're interested in helping me test knit any of these patterns, please comment to this post with your e-mail address so I can contact you. In most cases the patterns just need one more set of eyes and a few extra hats made (not by me) before I can share them again.

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Over the weekend I took the plunge and dyed some wool yarn in my crock pot -- with Kool Aid! For years knitterly friends have been trying to convince me to do this, but I've always held back. What if I ruined the yarn? What if it turned out horrible? No, I'm far too type-A for that.

Until this weekend. When I needed some yarn in a color I didn't have. And I finally gave in.

For the record, dyeing yarn in a crock pot is by far the easiest thing I've done in several years. You basically put the yarn in, put the Kool Aid in, and let it sit for a few hours. Pat it as dry as you can, then hang it up overnight.

For those looking for pictures and some more information, here you go!

Step 1: Place your skeined up natural or white wool into a crock pot full of water. Let the yarn soak for a few minutes, then turn the crock pot on high. Let the yarn soak this way for 15 minutes.


Step 2: Add the Kool Aid and then let it sit. To add the color, you mix one packet of unsweetened Kool Aid for every ounce of yarn you have. I mixed it in a cup with a small bit of water and then poured it into the crock pot.

Very, very carefully, give the water a spin. You don't want to agitate the wool too much as it's in hot water so it could felt, but you want the color to spread through all the water and touch all parts of the yarn.

Then, you wait. You wait until the yarn has sucked all the color out of the water, and the water looks clear. About an hour in, I spun the yarn a bit to re-distribute it, make sure the yarn that had been on top was now on bottom to get a more even color. Then I waited some more.


Step 3: Dry and skein your yarn! Once the yarn has soaked up all the water from the crock pot, I pulled it out and let it cool off in a colander. I rinsed it a bit, and then blotted it out in a towel. Then I simply hung it to dry overnight and skeined it back up!

While the color isn't super even, I'm in love with my first attempt at dyeing yarn and can't wait to do it again! Oh, and I'll be sure to share the hat I make with this yarn!

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May's knit-along (KAL) brings us to a unique group, The Amazing Flying Squirrel Karma Team. This Ravelry group makes it their mission to spread loving-kindness to others using knitting and crochet, and has joined together to send hats to a lovely lady in Arizona who has gone through a number of brain surgeries due to her having Chiari Malformation (link provides more info than I ever could!).

I was contacted by a fellow Raveler about this group, asking if I could help send over hats. Keesha (the woman in the photos) collects hats for the other people at the clinic where she receives her treatment, and has a goal to have a free hat for everyone who enters.

I was touched -- that someone would think to ask me if I would send a few hats, and again at my ability to spread the word here, hoping some of you may send hats as well!

Hats can be made in any size, either knitted or crocheted, and can be made using any fiber type (please mark them so Keesha can be aware for allergies). While I may think a wool hat would go unloved in the Arizona heat, people's bodies adapt to their environments, and when you have no hair after surgery you need all the warmth you can get ... this to say send wool hats if that's what you love working with!

To send hats, contact Keesha directly via her blog Chiari Malformation, or send her an e-mail at "daswunderkind@cox.net".

I hope to send a dozen or so hats by the end of the month, and will share my knitting progress here on the blog (of course!). This month I'll be knitting from my Simple Slouch Hat and Rain Down Hat patterns for the most part, so grab a free copy of either if you'd like to use them as well!

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I'm opening the shop for the month of May, to help raise money for the Eli Haley fund.

Eli was diagnosed with a rare form of Retinoblastoma in his right eye on December 10th 2012. His tumor formed behind his retina, and grew forward and back- detaching the retina causing blindness and then leaving the eye through the optic nerve. His eye was removed on December 12th, just two days later. He has undergone several months of chemotherapy and now radiation to stop the tumor from growing at the end of the cut of his optic nerve and from spreading through his body through the nerve and central nervous system.

As you can imagine, this sort of treatment is expensive, health insurance or not.

Eli's mom went to high school with Zach, swimming together for several years. So when we heard about Eli, we jumped to action, joining thousands of folks at a pancake feed to raise money and donating to the raffle prizes to help raise even more. But I knew I wanted to do more, so when Casey shared a few hat patterns she loved and wanted to learn to knit from, I did some fast work.

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