Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

We used these instructions from Apartment Therapy to dye eggs naturally! And the results were pretty great for a first try!

Step 1: Hard boil eggs and set aside to cool.

Step 2: Roughly chop up purple cabbage and place in a large pot with enough water to cover the cabbage and to completely cover the number of eggs you plan to dye. Bring to a boil and cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Set outside to cool to room temperature.

Step 3: When the pot and contents have cooled, strain contents into a flat bottomed pot or jar large enough to submerge the eggs in.  Add about 1/2 cup vinegar (all we had was Apple Cider Vinegar) and stir to combine.

Step 4: Place the eggs in the mixture and place in refrigerator.  We let ours sit overnight.

A couple observations to consider for next time...
- The un-dyed spots you see on the eggs were the sides siting on the bottom of the pan.
- I picked the eggs up out of the dye matter with tongs and it appears to have scraped the dye off!  So next time I'll be more gentle!
- Apartment Therapy suggests rubbing the outsides with a bit of olive oil and I bet that would be a good idea too!

2009's Knitted Christmas Gifts

Green and Yellow Hat and Scarf Set.

Made for the lovely Jenny of Creative Cooking: Gluten Free and Mia Cara Photography

The scarf is a double rib and I can't remember how many stitches I casted on but it was a lot!  The hat is pretty basic with a double rib at the bottom, I believe I casted on 70 stitches in a round. I used Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton Yarn.  My absolute favorite yarn out there.

Black Hat With Ear Flaps.

Made for my younger step sister, Casey.

I believe I did 70 stitches in a round for this hat as well.  I started with seed stitch at the bottom and then just knitted the top. I adapted of the Stitch'n'Bitch pattern for the ear flaps   to make them longer at the top and use a knit stitch on the last two stitches on each side to keep a cleaner line.  Then I i-corded down 12 inches and attached little pom poms. This hat was also made from Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton.

Black Hat With Ear Flaps and Multi Colored Pom Poms.

Made for my future cousin-in-law, Monica

This was 70 stitches in a round and I alternated knitting and purling each row to get the look of the base of the hat and the ear flaps. The top is just knitted. I again, made the ear flaps longer than the Stitch'n'Bitch pattern and either knited or purled the two last stitches one each side depending on which alternating row I was on.  The black yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton and the multi colored yarn is Araucania Patagonia Nature Cotton (my other favorite yarn).