A Sigh When Finished

That happy contented sigh when socks are finished.

Simple and straight forward basic socks. Great easy pattern to follow.  If you're a beginner sock maker like me you will appreciate this pattern by Susan B. Anderson How I Make My Socks
I love making these. I can see why socks are always the go to knit for traveling. 
The simple wool sock. It is a delight to wear, to hold, to give, to make.  
I have my treasured Misti Alpaca out and ready to cast on for my next pair. Can't wait to get started.
Anne

Tea Staining Hang Tags DIY

I was very lucky to come home from an estate sale yesterday with a box full of mailing supplies. Included in this $1.00 score were dozens of brand new hang tags.
I decided to find out how to antique the tags with tea stain.  There are lots of ways to do this I discovered on google.  I like to simplify things.
Here is what I came up with.
Tea Staining 101

• boil 1 cup water. Steep 3 black tea bags about ten mins. More or less steeping and water depending on the color you want.
• Pour the tea into a glass baking dish. Dunk all the labels into the tea. Let them soak in there while you slosh them about a bit.  This lasted about five minutes for me to get the color I wanted.
• Take the labels out and lay them on a table in the sun to dry.

Voila labels drying in the sun on my lanai work table.
To make them more appealing as they dry and time permits I will dab more stain on them directly with the wrung out tea bags.  Dabbing along the edges and here and there to make them a bit more shabby. 
The tags should be dry and ready for decorating by the time we get our late afternoon rain showers. 
They can be decorated with ribbons, stamps, anything your creative mind and supply cache allows.
Enjoy.
Anne