2014 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 4 to 6

Aloha! Here are the colors posted on the shoppe for 2014, Weeks 4 through 6.

These first four colorways are brand new (7 new colorways for 2014 so far)!

WEST MAUI SUNSET was inspired by a photo I took while traveling from Kihei to Ka’anapali for dinner. As always the sunsets in Hawaii are unbelievably magical and this evening’s sunset was no exception. I created West Maui Sunset in merino/silk lace yarn, merino/cashmere/nylon fingering sock blank and merino/tencel roving.

SUNSET IN THE DESERT was inspired by a photo my lovely cousin Laura took during at the Desert Botanical Gardens Luminaries Show in Phoenix, Arizona. I loved the dramatic colors so much that I knew I’d have to re-create them in yarn/wool. These are sparkle lace yarn and merino/bamboo/silk roving.

MACARON is a fun colorway inspired by a trip to the mall. While on an outing with my brother and young nephew, we came across a macaron stand at the local mall. I loved all the colors and snapped photos while my brother ordered a few of them to take home. These pieces are merino/cashmere/nylon fingering yarn, cotton roving and corriedale cross roving.

PUNKIN’ PINK is another from my ‘Overlay’ series where I layer one color on top of a base color. I wanted to try some ‘bright’ pinks and oranges and really like how this superwash merino fingering yarn skein came out.

A couple ‘oldies but goodies’ including SEA DRAGONS inspired by these odd-looking creatures residing at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. These pieces are mixed BFL roving and alpaca/silk lace yarn.

I also dyed up some silk/rayon scarves in PLUM & PEACH.

Some of the custom order socks I completed so far in 2014 . . .

And lastly, I completed my January goal of spinning at least 2 skeins of yarn. The first one, WIND DANCER, was dyed by AnnaMarie of CorgiHillFarm on Etsy and I spun the wool late last year, but finished it this January. Wind Dancer is beautiful Rambouillet wool that I plied with silk thread for a total of 1,032 yards of lace/fingering weight yarn.

The first time I visited Venice, Italy I arrived just after the famous CARNEVALE Festival concluded, however there were still remnants of the celebration all over the city. This wonderful BFL wool was dyed by Carolyn of Greenwood Fiberworks on Etsy, and reminded me of those wonderful costumes residents wore. I spun this into 2-ply lace/fingering yarn and added over 700 dark beads.

Enjoy!

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2014 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 1 to 3

Aloha! Here are the colors posted on the shoppe for 2014, Weeks 1 through 3.

One of my goals this year is to create 15-20 new colorways and so far I’ve posted 3 on the shoppe. This first one is new.

INSIDE PASSAGE was inspired by a photo I took while cruising Alaska’s Inside Passage a few years ago. It was the last cruise out for the season so I expected it to be rather overcast and cold, but some days were so bright and sunny that I actually came home with a slight tan! I snapped this photo while outside on the balcony and revisited it this month to create the colors in yarn and wool. The wool is alpaca/merino/silk and sparkle lace weight yarn.

STAINED GLASS ALTAR is a colorway from last year and I dyed up these two pieces for myself actually. I have come to realize that I won’t be able to use them for a while as I’ve got custom orders to complete for the next month or so, so I thought perhaps someone else can enjoy them. The yarn is sparkle fingering weight, while the roving is cultivated silk. Yup, pure silk.  I snapped this photo while touring the famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France.

The photo was an inspiration for another colorway, however at closer inspection I decided to extract a different set of colors for a new colorway.  This one showcases the land as well as the sea in LANIKAI VIEW PART 2 and the photo was taken from atop the Lanikai Pillbox Hike on the beautiful island of Oahu. This is alpaca lace yarn and super wash merino/merino/silk roving.

The next colorway is a new one, but only by accident (let’s count it anyway). I had attempted to re-create one of my sunset photos in cotton yarn and bamboo but the dyes ‘broke’ on me and turned into a bunch of different colors! I was really disappointed at first and thought I had ruined the pieces, but after re-skeining the yarn I found it really came out nicely. I don’t have am inspirational photo for BROKEN SUNSET, but this is mercerized cotton lace yarn and bamboo roving.

BLOOD ORANGES is always a fun colorway and reminds me of the first time I had a blood orange – in wonderful Roma, Italia – from the famous Campo di Fiori market. I don’t see them too often here in Los Angeles, so instead I just re-create the colors in yarn. This is also mercerized cotton lace yarn and bamboo roving.

Another goal for 2014 is to spin more yarn. I have a wonderful spinning wheel that has been neglected so I’m carving out more time to spend with her. Here is the first completely handspun  yarn from 2014 (I will later post another handspun that was started in 2013 and finished in 2014). I dyed this Polwarth wool in my SUNSET OVER TITLUS colorway and plied it with silk thread. It is 184 yards of worsted weight yarn. Mount Titlus is located in Engelberg, Switzerland and I took this photo 10,000 feet up. At sunset. In -9 degree weather. It was awesome.

More to come! Enjoy!

2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 10-11

Aloha! Here are the colors and inspirational images for weeks 10-11.

A new colorway! PEGGY’S COVE in alpaca lace yarn and Mixed BFL/Silk roving:

Inspired by the photo I took while visiting Peggy’s Cove @ Halifax, Nova Scotia:

DARK UNIVERSE in merino/silk lace yarn and black alpaca/silk roving:

Cloudy2-Inspired FLAMANGOES in superwash merino worsted weight yarn:

FIESTA handspun and Navajo-plied merino/bamboo/silk DK weight yarn:

I wanted to try supported spindling again and took out my pear tahkli spindle and tried spinning a small amount of pink merino/silk wool. It was great fun to use a small wooden bowl for the base. I know you’re supposed to use a ceramic bowl so I’ll try that next. Here’s a work in progress photo:

And the final 2-ply yarn. I think it’s somewhere between lace and fingering weight:

Of course now I want a Russian supported spindle! (Will the wanting ever end?? LOL!)

enjoy!

2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 8-9

Aloha! Here are the colors and inspirational images for weeks 8-9.

Here’s another colorway inspired by our movie, Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 2. This is WATERMELOPHANTS (yup, cross between a watermelon and elephant) in 64 ct merino wool and sw merino fingering yarn:

Our trailer came out this week and we are pretty excited it about! Check it out:

Our team did a little fun spoof animation that features our cast and food creatures. My favorite is Sam (in the back with the glasses):

Another new colorway: OWL BUTTERFLY in merino/silk fingering yarn and Mixed BFL wool:

And the inspirational photo I took at a butterfly farm on St. Maarten. Our guide told us that the butterfly’s ‘owl-eye’ pattern on his wing was to keep predators at bay. Fascinating!

DANDELION Batt in merino, wool and banana fibers:

Purple/blue ounce of Targhee roving (I sooo want to spin this up myself, but am trying to be patience and spin up my black alpaca first) . . .

Here are a couple more skeins of SUNSET IN GALLIPOLIS. This first one is a variation in alpaca lace yarn:

In merino/silk/stellina (sparkle) lace yarn:

and a vibrant version in sw merino lace yarn:

I also posted a pretty dark pink ballet/pointe shoe bag:

I thought I’d also share a few projects I’ve been working on. First, is some spinning I completed! I spun about 2.4 ounces of beautiful black alpaca into 268 yards of a 2-ply lace weight skein. I want to make a lace scarf so I need about 2-3 more skeins before I can start knitting.

One final photo. . . I finally completed my first lace project, a scarf using KnitPick’s Shadow Tonal merino lace yarn. For me, it was a challenging pattern just because I’m not used to doing lace work and took me over a year to complete it. It is being gifted to a family member who likes to get my ‘first’ projects (mistakes and all), and hope she likes it.

enjoy!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 33-34

Aloha All! Here are my yarns/fibers from weeks 33-34!

This is AHI POKE in superwash merino wool lace weight. The Fiber Fairy (she-who-will-not-be-named) secretly gifted this skein to another fiber enthusiast. How cool is that?

WINDWARD WATERS is a merino/cashmere/nylon blend fingering yarn that reminds me of the waters off Hawaii.(yes, i know, what doesn’t remind me of Hawaii . . . )

AQUA OVERLAY is also a mer/cash/nylon blend. This was dyed with a beautiful bright aqua, then overlayed with black. I love how the aqua bits poke through here and there.

BEACH UMBRELLA is named for all those colorful umbrellas you see on any given day at Waikiki Beach. A lot of the hotels will rent out these large umbrellas to offer a bit of shade to sun worshipers.

A couple versions of RAINY DAY EIFFEL in Falkland British Merino/Tencel lace and a “Sparkle” fingering weight.

More LAVENDER LEMONADE in mer/silk lace and mer/bamboo fingering weight.

And some wool!

This is FALL HARVEST, a South American wool top.

Oh, sigh and WAIMEA CANYON in merino/tencel. Swoon. . .

WAIMANALO STORM in targhee!

PEACH COBBLER in BFL/Silk:

STREETS OF VERSAILLES in merino/silk:

and the inspirational photo taken on a street in Versailles, France

a quick note on this photo, this was taken Thanksgiving Day 2009. we were trying to find a place for lunch and i knew exactly where i wanted to go. since i allow myself only ONE Big Mac sandwich per year, i always wait until i’m someplace special to have it. i made my family have Thanksgiving lunch at the McDonald’s in Versailles and it was the BEST Big Mac i’ve ever had! when i see this photo i actually don’t think of King Louis XIV’s grand palace, but of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. . .

SUNSET OVER TITLUS in superwash merino:

and the inspirational photo taken atop Mount Titlus, Engleberg, Switzerland @ 10,000 feet up

SURF ‘N’ TURF in BLF/Alpaca:

and THANKSGIVING, in merino/bamboo:

Also, a couple weeks ago, I found a great site with instructions on how to blend fibers using hand carders so I thought I’d give it a go. I took about 1/2 ounce of merino/silk fiber dyed up in my Ka’anapali colorway and blended them in about 2 passes through the hand carders. I did pull the roving out just as in the website and it worked. Here’s a quick photo of the pulled roving ‘nest’ on top of the original non-blended wool. Fun!

enjoy!