2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 23 -26

Aloha all and Happy 1st Day of Tour de Fleece!

This is my 2nd year participating in TdF, so I’ll be spinning wool for the next 21 days (resting on the same days as the cyclists) and seeing how much wool I can make into yarn.

Here’s a photo of my wheel and the wool I’m hoping to get through this year.

In total, it is just over a pound of wool to spin, and this is what I’ve done so far today:

More spinning to come! Here are the colors for weeks 23 – 26.

AVOCADO CHEESECAKE 2 in merino/silk roving and merino/bamboo lace yarn (new to the shoppe!)

COFFEE BEAN & TEA LEAF in mixed BFL roving and merino/cashmere/nylon fingering yarn

HYDRANGEAS in Sweet Grass Targhee roving and sparkle lace yarn

A new colorway, COOL JEWEL PLAID, was the outcome of me experimenting with kettle dyeing again. I dyed these skeins with ‘layering’ in mind, so started with one color in the dyebath, waited until that color was exhausted, then added the next color. This colorway is made with a blue base and green overlay in sparkle lace yarn and sw merino heavy fingering weight yarn.

Here are a few other kettle dyed colorways.

HAWAIIAN RED DIRT in Falkland British merino fingering yarn and sw merino lace yarn.

A new colorway, ICY BLUE, in sw light fingering weight (new to the shoppe, at 750 yds per skein!) and sw heavy fingering weight yarn.

And another new colorway, STRAWBERRIES WILD in sw BFL/nylon fingering yarn and merino/silk lace yarn.

MISTY GRAPE is another experimental colorway in corriedale cross roving.

I also made up some ‘mini’ batts.

MINI BATT Brown/Blue has a base of CVM Romeldale wool (washed and combed by me), with merino wool and banana fibers.

This MINI BATT is made from hand-dyed merino in blue, green and red/brown.

Lastly, here are a couple more ballet/pointe shoe bags in magenta and aqua-multi.

Happy Summer everyone!

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2012 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 25 & 26

Aloha everyone and Happy Summer!

Here are the colors for weeks 25 and 26. This time we start off in New Zealand for some oldies but goodies.

QUEEN’S WHARF at NIGHT in superwash merino/nylon fingering yarn and merino/silk roving:

On another part of Wellington comes the inspiration for LOVE SHACK in sw merino lace yarn, merino/bamboo roving and merino/nylon/stellina fingering yarn:

Traveling across the Pacific, we make a quick stop in Hawaii to watch a HONU CROSSING. This was inspired by an image that a fellow spinner posted on Ravelry.com and she thought it would be a fun colorway for me to recreate in wool.

This is her version in merino/bamboo:

And a couple more I couldn’t resist dyeing up in polwarth roving and merino/tencel fingering yarn:

And lastly we head farther east and south to beautiful Asheville, NC for another oldie, MORNING AT BILTMORE INN in sw merino/cashmere/nylon fingering yarn and BFL/silk roving:

enjoy!

2012 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 1 & 2

Aloha! Of course, I’m already late in posting the colors for the 1st two weeks of the year – LOL! BUT, I did manage to dye up 20 pieces this past weekend so there will be more to see in the next few weeks.

I’ve decided to try to dye up 1 yarn skein and 1 roving for each colorway since there are so many colorways that I do only one or the other, so let’s see how I do.

This is DIAMOND HEAD SUNSET in merino/cashmere/nylon yarn

and merino/bamboo/nylon roving:

and the inspirational photo taken at a beach park in Diamond Head

DA KINE in superwash merino/nylon yarn

I also did a small sample of Da Kine in merino/tencel roving which I have to post, so I’ll add that later.

WAIMANALO FLOWERS in superwash merino yarn

and merino/tencel roving

And a few new pair of socks – 2 of which that were knitted on Oahu.

TORCELLO BRIDGE SOCKS in brown, knitted on Oahu

(sorry mannequin feet are a little shorter than the socks):

COLUMNS SOCKS in brown:

and lastly, TRIPLE CABLE SOCKS in red/pink, knitted on Oahu:

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!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 29 – 30

Oh, again a bit behind in posting, so here are the colors for Weeks 29-30!

Roving, roving, roving – keeps those spindles turning . . .

COLLEGE DORM is 64 ct Merino roving in the colors of my college dorm linens. Mom took me shopping for my freshman year and I ended up picking out a bed set that was probably more ‘boy’ colors with grays, teals, purples and black, but I loved it! (My purple towels did have girly embroidery on it, so I made up for it with the bath supplies). If I remember correctly, that bed comforter was later passed down to my little brother who . . . hmm . . . may still have it?

VINTAGE CHRISTMAS is a South American Wool top that’s great for beginning spinners. As I get older, I gain a better appreciate to all things vintage and I just love seeing the Christmas decorations from an era gone by where the colors are more muted but still reflect the magic of the holiday season.

LANIKAI HIKE is inspired by a photo I took last spring during the famous Lanikai Pillbox Hike. I love how the aqua complements the brown in this merino/tencel roving – just like water and earth . . .

BUTTERFLY DUO 2 is a variation of the original colorway which didn’t have any green in it. This is Peruvian wool and is also great for beginning spinners.

Last of the rovings is BLOOD ORANGES, a wonderful merino/bamboo blend. I had never even heard of BLOOD ORANGES until I took a trip to Italy more than a decade ago. At a farmers market near the Campo dei Fiori in Rome, I purchased a few oranges to try them out and was hooked with the first sweet bite of the ruby red orange. I made sure to buy more and snacked on them all trip long.

The wife of one of my colleagues is also a yarn fanatic so I have to smile when he is talking about things like pages in a script and says comments like “Well, we’ve got enough yarn in these pages, we just have to see if there is enough to make a sweater”. Now, how cool is that??? Perhaps I can bring my UFO (unfinished object) sweater project into one of our meetings . . .  But I digress, now back to yarn:

RAINY DAY EIFFEL is my first attempt at dyeing up yarn in this colorway. I’ve done a few in roving, but not yarn. I think it turned out pretty 😉 This is a merino/tencel fingering yarn:

VERTIGO BLINDS is a merino/cashmere/nylon fingering yarn what was inspired by a photo I took during a photography class. This was taken during an afternoon, just as the light was coming through the vertical blinds. I loved how the blinds cast shadows in all directions on the window seat and I placed a circular candle holder in the frame just to break up the lines. This yarn has various shades of gray, black and blue-black.

The inspirational photo:

BUTTERFLY DUO is the original colorway inspired by a pair of butterflies I saw at a Butterfly Farm in the Carribean. This is a merino/silk fingering yarn:

The inspirational photo:

ROMAN CHURCH is a superwash merino fingering yarn inspired by a photo from my 1999 Italy trip. I found this church while walking around and the ornate features on the facade and dome were such a great complement to the blue sky. Now, if only I could remember the name of the church . . .

The inspirational photo:

POI is a superfine merino/silk lace weight yarn in the color of the Hawaiian food made of the Taro plant. if you’ve ever been to a Hawaiian luau they will most likely have a small bowl of Poi for you to try and the consistency is usually paste-like, though for most people, it is an acquired taste. Some of my friends like Poi with a fair amount of sugar added 🙂 Seeing that purple is my favorite color, I draw from the color of Poi and bring you this wonderful lace yarn . . . hold the sugar.

And lastly, a bit of handspun yarn. A GRAY AREA was raw alpaca fleece that at I washed, dried, hand carded and spun into a really soft lace weight yarn.

Enjoy!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Week 26

Whew! Summer is here! After a very hot 4th of July weekend with lots of time for dyeing and all things yarny, here are a few colorways for ya:

WATER & MOONBEANS is a handspun yarn made from fiber from 2 etsy artisans. Water is a cashmere/silk blend from CorgiHillFarm, and Moonbeams is a merino/bamboo/silk/sparkle blend that ws part of a “fiber club” shipment from SosaeCaetano. Both were beautiful on their own but together made a beautiful 2-ply yarn.

LAVENDER LEMONADE is named after a drink found at a local vegetarian/vegan restaurant. I must admit at first I was skeptical to try an all-vegetarian place since I am such a carnivore, but this particular restaurant is awesome.  Native Foods is a chain so I would definitely recommend trying their Lavender Lemonade if you have one near you.

This one is a superwash merino/nylon wool roving:

While this one is a merino/bamboo fingering weight yarn:

HAWAIIAN RED DIRT, named for the famous dirt from the island what will never come off your white clothes no matter how hard you try, is a superwash merino lace weight yarn:

LIGURE SUNSET 2 is a Targhee Top roving – so bouncy!! This time around the black dye didn’t break as much as I liked so I added some brown to add more color.

LOVE SHACK is also a superwash merino wool named for a bus stop in Days Bay, Wellington, NZ.

And lastly, AHI POKE, named for one of my favorite Hawaiian dishes of raw tuna fish, onions, seaweed and spices!! Yummmmmers!

This one is a superwash merino wool fingering yarn:

And this one is a Peruvian wool roving:

Wheeeee!! Happy Summer everyone 🙂 Enjoy!

New Sock Yarns

When my normal ‘base’ sock yarn was sold out until end of February (gasp!), I had to seek out another supplier and found a wonderful company who sells awesome yarn with LOTS of content variations – YAY!

I couldn’t wait to dye up some samples and put them on the shoppe. I’ve now got 5 different kinds of ‘base’ sock yarns (!) and love them all.

Here are my first dyes. Click on the links – red text – to see more photos on the shoppe.

Merino/Cashmere(!)/Nylon. This is truly one of the softest sock yarns I’ve ever felt. Luxurious! This one is called FOG:

Merino/Nylon/Stellina. The stellina adds a bit of BLING to the yarn – so pretty. This one is TROPICAL SORBET:

Merino/Bamboo/Nylon. Since bamboo doesn’t take acid dyes (which these are) the bamboo parts adds a diffuse ‘depth’ to all the colors. So interesting! This one is HANALEI:

Superwash 3-ply Merino. This is a plump yarn and just may become my favorite. This one is AVALON:

Superwash Merino/Nylon. This is similar to the other 4-ply sock yarn I usually get. This is WAILUA FALLS:

Available on the shoppe.

Water & Princeville

I decided to branch out a bit and try new fibers to spin and dye up.  Here are a couple to share:

This one – called WATER –  is a heavenly Cashmere/Silk 50-50 blend. It was dyed by another artist and the blend needed some extra carding/pre-drafting before I could spin it. This was  great fun to use on my hand carders (though a nice drum carder would be great too!). It’s a wonderful 2-ply thick-thin yarn with a slightly fuzzy quality. It’s sooooooo soft. I immediately loved the color since it reminds me of the waters off the coast of Hawaii.

This one below is a Merino/Tencel 50-50 blend, also very soft and SHINY!  Tencel is a wood pulp fiber and it seems to take acid dyes, as opposed to bamboo. I was hoping for more a of a blue-ish shade to it, but this green came out nice and reminds me of the grounds around our resort on our trip to Kauai years ago.  Named PRINCEVILLE for the town we stayed in, this will make a splendidly beautiful yarn.

Both are available on the shoppe.