Aloha!
Happy Spring! It’s been a busy 2018, and exciting nonetheless. Last month marked my 1-year anniversary of starting the new AlohaBlu.com website – whew, a year already! I still have my original Etsy shoppe open and post my patterns & dyed-to-order listings there as well as the main shoppe. It’s been wonderful to have 2 sites going simultaneously!
A little change for me – late last year I started working part-time in the new field of ‘virtual reality’. After 2 decades of entertainment production experience, I find the new VR media exciting and challenging and keeps me on my toes. From learning new processes and terminology to the fast-paced non-linear nature of this medium, I sometimes feel like the slow tortoise being lapped by the feisty hare – lol! But, I’m having fun finding the balance between this amazing opportunity in a new field and my passion for fiber arts.
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Along with a new job, I decided to start a FB page for my photos. (Backstory – Along with using my photos as inspiration for colorways, I’ve been posting a weekly photo on Instagram and have enjoyed sharing them with other photographers and travel enthusiasts. So, I changed my IG handle to be alohablu_photography and post every Friday.) I now add my photos on Facebook as AlohaBlu Photography with photos/products available on Society6.
Here’s a photo I took one evening during our recent visit to Maui. We watched the sun set out on the lawn right by the shore, then moved up into the lobby for this photo of the pool area with just a sliver of a sunset left on the horizon.
Here is one I took while out paddle boarding just after sunrise with Jake – still lots of cloud cover with a hint of color poking through on the horizon. I think we were probably 1/2-1 mile offshore and it was super calm and peaceful. I was hoping to bump into some whales, but I think they were still sleeping 😴.
Come follow along on Facebook and/or Instagram for more photos.
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For the shoppe this year, I’m hoping to keep dyeing up new and oldie-but-goodie colorways, and aiming to do another “Menehune Mini” (mini-skeins) listing this summer. Perhaps some more project bags/sock yarn kits too!
I’m also hoping to start an email newsletter, so if you would like to join, add your name to the list by visiting AlohaBlu.com, then scroll to the footer to find the sign-up menu:
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Ok, now onto the COLORS!!
I’ll start with a new colorway, inspired by this photo I took last year. San Clemente is a famous surfing town about 2 hours south of Los Angeles. It’s pretty laid back and quiet and the sunsets are amazing – great restaurants too. I dyed up some sock yarn and roving in this beautiful sunset colorway.
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Then I followed up with a couple oldie-but-goodie Hawaiian-themed colorways: Hawaiian Storm Clouds and Big Island Volcano. The former representing the island of Oahu as storm clouds were rolling in – look at the beautiful teal color of the water! The latter representing the big island of Hawaii where Jake and I saw this smoking volcano via helicopter!
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Let’s stay on the islands a little bit longer . . . shall we? This colorway, “Wailua Falls 2” was inspired by this photo I took on the island of Kauai. These are a set of twin waterfalls that flow into a secluded lagoon below. You can hike down and bathe in the lagoon or stay topside and get a birds-eye view. For those of you who remember a TV show called “Fantasy Island”, these were the waterfalls seen in the opening sequence of every episode!
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As the 2018 Winter Olympics were starting, I was asked to come up with a variegated colorway in sock yarn. Happy to oblige, this is “Best of the Best”, inspired by the 5 colors of the Olympic Rings. (Mahalo for the inspiration, Arlene!)
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Let’s travel now to the land of magic! We live a few miles from Universal Studios Hollywood and love to visit the Harry Potter section of the park. I took this photo during our very first visit and noticed that beneath the gray stone castle, the foundation rocks had shades of pastel colors. What a great inspiration for yarn!
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Speaking of magic, I think artist Aaron Spurgeon’s artwork is simply incredible. Aaron has done numerous illustrations for animated films/projects and is currently designing the cover of the Vistor’s Guide for the City of Pasadena (yup, the city of the famous Rose Parade!). When Aaron showed me this teapot design a few years ago, I created a colorway and dyed it again this year.
Please find Aaron’s work on:
etsy.com/shop/AaronSpurgeon | www.spurgeonart.com | FB: Aaron Spurgeon Illustration
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Another oldie-but-goodie is one of my favorite springtime colorway: Saturated Spring. I don’t have a photo inspiration for this one but love the combination of greens, magenta and brown.
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Next up, the Winter 2018 edition of Addicted to Sock Knitting eZine was recently published and I took part in the “Dyer’s Challenge”. The theme for this edition was your favorite recipe and I love these Chocolate Covered Banana Pops by raw chef Debra Garner. Find the super easy and delicious recipe here.
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One of our friends is moving back to the US after living in New Zealand for a number of years (and loving it!). I remember visiting out there years ago and recalling how everyone we met really enjoyed the lifestyle as well as the awesome natural beauty all around. This is a new colorway I dyed up inspired by the colorful hydrangeas we saw at the Wellington Botanic Gardens. It’s on our bucket list to return for another visit!
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Traveling onward from New Zealand to Paris: I took an oldie-but-goodie colorway and created a kit! When I saw this lovely fabric at the store, I knew I wanted to create a kit using my Rainy Day Eiffel colorway. I still love how the sunset creates such a beautiful silhouette of the Tour Eiffel. The kits have sold out, but there are still single sock yarn skeins available.
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Being a sucker for Purple and Gold, I had to share this custom order listing for a Lakers inspired colorway. I had meant to photograph the self striping skein and the two min skeins prior to packaging, but forgot so here’s what it looked like before it shipped out.
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I’m working on more colorways and will post them next time.
Moving onto . . . finished projects!! Here are a few things I’ve finished this year.
This pattern was inspired by the Hawaii State Flower (which I know is the Yellow Hibiscus, but I think the Pink version is just as pretty, don’t you?)
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Another Hawaiian-themed pattern:
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Osmosis Socks Pattern by Leah Oakley available on Ravelry. This colorway was inspired by the Dragon our godson Kai drew, which his godfather Jake later recreated and gifted the original drawing to Kai on his 8th birthday.
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Finished socks from the ASK colorway challenge
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Cavalier Mitts (available soon in the Accessories section of the shoppe)
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Some accessories in honor of my beloved Minnesota Vikings:
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And some spinning projects!
This one was probably the largest skein I’ve spun up at over 6oz of continuous yarn! I think I’m going to knit up a cowl for myself.
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This is one of my most favorite colorways and have wanted to spin this up for a while now. Love how it came out so soft and shiny!
More to come! Mahalo for reading along.
OH! If you have a finished project in AlohaBlu yarn, fiber or sock pattern and don’t mind me showing it off, PM me with a photo as I’d love to add it to the “Showcase” page of the website!
Remember sign up for the newsletter on the shoppe and Happy Spring!
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