2016 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 20 – 33

Aloha!

It has been a very busy summer and I’ve been doing a little bit of knitting, dyeing, weaving, spinning and more these past few months.

Here are some photos of this summer’s projects.

First, I put together my very first project bag/sock kits!  These were a great collaboration of amazing artists and I’m so happy with the result.

The AlohaBlu logo and pineapple design were created by my wonderfully talented artist hubby, Jake Rowell. He has a fantastic eye for color, design, merchandizing and marketing and has been my biggest inspiration and supporter.

Debra Garner of AddictedToSockKnitting.com hand sewed the bags for me. She carries her own line of fabulous project bags (I have one!) and I am thrilled and honored that she helped create mine.

I also partnered with Denise Ilmanen, the creator of the Sock Ruler, to bring this amazing sock knitting tool to the kit. I already was using the Sock Ruler so I knew how valuable this was to have.

I loved partnering with these wonderful small-business owners to bring this sock kit to life. Thank you Jake, Debra and Denise!!

~~ On to SPINNING ~~

I did take part in this year’s Tour de Fleece and though I wasn’t able to finish all my projects, I managed to spin up a little bit.

This next one I started during TdF, but only finished recently. I tried a new technique – lacing the flyer – which worked out wonderfully well. My friend Chantal gifted me this gorgeous roving that she bought from Mad Color Fiber Arts when she was up at Stitches West. These are ‘my’ colors so she did a fantastic job picking it out. The organic Polwarth was a dream to spin and I was able to spin 582 yards of lace weight yarn! I’m thinking it will make a pretty shawl.

In June I took part in the “Fractal Gradient Challenge” on the Facebook group, A Spinner’s Study. This is where you take say, 2 different rovings (roving A & B) and you spin a 2-ply yarn in A:A, A:B and B:B. Here are my results using my own hand-dyed wool.

Back in May, I tried out my new Hansen MiniSpinner using wool I dyed for the May 2016 SPIN THIS BOX. I ended up with 422 yards of Sport weight yarn (I mistakenly wrote fingering on the photo). I’m still thinking I can make socks with it 🙂

For the May 2016 SPINNING BOX, I dyed up an oldie-but-goodie colorway for the theme “Birds of Paradise”. This is WAIMEA ROOSTER in Merino/Black Tencel which I spun up a sample. This little rooster – named Waimea Willy – resides at the Waimea Falls Park on the island of Oahu and I took this photo of him while he was stalking the tourists!

~~ On to WEAVING ~~

I actually never thought I’d become a weaver, but after receiving a gift of a rigid heddle loom for Christmas it has been all downhill ever since (in a good way, of course). Earlier this year, I started having pain in my left thumb which left me unable to knit for a while. After 2 MRI’s, they still don’t know what caused the pain. I recovered earlier this summer only to have it start up again recently after thinking I could go back to speed knitting (I know, what was I thinking?). Weaving has been a godsend as I can still be creative while giving my thumb a chance to heal. Here are a few of my finished projects.

My very first table runner! This was woven with pima cotton and fits our table perfectly.

My friend Joanne Alderman of Knitter’s Nest sent me this awesome blue handspun yarn for a yarn exchange a few years ago and I wove a wonderful scarf for myself.

This green scarf using a wonderful Merino/Silk worsted yarn that is just yummy!

This scarf uses a Merino/Silk fingering yarn for the warp and weft. It was the first time I used a single-ply yarn for the warp and learned fairly quickly that it wasn’t strong enough to withstand the rigors of constant beating. I ended up using a dog comb to beat each strand into place which took a bit more effort, but I’m happy with the result.

This next one uses my hand-dyed yarn for both the warp and weft. The weft is a self-striping yarn so there are fun blocks of color in this scarf.

I finished this scarf recently and it has become one of my favorites. I used KnitPicks‘ Stroll Tweed for the warp and Chroma for the weft. I love how the tweedy bits poke through the fabric for a great texture!

 In my last post, I showed the yarn that I finished spinning from the January 2016 SPIN THIS BOX – colorways from 7 different artists! Here is the scarf I wove from the yarn.

~~ SOCK PATTERNS ~~

I did manage to publish some sock patterns too! These are available now on KnitPicks.com.

LOVE IS LOVE SOCKS

DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH SOCKS

FLOWERS ON A FENCE SOCKS

TORCELLO BRIDGE SOCKS

~~ On to COLORS ~~

And finally, the colorways. I’ve been dyeing up Hawaiian-themed colorways in preparation for a set of mini-skeins that will be out soon. Here are some of my favorites.

Happy Summer everyone!

Some items are still available @ www.AlohaBlu.com

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2016 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 12 – 19

Aloha! Happy Spring to you all!

These past few months flew by so quickly and I am excited for the Spring/Summer seasons. I am still dyeing wool for SPIN THIS BOX and did a couple months for SPINNING BOX.

Here are some of the colorways from each of these boxes.

SPIN THIS BOX

April box

May box

SPINNING BOX

April box – theme: English Garden. This collage was inspired by photos I took at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino, California and the Wellington Botanic Gardens in Wellington, New Zealand.

May box – theme: Birds of Paradise. This colorway is WAIMEA ROOSTER, inspired by a rooster that I photographed at Waimea Falls Park on Oahu, Hawaii. I later learned this rooster is named ‘Willy’ and is a long-time resident of the park!

As some of you may be aware, the KnitPicks Community website has been closed down. The members have migrated to our own Ravelry group called “The Frog Prince and his Knitting Community Orphans” and is dedicated to Susan the Blue Lake Knitter, who we lost a few years ago.  Feel free to join us on Ravelry!

We completed a Spin-A-Long last month and they were kind enough to ask me to dye up custom colorways in our group’s colors for the next SAL, which will coincide with Tour de Fleece. Here are the colorways I will be dyeing this month:

Most recently I’ve been working on more sock patterns while keeping up with some dye colorways for the shoppe. Let’s talk about some sock projects . . .

DIAMONDS AND PEARLS Socks feature a diamond pattern created with bobbles (pearls) and a diamond pattern on the foot/back.  This pattern is in honor of the musical legend, Prince, and was knitted with KnitPicks Stroll Tonal in Blue Violet and Stroll Duchess Heather. I hope The Purple One would approve 🙂  Pattern is in progress.

LOVE IS LOVE Socks was completed this past month as well, and was knitted using KnitPicks Felici Rainbow (discontinued) and Stroll Firecracker Heather. Pattern is in progress.

I love animated movies and these socks were inspired by a Disney classic from the 1990s. I loved how the the main character in ALADDIN was called a “diamond in the rough” and turned out to be a true hero in the end. DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH Socks is an homage not just to this animated hero, but to the hidden gems in all of us. Pattern is available on KnitPicks.com

Onto the colors! This first new colorway is inspired by one of my artist friends, Sue Blanchard. I just fell in love with this image last year and knew I had to re-create I PROMISE TO BE GOOD in yarn and wool.

PICCOLO is another art piece from Sue that I thought was pretty fabulous. Here is my re-creation in yarn and wool.

Sue’s amazing artwork can be found at:

soobeeart.etsy.com & soobee.com

Facebook: Soobee Illustration & Instagram: soobee362

The next new colorway was inspired by an image that fiber friend, Faith, sent me. This is SUMMIT LAKE in her home state of Indiana.

I also dyed up some pima cotton in fingering weight yarn:

Having decided to go back to some of my Hawaiian/Tropical themes, I dyed up 2 oldie-but-goodies, with a few more on the way. This first one is COCONUT LIME (Put the lime in the coconut and drank it all up . . . )

and POI, which is a Hawaiian side dish made from the Taro plant which gives it the purple color. Now, if you’ve ever been to a Hawaiian luau they would have most likely had 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.

Onto some weaving projects! This first scarf was created for a friend’s mother who is once again fighting cancer. We hear she is doing OK and really loved the scarf.

I did finish one more weaving project which I’m very happy about. This scarf is made from Merino wool that I dyed, spun then wove using plain weave and Brooks Bouquet techniques.

I’m currently working on a table runner on my 32″ rigid heddle loom, and I’m excited for my 10″ Ashford SampleIt loom to arrive today! This smaller one will be easier to port around 🙂

Lastly, I have been spinning more and here are some of my finished skeins from this year.

A = SW Targhee/Nylon from the December 2016 SPIN THIS BOX

B = Mixed BFL in my KEEGAN colorway

C = Corriedale Cross in blues/greens

D = Mixed BFL in my MOODY RAINBOW colorway from the March 2016 SPIN THIS BOX

E = Merino/Black Tencel in my WAIMEA ROOSTER colorway from the May 2016 SPINNING BOX

The following skeins were all spun from the January 2016 SPIN THIS BOX

F = This skein was spun from fun Merino/Firestar/Bamboo rolags from Tiffany King of The Wooly Witch

G = This wonderful 50/50 Merino/Silk wool was dyed by Joe Cole of What The Flock Hand Dyed Yarns

H = Nicholette Reynolds of Spun Sugar Yarns dyed this fabulous Merino wool

I (middle) = LaDonna April of Fistful of Fiber dyed the beautiful Merino/Bamboo/Nylon wool for this skein

J (two skeins) = These two art skeins were spun from vibrant Mystery wool and Bluefaced Leicester locks from Jeri Powtak of Jeri Lynn’s Farm

K = This lovely Rambouillet was dyed by Cherish Stevens of Dandelions & Daisies

SPIN THIS BOX is curated by Anna Barnett of Fiber Felt n More

Here are the individual images so you can see what the original wool looked like.

Lastly, I’ve been wishing for an electric spinner and my wonderful hubby was kind enough to give me one as an early birthday gift! Here is my Hansen Mini Spinner in Wenge wood.

I can’t wait to do more spinning and weaving and dyeing and knitting! 🙂

2015 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 42-49

Aloha and Happy December!

So excited for the holidays this year. Last year I was waist-deep in work and felt the holidays came and went so I didn’t really have the opportunity to savor the season. This year, I’m taking it all in and even taking the “One gift for you, one gift for me” a bit too seriously (I know, I know – how many parkas do I really need?).

As is consistent with working in film, our jobs start & stop and this holiday season I’m ‘between jobs’ as they say, so I’m taking the opportunity to knit more, dye up more and maybe even get a jump on my taxes (well, it’s on the to-do list at least).  I’ve been taking meetings/interviews so I’m excited for what the future holds!

Next year for AlohaBlu, I’m hoping to do a bit more pattern work, add some ‘Dyed to Order’ colorways on the shoppe, and folks have been asking for sock kits – a skein of yarn for the body of the socks and a small skein for the toes, heels and cuffs – so I’m working on adding those as well.

Thanks so much for all your friendship and support. Without further ado, here are the colors for Weeks 42 – 49.

First, two of my sock patterns were published today on Knitpicks! These are my KANE SOCKS and my & hubby’s MAORI TATTOO SOCKS. This pair of Maori Tattoo Socks uses KP’s Ash yarn paired with my hand-dyed “Hawaiian Storm Clouds” yarn, and this pair is mine 🙂

Speaking of socks, here are a few I finished recently. TANGO SWERVE SOCKS were actually first done as a non-colorwork socks many years ago. In 2013, I thought I’d try a colorwork version, knitted one sock too tight, then threw it in the bottom of my UFO stash (Un-Finished Objects) because I didn’t want to deal with frogging (rip-it, rip-it) and re-knitting. Picked up the needles again this year – yup, 2 years later – and finished the pair. No pattern yet, but hopefully it won’t take another 2 years!

This was a custom pair of my YIN YANG SOCKS. No pattern for this one yet but it was sure fun to make again.

When folks contact me about these next socks, they call them my “Wedding Socks” though they are actually a variation of my Sweetheart Socks pattern. This particular pair is a custom order for a bride getting married this year. She wanted the date on socks and I incorporated them into the back – what a great idea!!

Here’s the colorway I created for the November SPIN THIS BOX edition. This year, hubby and I spent my birthday on Oahu’s ‘Fabled North Shore’ at the Turtle Bay Resort. When I made the reservation, I told them we are returning customers who loved their resort. They gave us the honeymoon suite (complete with window from the bathtub to this view!).  Man, I just love Hawaii.

Here’s the yarn I created in the same colorway – TURTLE BAY.

Another fun thing I did recently was complete the 30 skeins in 30 colorways for the Sock Yarn Swappers Ravelry group. A few new colorways in there too!

More colorways to come.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Nomination for the Creative Blog Hop

Aloha all! I was nominated by the incomparable Debra Garner on her blog for the creative Blog Hop. I will be answering 4 questions about crafting and then nominate fabulous individuals to do the same.

What am I working on?

I’m currently working on a pair of FLAG SOCKS: USA for fiber friend, Alison’s mom. I’m a bit farther along than this photo and should be done very soon!

Of course I have many projects in progress as well and below is a photo of projects that I switch back and forth.

The front sock is being made from my self-striping “Zinnia” colorway yarn. The black yarn is Knitpicks’ Stroll and the pattern is called “Diamonds In the Rough” and is not yet available.

The top left sock is one of my very first designs, though I originally designed it for non-colorwork. Since I LOVE colorwork so much, I’m adapting the pattern using my hand-dyed gray/purple as the base and a beautiful Pagewood Farms yarn as the accent. The pattern is called “Tango Swerve” and is not yet available.

Top right sock is being knitted using my hand-dyed yarn both in a merino/bamboo base, I believe. The pattern is called “Smocked Socks” and is not yet available.

I started my very first shawl project this summer! The pattern is by Emily Ross, called “Biltmore“, and after visiting the Biltmore Estate a few years ago I fell in love with it just as Emily had. It is a rectangular shawl which is perfect and the yarn is my hand-dyed “Monet’s House” colorway. This colorway was a custom request from a Facebook group called Yet Another Shawl. I just love seeing the different shawls all the ladies are making with Monet’s House – such talented knitters and crocheters in that group!

I’m also working on dyeing up custom yarn orders and will have more on the shoppe soon!

 Question 2: How does my work differ from others of its genre?

One of the great things about being passionate about yarn and fiber is that I’m also a fan of other indie dyers, designers and creators. We all have a different ‘eye’ for design or color and I am amazed at how everyone expresses themselves in different ways.

When I started dyeing yarn and wool, I needed inspiration and decided that all those vacation photos that I took might be the ticket! So, I scoured my files – some digital, some real paper photos – and practiced replicating those colors in wool.  I found I really enjoyed it, and having a hubby who is a professional artist is great for asking questions about mixing colors, combinations, etc. I try my best to impress him with my creations!

Here are a few of my photos and the yarn/wool I created from the image.

 

 Question 3: Why do I create what I do?

At first I started knitting as a stress reliever from a high-paced, high-stress (but equally fun) career. I found I enjoyed knitting and once I learned how to knit socks, the passion for yarn escalated. I joined the KnitPicks Community and was soon learning about yarn spinning and yarn dyeing. Funny enough, my first thoughts were “Why on earth would someone want to dye their own yarn when you can buy it already dyed?” . . . followed by “Why on earth would someone want to spin their own yarn when you can buy it already spun?”.

The answer is of course: because you love it. I create because I absolutely love it. After finding the passion for yarn I have found that I love sharing my passion with others, and the fiber friends I’ve met in person and online are kindred spirits that never cease to amaze me with their constant support and kind-hearted generosity.

Question 4: How does my creative process work?

I am inspired by everything around me. Whether that be the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies, walking to lunch and seeing vibrant flowers, vacation photos or other photos that fiber friends send me, I’m always thinking of the next colorway or design.

Once I have a colorway in mind, I write down the dye colors I think would match what I have envisioned in my mind and let it marinate in my head for about a week. After a week, I come back to the written ‘formula’ and see if any changes need to be made. Then the experimenting begins.

I can usually get the colors close the first time around (since it’s been marinating in my head for a week) though I have had to make some adjustments on the fly if the dye doesn’t turn out the way I want. The photo above is a colorway that will be on the shoppe soon, called Kai’s Dragon, which I created based on a drawing my godson Kai did for my birthday card.

Here’s my original colorway:

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little bit about me.  I can’t wait to learn more about my nominees, Sue of soobeeart,  Jenny of Marigoldjen (Marigoldjen on Ravelry) and Susanne of SussesSpindehjrne (SmilendeSusse on Ravelry).

Mahalo nui loa,

christina

2014 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 15 to 17

Aloha! Here are the colors for Weeks 15-17! Most items are available on the shoppe.

ROOM SERVICE ORCHID is inspired by a beautiful flower that came on a tray when we ordered room service while visiting Oahu a few years back. I thought the colors were so pretty I took a bazillion photos of the orchid and dyed them up in superwash merino/nylon fingering yarn and merino/silk roving.

HAWAIIAN MIST is one colorway I’ve dyed up only once before and had forgotten about. I love the photo inspiration and resurrected it for another go around.  I just love how the mountains stop the movement of the clouds which creates this beautiful mist! These are superwash merino/nylon fingering yarn and merino/bamboo/nylon roving.

A true oldie-but-goodie, RAINY DAY EIFFEL in Shetland roving and merino/silk lace yarn.

One of my favorite desserts on Oahu is the DOLE WHIP, a pineapple sherbet that I first had at the Dole Plantation! I thought it would be fun to create a yarn that had soft yellows and a bit of beige (because you can get it in a cone, after all). These are sparkle lace yarn and superwash BFL roving.

 SUNSET IN GALLIPOLIS‘ photo was taken by the owner of Nybble Cafe in Gallipolis, Ohio. These pieces are merino/silk sock blank, superwash merino lace yarn and merino/bamboo/silk roving.

AHI POKE is a colorway inspired by one of our favorite Hawaiian dishes. Made with sashimi grade ahi tuna fish, Japanese seaweed, onions and seasonings. Upon landing in Hawaii, we always head to our nearest favorite restaurant for a plate or two. These pieces are both superwash merino/nylon in fingering yarn and roving.

And for some socks! Here are a few I completed recently.

HAWAIIAN QUILT SOCKS: BREADFRUIT is an original pattern that I’ve been wanting to make for a while. I am always fascinated by quiltmaking and Hawaiian quilts in particular. While there are many beautiful quilt patterns available the challenge is to design a sock pattern that will fit in a 4″ wide canvas! After much finagling and re-designing, here’s the final outcome.

This next pair is a wider version of my original SCI-FI SOCKS using a new yarn line from KnitPicks. Kinda funky, but still fun to make!

And I just finished another test pair of FLAG SOCKS: CANADA using some sparkle yarn! This is a wider width version and I really love how it came out. I am aiming to write up the pattern next month for a summer release.

Last but not least, a skein of handspun yarn. This was dyed by retired indie dyer, Sosae Caetano, in merino/bamboo wool. I spun up a fine lace weight yarn then plied it with silk thread and over 1300 size 6 glass seed beads. I am thinking about making a small shawl with the yarn for myself 🙂

Enjoy!

2014 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 11 to 14

Aloha! Here are the colors for Weeks 11-14!

APPLE PICKING is a hand-dyed, hand spun yarn in superwash merino, then double plied with silk. The dyed silk roving is from Phoenix Fiber Co on Etsy, which I spun into a thin thread for plying.

LIGURE SUNSET 2 in merino/tencel roving (not pictured), alpaca/merino/silk roving and cashmere/merino/nylon fingering yarn was inspired by a photo I took while in Monterosso, Italy.

OLYMPIC SKI TEAMS were inspired by the uniforms I saw during the Winter Olympics. I dyed the wool, ran them through the drum carder and pulled them off as roving. These are available as a set.

KA’ANAPALI BEACH always brings back great memories of my friends’ wedding. This photo was taken while waiting for a spa session for us bridesmaids. These are alpaca/silk yarn and merino/bamboo/nylon roving.

Tencel is great for blending with wool projects!

In the area called Days Bay in Wellington, New Zealand we came upon a bus stop painted in bright colors of pinks, yellows and orange and lovingly adorned with hearts. On the bench were two beautiful words: Love Life. These pieces of LOVE SHACK are polwarth/silk roving and sparkle fingering yarn.

This is a sample set of rolags I created using Corriedale, Wool, Silk, CVM/Romeldale, Merino & Banana Fiber.

I hand-dyed the yellow/green/black multi yarn for this ballet bag, then added the black top for contrast.

Finished up another test pair of FLAG SOCKS: USA, but adjusted the pattern on one sock and found an error as well so I’ll be frogging/re-knitting/re-testing this pair, but here’s what it looked like when I finished.

Another pair of BOARDGAME SOCKS in KnitPick’s Stroll Tweed yarn. This one goes to Ms. Chantal.

Speaking of which, Knitpicks just sent out an email introducing the new line of sock yarn called Hawthorne and included my pattern in the email. Super cool!

More stuff on the shoppe soon! Enjoy!

2014 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 7 to 10

Aloha!

After seeing the vintage-style knit sweaters worn by Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony , I was inspired to knit up some patriotic socks.  This first pair was started the very next morning and was based on a flag pattern I had designed in the summer of 2013, but never got around to testing.  I finished the first sock in a day and the next sock by the following Saturday. These are FLAG SOCKS: USA in US Womens 8-10 | Mens 7-9. I will post these on the shoppe later this spring.

During the second week of the Olympics, I thought I’d knit up another pair for our fabulous friends to the north! For the top portion, I made the maple leaf a silhouette instead of repeating the flag. When I write up the pattern, the knitter will be able to choose whichever image to the socks (all flag, all silhouette or a combination of both). I’ll post this pair on the shoppe later as well.

The following socks are available on the shoppe. I almost ripped out my test pair of SCI-FI SOCKS because it wasn’t looking like I had envisioned in my mind. Fortunately I was so far along that I decided to just finish the sock and see what it looked like on the mannequin. The stitches stretched out and looked like something from The Matrix movies! From then I was happy with the design and kept going.  I made these green/tan socks . . .

and made a purple pair too!

I posted this pair of ROMAN FORUM SOCKS on the shoppe.

Here are a few pairs of socks I knitted for 3 wonderful girlfriends who make me laugh every time we meet. ‘DB’ recently got married so I made her a pair with her new last name, ‘SueB’s’ pair has her art company name, and as for CLA’s ‘Reindeer’ socks . . . well, let’s just say what happened in Upper Montclair, New Jersey in the winter of 2006 STAYS in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.

These pairs were completed on Dec 2013, Jan 2014 and Feb 2014 respectively and I was able to present the socks yesterday so I can post them here now!

This last pair was completed in Jan 2014 for a bride who will be wearing them later this year in her cowboy boots on her wedding day.

Now onto colors! These first four colorways are brand new (11 new colorways for 2014 so far)!

APPLE PICKING was inspired by this photo taken by my cousin Laura. I immediately fell in love with the photo and had to re-create it in yarn and wool. The yarns are superwash merino lace weight, sw merino/nylon fingering sock blank and alpaca/merino/silk roving.

My 5-year old godson, Kai, drew this image on my birthday card last year and I knew I wanted to create a special colorway from it. I had the card on my desk for a few months and finally dyed up KAI’S DRAGON in sw merino fingering yarn and sw merino/nylon roving. Artwork is used with permission of the artist . . . and his mommy.

BROKEN SUNSET 2 was an attempt to re-create a broken colorway! I attempted to dye up some cotton yarn but the dyes broke into many different colors. The broken colorway was well received and I was asked to try to do again – this time on purpose – in  polwarth wool roving, sw merino roving  and merino/tencel yarn.  And yes, it was much harder to replicate a ‘happy accident’.

The background in this collage is a CROTON plant that I took a photo of while on Maui this past December. I loved  the bright magenta and greens and used some hand-dyed wool for the project. I ran the merino/silk wool through the drum carder, layering some wonderful soffsilk (silk waste product) between the solid colors. I pulled the wool off as a continuous piece of roving and made a braid. The soffsilk will add some texture when spinning.

And some ‘oldie-but-goodie’ colorways. . . ORANGE HIBISCUS in sparkle lace yarn and merino/bamboo/silk roving was inspired by a hibiscus plant I used to have. It only bloomed an orange flower every few seasons and when it did,  I tried to take as many photos as I could!

DIAMOND HEAD SUNSET 2 is a variation of the original which was more pastel. This version incorporates the blue/gray sky and a darker gray for contrast. This is merino/silk fingering yarn and polwarth/silk roving.

I dyed up these next two pieces for the shoppe since I was already creating them for a custom order. HONOLULU FIREWORKS is 5oz of merino/tencel roving.

SEA DRAGONS is 5.4oz of merino wool roving.

Now for some bags! These first two ballet/pointe shoe bags come from European and South American wool. The pink/green version was crocheted with two strands held together while the rainbow bag was made with a single-ply yarn.

I finally put together a “Dye your own” ballet bag kit. These fun kits include a crocheted ballet bag, printed dyeing instructions and a few packets of kool-aid ‘dye’. Available in Orange/Yellow/Red and Red/Pinks.

Lastly, I posted a spring-inspired scarf in velvet/silk  in bright lime green!

Enjoy!

2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 46-49

ALOHA!

Aloha all and Happy December! Just an FYI –  the shoppe will be closed on December 9th, re-opening later in the month.

Here are the colors and projects for weeks 46-49.  These first 3 colorways all were inspired by photos I took during the Christmas/New Year’s holiday season 🙂

MR. BUTTERFLY in superwash merino lace yarn and superwash merino roving. I took this photo at a butterfly farm in St. Maarten, French West Indies during a Christmas cruise to the Caribbean.

SUNSET OVER FüRIGEN in Falkland roving and superwash merino/nylon fingering yarn. I took this photo while visiting our godson and family in beautiful Fürigen, Switzerland over Christmas 2010.

HONOLULU FIREWORKS in 50/50 silk/merino fingering yarn, superwash merino/tencel roving, sparkle lace yarn and mixed BFL/silk/firestar painted batt. This photo was taken at Waikiki,  just before New Years’.

I had great fun dyeing this new OVERLAY SERIES, inspired by the 2D animation technique of ‘overlaying’ a cel on top of another to bring an object to the foreground. For these skeins, a base color was applied, then a top color was ‘overlayed’ for a multi-color effect.

BLUEBERRY, OLIVE & PEACH-RASPBERRY

and LANIKAI, MOSS & BLACK-PURPLE

 I carded this fun batt of hand-dyed purples & black in superwash merino/nylon wool.

JOKER in handspun, hand-dyed corriedale yarn

And some socks!

These are CHUTES & LADDERS SOCKS in olive tweed.

BLOCKED SOCKS in green & red-multi

ROMAN FORUM SOCKS in green/purple-multi

I was excited to learn this week that my Roman Forum Socks pattern was approved and published into Knitpicks.com’s Independent Designer Program! This is my 7th submission into the program with my colorwork sock patterns and can be found here.

I also posted a set of rolags in hot pink and black. I must admit these are quite bright and fun!

This past week we had a fun gift exchange in our knitting group and we were to make either fingerless gloves or a pair of potholders. I made a pair of smocked fingerless gloves, but fearing I may have made them too small, I also crocheted a potholder using hand-dyed mercerized cotton yarn. I also added a small skein of undyed wool yarn with some kool-aide and dye-your-own-yarn instructions. 🙂

This is me opening my exchange gift – a pair of fingerless gloves is sparkly black and red made by Diana! They are super comfy and I just love the bling!

I also finished a pair of cabled fingering gloves for myself using a beautiful yarn my friend Debra gave me. The wool is merino and silk and the length is about 17″ so they are above the elbow (opera length, I think?).

Lastly, I am trying to finish spinning 5oz of beautifully dyed Rambouillet roving from CorgiHillFarm. I’ve never spun Rambouillet (a fine merino wool) and it’s wonderful to work with. I am thinking about plying the single with silk thread for a lace weight yarn.

Happy Holidays!

2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 12-13

Aloha! Here are the colors and inspirational images for weeks 12-13.

We’ve been missing ‘home’ again so I thought I’d dye up some reminders from the island.

This is WAIMANALO FLOWERS in sw merino/tencel roving and merino/cashmere/nylon fingering yarn:

I think I’ve only dyed up this colorway one other time and seeing how I’m now in LOVE with the color orange . . . again . . . this was great fun to dye up. ORANGE HIBISCUS in sparkle lace yarn and sw merino/tencel roving:

And the inspirational photo that I took years ago when I had potted hibiscus plants. Most of the time, pink flowers would bloom and only one per season would be this beautiful orange color!

A quick story about the color orange. . . When I was about 8 years old and a Girl Scout with Troop 124 (yes, I still remember that troop number), we once went on a camping trip to Camp Whites Landing which is located on Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles. We had to pack a sleeping bag, and back then orange was my favorite color. Mom and Dad bought me this super warm, super big, bright orange sleeping bag and it was so slippery on the outside that my 8-year-old self could not roll it up. My greatest memory of that trip was watching my troop leader and another adult try to roll up that slippery sleeping bag before the ferry came to take up back up to the mainland! We kept the bag for many years, but eventually it was given away. Luckily, we still have my Care Bear slumber bag which is much easier to roll up. . .

Now, back to yarn. I finished up a custom sock order this week for a bride whose wedding is later this year. She picked out the colors herself and they will be shipped off to her as soon as I print out the postage label.

I had forgotten that I also made 3 pairs of custom socks last year for a customer who wanted to give them to her sisters as Christmas gifts. The one on the left is the customer and the middle and right are her sisters’ socks.

Last month I also finished testing a new pattern, WAHINE SOCKS, to complement my Kane Socks. Wahine in Hawaiian means woman or female, Kane means man or male, and the found the inspirational Hawaiian designs while visiting Disney’s Aulani Resort on Oahu.

This is WAHINE SOCKS in Knitpicks Stroll in Merlot Heather and Sunset Multi:

And for fun, here are last year’s testing of KANE SOCKS in Knitpicks Stroll in Midnight Heather and Blue Topaz:

enjoy!