2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 32-33

Aloha! Here are the colors for weeks 32-33.

Since I haven’t posted socks for a while, I thought I’d start with those. Here are some newly finished pairs. (I’ll post them on the shoppe at a later date.)

KANE SOCKS in merino/silk.

DESIREE DIAMOND SOCKS in merino/bamboo/nylon with glass beads.

DESIREE DIAMOND SOCKS in merino/alpaca/nylon with glass beads.

SQUARED SOCKS – work in progress. After over a year I finally finished ONE sock and am having serious Second Sock Syndrome. This pattern calls for 2 fingering weight and 1 lace weight yarn and it taxes my brain (I designed the pattern so only have me to blame!).  This pair will be for me so I’m in no rush to complete them.

On to the colors. . .

The first is PACIFIC SEA NETTLE in polwarth wool roving and baby alpaca yarn. The photo was taken of the North Pacific Sea Nettle at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.

Next up is FOG in a 64 count merino 2oz mini-batt and superwash merino light-fingering weight yarn (750 yds).  The inspirational photo was taken while cruising through Alaska.

JOKER batt in merino & peruvian wool, banana fibers.

More ballet/pointe shoe crochet bags

And here are some other fun color projects that I’ve done these past couple of weeks.

First, I FINALLY completed the last bit of Tour de Fleece yarn. This is 6oz of Falkland @ 512 yards of Navajo-plied yarn. Am thinking it’s fingering weight yarn but haven’t checked it yet.

Here are the other yarn pieces completed for the 2013 TdF season.

Secondly, some dyeing and  carding projects . . .

These next two braids were fun to make! I first dyed each color separately, then carded them on my drum carder. Using a 1/4″ diz, I pulled the wool off as thick roving which I was able to braid. Here are the before and after photos.

80’s count merino dyed in gray, blue, bright green (colorway name TBD):

Carded & Braided:

And polwarth wool dyed in black, aqua & bright green (to be called TOXIC WATER):

Carded & Braided:

And since I was inspired by a friend’s (Susan D) tomato canning, here’s mine. I was playing around with iPhoto, trying to make a collage and did this ‘card’.

Enjoy!

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2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 29-31

Aloha and Happy August! Here are the colors for weeks 29 – 31, available on the shoppe.

I’ll start with an oldie but a goodie: GLACIER BAY in merino/bamboo/nylon roving, sw merino/nylon batt&bump and merino/silk lace yarn.

And the inspirational photo taken in Alaska

CALICO GHOST TOWN in corriedale cross roving and sw merino/nylon fingering yarn.

SUNSET SEA ALASKA in mixed BFL/silk roving and sw merino lace yarn

and the inspirational photo

COOL JEWEL PLAID in black alpaca/silk roving

DARK AVALON in Falkland British merino/nylon fingering yarn

WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING batt

And a couple more ballet/pointe shoe bags

Lastly, I’m working on a couple spinning projects.

The first is a spindle-spun lace yarn that I started a couple weeks ago. The fiber is merino wool in my FOG colorway that I carded on my drum carder then pulled the wool off as a center-pull bump of roving.

The spindle itself has an interesting story. It is a picasso jasper stone flower top spindle from ZebisisDesigns. In the fall of 2010, I was heartbroken when I hesitated to buy this spindle and it was sold on her shoppe to someone else. Instead I purchased another beautiful spindle from her over the Thanksgiving holiday and when my spindle arrived, this was also in the box as a gift! I literally stared at this amazing gift and could not believe my eyes. Apparently the seller gave everyone who ordered from her during that season an extra spindle. Of all the spindles she could have given me, she gave me the ONE that I really wanted! To this day I’m truly amazed at how it has come to pass that I own this amazing work of art.

The second spinning project I’m trying to finish is plying the last bit of wool from Tour de Fleece. It’s 6.2 ounces of Falkland wool that I spun in a laceweight single and am now Navajo-plying. For you crocheters, N-plying is basically looping the single strand as if making a single crochet and twisting the yarn together to form a 3-ply (strand) yarn. N-plying will give you long sections of the same color, and with 6.2 ounce that I’ve just started I’ll probably be done plying in time for next year’s TdF . . .

Enjoy!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 43-44

I’m actually ahead of the weekend for once and thought I’d share the latest dye session results. I have a couple new colorways that I’m excited about!! You can find these on the shoppe.

So, this summer/fall I was commissioned to re-create some colorways in wool based on a company logo or customer photo. I was so thrilled about the prospect to creating such pieces which was also accompanied by the occasional “GASP! Can I really do this?”. So I pondered on the images supplied to me, got my dyes out and went to work . . . and they came out lovely. (I’ll post these after I get permission from the logo/photo owners).

That got me thinking – maybe I should do a colorway for ALOHABLU! Then the pressure really started because I do LOVE my logo and love the person who designed it even more, my artist hubby. I wanted to make sure I did his artwork justice and for the first time since I started dyeing yarn for the shoppe, I actually created one skein for me.

This is ALOHABLU, in Falkland British Superwash Merino/Tencel fingering yarn:

based on my pineapple logo

This version is available on the shoppe, whilst the Merino/Bamboo version is mine.

Another new colorway is STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE, after my childhood dolly who smelled like the dessert and had other fragrant friends with similar scents and names.

Since we’re getting close to the THANKSGIVING holiday, I created some in yarn and wool.

Here’s the yarn version in  superwash BFL/nylon:

Another version of ROMAN CHURCH in superwash merino

PEACH BLUSH in merino/silk lace yarn

MORNING AT BILTMORE INN in merino/nylon/stellina

LAVENDER FIELDS in superwash BFL/nylon

HANALEI in self-striping superwash/merino yarn

A NUTTY SUGGESTION in superwash BFL/nylon yarn

WAIMANALO STORM in superwash merino lace

And VENETIAN THUNDERSTORM in merino/silk lace

Some recent handspun yarns . . .

This is FIREPIT – 64 ct merino wool that I hand-dyed, then blended on my hackle

GRINCH is hand-dyed and hand-spun Corriedale

KAANAPALI BEACH is hand-dyed and hand-spun merino/silk

and lastly, the wool rovings

AVALON is merino/bamboo/nylon

BLOOD ORANGES in superwash merino

LAVENDER FIELDS in merino/tencel

A blue-ish version of MORNING AT BILTMORE INN in merino/alpaca/silk

PEACH COBBLER in Colonial wool

and THANKGIVING in merino/tencel

enjoy!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 41-42

Aloha! Here are some fun colors for Weeks 41 & 42 🙂

THANKSGIVING is always a fun holiday for us kids growing up. We always look forward to Dad’s turkey, stuffing and fixings. Mom would make candied sweet potatoes while Dad insisted on having cranberry sauce that only he ate! This version of Thanksgiving is a yummy Alpaca/Merino/Silk blend.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I’m reminded again of a non-tradition Thanksgiving day a few years ago. After visiting King Louis XIV’s palace in the city of Versailles, we walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch and I took a photo of a city street showing the fall trees and surrounding buildings. STREETS OF VERSAILLES in Targhee is a fantastic reminder of that special Thanksgiving in France!

Another vacation photo was the inspiration for SUNSET OVER TITLUS, a BFL/Silk blend. Though we won’t be spending the holiday season in Switzerland, I do think about our trip often and wonder if all sunsets over Mount Titlus are breathtaking. My hunch is yes . . .

A fellow fiber enthusiasts – Peggy S – presented a beautiful photo she took in her home city of Park City, Utah.  Peggy commissioned me to create a custom colorway based on her photo. This is Superwash BFL wool as AUTUMN IN PARK CITY.

I took another pass at MEDIEVAL WALL and it came out with more yellow than the last versions, but it then reminded me of another photo I took of the famous Lucerne wall with yellow leaves covered with snow. This is BFL wool.

Some days the mad scientist (aka colorist) in me goes crazy and I mix a number of different dyes together and see what happens. I mixed some greens and something else and it came out with this beautiful green/teal color. This is MERMAID in corriedale.

ST. PETER’S DOME in South American Wool is named after a photo I took while climbing the stairs to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

I really love Merino wool and this is a wonderful 64 count roving called FALL HARVEST!

I thought I’d try SUNSET OVER TITLUS in yarn and am thrilled at the outcome. This is a superwash merino/nylon fingering yarn.

I’ve been handspinning more yarn lately and this one is a oatmeal BFL wool base dyed in blues and greens, so the yarn has these subtle hits of color.  This is BEACH ROCKS.

I was also inspired this past week by my KnitPicks Community pals to try my hand at self-striping yarn. I’ve always shied away from trying because it seems too complicated. After much encouragement, I did my first skein yesterday so I’ll post the outcome after it dries. Yay!!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 39-40

Aloha All! We actually had some rain last week and cooler temperatures for a few days. Then it was back to the 80s. This week it’s supposed to hit in the 90s, so so much for Fall weather 🙂

Here are some fun creations for the last couple of weeks.

This is FOG in BFL/Silk

ZION 2 in Targhee

GLACIER BAY in Superwash BFL

GRINCH in Corriedale

WATERMELON AQUA FRESCA in superwash merino fingering yarn

VIEW FROM FURIGEN in Merino/Tencel fingering yarn

FIREPIT in Merino/Bamboo fingering yarn

QUEEN’S WHARF AT NIGHT in Merino/Nylon/Stellina fingering yarn

AHI POKE in Superwash Merino fingering yarn

FOG in Merino/Tencel lace yarn

UBE in handspun Corriedale

HANDSPUN FUN in Greens – small skeins

HANDSPUN FUN in Purple/Reds – small skeins

More to come 🙂 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 20

First of all, a shout out to my fellow May 22nd Birthday Twins! Hope you guys had a fantastic birthday 🙂 Mine was spent with the hubby, lots of yarn/wool and a pitcher of sangria. Perfect.

For this week I’ve got 3 fibers and 2 handspuns. Let’s start with the handspun yarns.

This was a fabulous 85/15 BFL/Silk wool from CorgiHillFarm called WHISKEY BARREL that I spun then plied with gray thread. The colors are awesome and a joy to spin.

PASTEL RAINBOW is from a Dorset/Nylon sampler FoothillFiberFarm that I spun into a worsted 2-ply in shades of rose, seafoam, blue and off-white.

Now onto some fun fiber! Since I’ve posted COCONUT LIME before, I will not post that one again, but a Mer/Tencel roving is available on the shoppe.

  I noticed that for some colorways I have only created them in yarn not fiber or vice versa, so I’m trying to incorporate each colorway into both.  Here is PRINCESS CAYS, a superwash merino roving based on a photo I took whilst on Princess Cays Island in the Caribbean.

And lastly, HALONA at DUSK is a 64count Merino wool top inspired by the Halona Blowhole and Beach Cove on Oahu. I get homesick just thinking about it . . . 🙂

Enjoy and hugs to my fellow Gemini’s!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 18 & 19

So, after implementing the whole ‘weekly color’ postings, I’ve successfully lost a week! Not sure where, so this is for weeks 18-19 – LOL!!

I loved how SOUTH SEAS yarn turned out that, I had to try it in wool. And I used my favorite wool, a Merino/Bamboo/Nylon blend:

From the South Seas, we go to the desert air of Palm Springs, CA. A few years ago, some girlfriends and I ventured off for a ‘girls weekend’ out. We rented a house and had a blast! One evening, the one of us who is a culinary GENIUS cooked dinner on the outdoor grill while we sat by the FIREPIT and drank our wine.  This is 64ct Merino wool top.

Speaking of good ol’ California, ANEMONE was inspired by a lovely and bright sea creature I saw at the Long Beach Aquarium. This is Merino/Tencel roving.

And lastly, another gem of a yarn. This is thread-plied RUBIES & EMERALDS, which is a merino/silk yarn.

Enjoy!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Week 17

This week is mostly fiber, though I did manage to do a couple hand-spun yarns.

RUBIES & EMERALDS is a handspun yarn using two beautiful products from other Etsy artisans. The original merino/silk wool for yarn was called “Jackson Pass” by CorgiHillFarm, and the mulberry silk was “Imperial Jade by mymommadethis.  I spun each fiber separated then plied together for a gorgeous yarn I now dub, Rubies & Emeralds.

This week’s theme was ‘warm colors’. Since my personal preference is geared towards cooler tones, warm colors are definitely out of my comfort zone, BUT thank goodness for great inspiration.

I’ll start with one of my favorite libations: SANGRIA is a Peruvian wool roving. The dye is actually called Sangria, so sadly, I wasn’t creative in naming this, though I have had other fibers called the same name.  I am of course, now quite thirsty . . .

SPRING is a 64 count Merino top so it’s super soft and fluffy.

I also painted up another Rainy Day Eiffel in merino/tencel, but since we’ve seen that before, I will move onto the final colorway of the week.

LOVE SHACK (baby, Love Shack – yes now that song will be in your head for the rest of the week. You’re very welcome) is a superwash merino roving inspired by a bus stop I saw whilst touring Days Bay in Wellington, New Zealand. This covered stop was painted in hues of red, orange, yellow, adorned with painted hearts and the word LOVE on the bench.

The customer who purchased LOVE SHACK asked me to spin it for her and here’s a sneak peak of the final yarn (currently drying from setting the twist).

 

There you have it – my adventures in warm color fiber painting. I will say that Rubies & Emeralds was my favorite at the beginning of the week, but now seeing the thread-plied Love Shack, I’m thinking that’s the winner in my book.  Tune in next week for more fiber fun . . . I’ve got a few more rovings drying as I write and a couple more waiting to be posted 🙂

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there, and a very special Mother’s Day and big hug to my Grandma Lillian.

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Week 15

Well, this week is more like ‘yarn’ colors as I didn’t paint any wool, but will definitely add that to the list for next time!

I have 2 hand-spuns and 2 hand-painted to share! I’m having such a ball with these new yarns and so far they are coming out quite nicely.

GALAXY 2 is a merino/silk/stellina (sparkle) lace-weight dyed in light blues with a hint of lilac.

ZION is the first of the hand-spun yarn. This one I was going to sell the roving, but it was so interesting that I thought I’d try spinning it myself, then thread-plying with a silver/gray thread. Zion is named for Zion National Park in Utah. Here’s the inspirational photo as well.

RUSTIC is from my new tweed yarn, painted with browns, blues and purples. I just love how this came out! This yarn has 2 plies of non-superwash wool together with 1 ply of SW, so each type takes the dyes different which accounts for the ‘tweed’ effect.

Lastly, WORLDLY is a hand-painted, hand-spun yarn using food-grade dyes. Yup, had to take out the Kool-Aid and food coloring out for a ‘dye fix’ late one evening 🙂 This is 64 count merino wool that I spun first, then dyed using 2 packets of Berry Blue Kool-Aid, 2 packets of Lemon Lime, then mixed Green & Black food dyes for the dark green, Blue & Black for the dark blue. . . but they all came out as pastels! LOL! I have photos of the dye process that I need to post as well . . .

Enjoy!