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!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 37-38

Happy Fall Season everyone! I can’t believe summer is already over though the weather has been turning out here in LA. It’s a nice change for sure. I haven’t posted too much this week on the shoppe as I’ve been working on custom orders, but here are a few for your viewing pleasure:

This is FALL in merino/bamboo roving:

and in Tweed fingering yarn:

Another colorful creation is PORTOFINO, in merino/silk:

based on a photo I took of this famous town

and  RAINY DAY EIFFEL in luxurious alpaca/merino/silk (gasp!):

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!

Rainy Day Eiffel

I originally posted this photo last year, but wanted to post again with some additions 🙂

For my mother’s 60th birthday last year, we celebrated over Thanksgiving week in the City of Light.  Once we arrived in Paris we were pretty tired and decided to have a leisurely afternoon.  We boarded the  ‘Batobus’  and took a tour on the Seine River which circled the city and allowed the passengers views of several famous monuments and buildings including Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum and of course, Tour Eiffel.  It started to rain so we all huddled inside away from the cold and I snapped this photo through the window of the boat.  The raindrops on the windows made for a great foreground element, while the Paris sun was setting behind the tower.

(Paris, France | November 2009)

Being one of my favorite travel photos, I wanted to create a colorway for this and found a combination of colors that worked.  RAINY DAY EIFFLE is a mix of grey clouds, black silhouettes of the tower and trees, and a bit of sun poking through.

Roving available @ AlohaBlu.Etsy.com

Photo print available @ AlohaBlu.Deviantart.com

Eiffel At Night

Another photo from our trip to Paris, this was taken just after sunset and we took the elevator to the 2nd floor shortly thereafter. Little did we know that a light show on the tower was going to start! It was thrilling to be staring out at all of Paris while all these lights were flashing before our eyes. Later that evening, while we were on a dinner cruise, a more extensive light show came on as we were able to view it from our boat. It was truly amazing.

(Paris, France | November 2009)

‘Our Lady of Paris’ in the Morning (Notre Dame)

On Thanksgiving Day 2009 we decided to head out to the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. It was overcast most of the week, but the sun managed to poke through here and there throughout the day.  They were setting up a huge Christmas tree in the front so that was exciting to watch and get into the holiday spirit.

(Paris, France | November 2009)