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!

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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!

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!

2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 27-28

Aloha! Tour de Fleece is moving right along and I’ve had a blast trying new things. Here are a few of my works thus far:

My first try at coiled yarn using corriedale cross and silk. It’s a bit of a mess, but I like it so much I decided to try again. . .

Second try at coiled yarn using Peruvian wool and a lace yarn core. A bit better but I still want to do more. but I’ll stop for now . . .

Here are a few non-art yarn yarn that I’ve spun up 🙂

WHISKEY BARREL in BFL/silk, 3.1 oz. 252 yds of light fingering weight yarn, ~21 WPI.

Completed 6/30/13

SPRITZER in Polwarth, 4 oz. 390 yards of fingering weight yarn, ~23 WPI.

Completed 7/5/13.

FARMERS OVERALLS in merino, fine wool, alpaca and bamboo, 4oz.  280 yds, single lace weight.

~ 30 WPI. Completed 7/14/13.

this is the yarn fresh off the bobbin, still wiggly…

That’s everything so far. I just started another braid of 6.2 oz so that one will take a while. In the meantime, more yarny stuff.

Here’s a dress I completed for a 2 year old. The pattern is called “Evie’s Dress” and available for free on Ravelry. Instead of using ribbon for the ties, I just made knitted ties so Audrey’s mom (my co-worker) can toss the dress in the wash and not worry about ribbons fraying.  I hope it fits!

Alright, now for the colors for Weeks 27 – 29 . . . finally.

A couple new colorways for ya. This one is BILTMORE SUNFLOWERS in BFL/silk roving and superwash merino lace yarn.

Inspired by the photo I took while on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. The sunflowers have their backs to my camera, but I was still stunned at how tall they were. Now, who wouldn’t want to run around and do cartwheels in that field?

PURPLE MOUNTAIN MAJESTIES in superwash BFL roving and merino/bamboo/nylon fingering yarn. Makes me want to sing America the Beautiful!

An oldie but a goodie, AHI POKE in Polwarth roving and merino/tencel fingering yarn.

Another new colorway, PRIMARIES & PURPLE in small braids of alpaca/merino/silk roving, merino/tencel roving and alpaca/silk lace yarn.

I spun up a little bit of the mer/ten on my Russian spindle – here’s what it looks like as lace weight single.

And somewhat lastly, I’ve neglected Waimanalo, my drumcarder, for ages so have been trying to spend more time with her. Yes, I named my carder and yes, she’s a she. (FYI – my car is named Haze – pronounced Hazy. Also a ‘she’. . . Best not to ask . . . )

Here’s a mini batt of merino, corriedale, targhee polypay cross, wool.

I’ve been crocheting more ballet bags as well and decided to put them in a section on the shoppe. I’m aiming to make more this summer too.

And lastly, the technical achievement of the week: after owning AlohaBlu.com for a few years now, I never found out how to have it forward to my Etsy shoppe. Last week, having time to research it and ready to learn html scripting, it turns out my domain host actually has a function to do that for me! All I had to do was type in the website I wanted it to forward to and voila! It’s done! So, now AlohaBlu.com will send you to AlohaBlu.Etsy.com.

Yay.

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!

2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 4-5

Aloha and Happy February! Here are the colors and inspirational images for weeks 4-5.

BARE NAKED TREE is a new colorway in polwarth/silk roving and sw merino lace yarn.

Based on the photo I took while in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Another new colorway is SUNSET IN GALLIPOLIS in BFL/silk roving and baby alpaca lace yarn.

This inspirational photo was taken by Bryan Blair, owner of Nybble Cafe in Gallipolis, Ohio who snapped the beautiful photo  outside their cafe at sunset. I am told their cafe serves wonderful food and showcases work from local artists. Check them out at www.facebook.com/nybblecafe, or stop by for a bite. Photo was used by permission by the artist (thank you Bryan!)

Next up is HONOLULU COFFEE COMPANY in BFL roving, merino/tencel roving and sparkle fingering yarn.

This colorway was based on the logo from my favorite Hawaiian coffee company.

I wanted to dye up some camouflage variations and came up with BRIGHT CAMO roving in Shetland wool, DARK CAMO in merino/nylon fingering yarn, CAMO and PASTEL CAMO in Shetland wool batts.

enjoy!

2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 2-3

Aloha All! Here are the first colorways for 2013.

OHIO SNOW in mixed bfl/silk roving and sw merino/bamboo/nylon fingering yarn:

Based on the photo I took over the holidays whilst visiting in-laws

HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE in sw merino lambswool roving and sw merino/tencel fingering yarn:

Based on the photo I took on Oahu:

 VERANDA CEILING in merino/silk roving and alpaca lace yarn:

Based on a photo of a painted veranda ceiling from The Breakers mansion, built by one of the Vanderbilt families, in Newport, Rhode Island.

And some finished socks.

ROMAN FORUM SOCKS

STRIPED SOCKS

I’ll end with the “First Look” into the animated feature I’m currently working on, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2. This image was released last week in USA Today.

Our amazing creative team of artists designed this environment and these creatures including the Wild Scallions, Cantalope, Wildebeets, Bananostrich, Hippotatomus, Fruit Cockateil and Watermelophants. Looking at all these food creatures everyday does make us hungry, so we tend to eat a lot (and often!) at work. Luckily I love to eat 🙂 More on Cloudy 2 as we get closer to release, which is set for September 27, 2013.

enjoy!

2012 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 42 – 47

ALOHA!!

I haven’t been able to post since our vacation in October so I’ll try to catch up! I’ll start with some knitted socks.

KANE SOCKS  (kane means ‘man’ or ‘male’ in Hawaiian, and yes, a wahine – ‘woman/female’ pattern is being worked out)

LOUISVUITTON-INSPIRED SOCKS in blue/white

YIN YANG SOCKS

Now for some yarn and wool! I’ll start with some batts.

KAANAPALI BEACH in shetland

inspirational photo:

HONU CROSSING in polwarth

inspirational image:

SUGAR & SPICE in merino/corriedale

SWISS CHOCOLATE in polwarth/silk

MONSTER MASH in shetland, peruvian, corriedale cross, banana fiber

And yarn and fiber . . .

COFFEE BEAN & TEA LEAF in merino/cashmere/nylon fingering yarn, polwarth roving and sw merino lace yarn

STREETS OF VERSAILLES in merino/silk roving

inspirational photo taken in 2010

SWISS CHOCOLATE in merino/tencel fingering yarn and merino/tencel roving

THANKSGIVING in merino/cashmere/nylon fingering yarn and sw merino/tencel roving

CHANNEL ISLANDS in sparkle lace yarn and merino/silk roving

BUTTERFLY FARM DUO in 50/50 merino/silk fingering yarn and sw bfl roving

inspirational photo taken in 2006

MW3 URBAN in 50/50 merino/silk fingering yarn, merino/tencel lace yarn and mixed bfl roving

KEEGAN in merino wool lace yarn

inspired by hubby’s video game character

SOUTH SEAS in sparkle lace and merino/nylon fingering yarn

and the inspirational image (one of my favorites!)

more to come! enjoy and happy thanksgiving weekend!

2012 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 37 To 41

ALOHA!!

Been a busy month but quite exciting. I’ve been able to do more knitting than spinning and some dyeing in between but nearly as much as I would like, of course. Here are the colors for weeks 37 to 41.

I’ll start with some socks that I’ve completed. I’m hoping to submit a couple of these to KP’s Independent pattern program once I get the time to type up a submission!

This pair is LouisVuitton-Inspired socks in light & dark blue. The yarn is KP’s Gloss (merino/silk) in Dusk and Dolphin and I made one sock using Dusk as the main, and the other using Dolphin – just to show the contrast:

This pair is Crazy Crazy Eights in KP’s Chroma in Sunrise and Palette in Cayenne:

These are my Smocked Socks that I’m still testing the pattern – in KP Stroll in Mermaid and Imagination in Pixie Dust:

And onto yarn & fiber.

This is AVALON in superfine merino/lace yarn, sw merino/nylon fingering yarn and sw BFL roving:

LIGURE SUNSET 2 in merino/tencel lace yarn, merino/tencel roving and mixed BFL/silk roving:

PIETA ALCOVE in sw merino/nylon fingering yarn and wool/alpaca/bamboo roving:

LOVE SHACK in sparkle fingering yarn and sw BFL roving:

A couple batts: TEQUILA SUNRISE in merino/corriedale/BFL/silk/banana fiber:

and VINTAGE CHRISTMAS in corriedale cross:

More merino/tencel in a new colorway, COCONUT PALM – in lace yarn and roving:

and the inspirational photo from Oahu

CRAB SHELL in merino/tencel lace yarn and polwarth/silk roving:

SEA DRAGONS batt in corriedale cross:

Another new colorway GOLDEN EIFFEL in merino/silk lace yarn, sparkle fingering yarn and black alpaca/silk roving:

and the inspirational photo I took

EARLY FALL in bamboo/cotton fingering yarn:

FADED RAINBOW in Peruvian Highland fingering yarn:

FALL in BFL/silk roving and sw merino fingering yarn:

and HONOLULU FIREWORKS in wool/alpaca/bamboo roving and sparkle fingering yarn:

and the inspirational photo

Note: the shoppe will be closed from October 18 – 27.

Enjoy!

2012 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 33 to 36

ALOHA! Here are the colors for weeks 33 through 36.

BILTMORE BENCH in Mixed BFL/Peruvian wool batt:

BURNING SUNSET OVER HALEIWA in merino/bamboo/silk roving, merino/silk lace yarn, and merino batt:

MW3 WOODLAND in merino/bamboo/nylon roving and superwash merino/nylon fingering yarn:

AQUA OVERLAY in Falkland British Merino/Tencel lace yarn:

BIG SUR VIEW in Shetland roving,  sw wool/nylon roving and sparkle fingering yarn:

LOVE SHACK in merino/bamboo roving and sparkle lace yarn:

SEA DRAGONS in BFL/silk and merino/silk batts:

WORLDLY in cotton roving:

BLU HAWAII in Hawaiian Romney wool:

MONSTER MASH in baby alpaca lace yarn:

MW3 URBAN in cotton roving and merino wool batt:

AVOCADO CHEESECAKE 2 in sw merino lambswool roving, alpaca/merino/silk roving, and merino/tencel fingering yarn:

enjoy!