2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 8-9

Aloha! Here are the colors and inspirational images for weeks 8-9.

Here’s another colorway inspired by our movie, Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 2. This is WATERMELOPHANTS (yup, cross between a watermelon and elephant) in 64 ct merino wool and sw merino fingering yarn:

Our trailer came out this week and we are pretty excited it about! Check it out:

Our team did a little fun spoof animation that features our cast and food creatures. My favorite is Sam (in the back with the glasses):

Another new colorway: OWL BUTTERFLY in merino/silk fingering yarn and Mixed BFL wool:

And the inspirational photo I took at a butterfly farm on St. Maarten. Our guide told us that the butterfly’s ‘owl-eye’ pattern on his wing was to keep predators at bay. Fascinating!

DANDELION Batt in merino, wool and banana fibers:

Purple/blue ounce of Targhee roving (I sooo want to spin this up myself, but am trying to be patience and spin up my black alpaca first) . . .

Here are a couple more skeins of SUNSET IN GALLIPOLIS. This first one is a variation in alpaca lace yarn:

In merino/silk/stellina (sparkle) lace yarn:

and a vibrant version in sw merino lace yarn:

I also posted a pretty dark pink ballet/pointe shoe bag:

I thought I’d also share a few projects I’ve been working on. First, is some spinning I completed! I spun about 2.4 ounces of beautiful black alpaca into 268 yards of a 2-ply lace weight skein. I want to make a lace scarf so I need about 2-3 more skeins before I can start knitting.

One final photo. . . I finally completed my first lace project, a scarf using KnitPick’s Shadow Tonal merino lace yarn. For me, it was a challenging pattern just because I’m not used to doing lace work and took me over a year to complete it. It is being gifted to a family member who likes to get my ‘first’ projects (mistakes and all), and hope she likes it.

enjoy!

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2013 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 6-7

Aloha! Here are the colors and inspirational images for weeks 6-7.

I’ll start with a new colorway inspired by the upcoming movie, Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 2. We had a write-up last month in USA Today and it talked a bit about our food creatures. This colorway is called FLAMANGOES (cross between a flamingo and a mango), in corriedale cross roving and merino/nylon fingering yarn:

Based on the inspirational photo created by the many talented artists I get the privilege of working with. The flamangoes are on the bottom right corner.

For Christmas last year, I dyed up some silk & velvet cut scarves and gave them away as gifts. Of course, I made one for myself first to test the process :).  I loved how the scarves turned out so I made more for the shoppe:

This scarf has a rose motif in raspberry:

This floral scarf is in pretty blue/teal:

I love how the daisies pop on this bright orange scarf with a black background:

And my favorite combination of color – this is a bouquet motif scarf in purple with a black background:

I also dyed up this skein of merino/bamboo/nylon fingering weight:

Another LIGURE SUNSET 2 in merino/tencel roving:

And some bamboo roving in blue-green, lavender/blue-green and light blue-green :

enjoy!

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!

2012 Yarn & Fiber Colors – Weeks 25 & 26

Aloha everyone and Happy Summer!

Here are the colors for weeks 25 and 26. This time we start off in New Zealand for some oldies but goodies.

QUEEN’S WHARF at NIGHT in superwash merino/nylon fingering yarn and merino/silk roving:

On another part of Wellington comes the inspiration for LOVE SHACK in sw merino lace yarn, merino/bamboo roving and merino/nylon/stellina fingering yarn:

Traveling across the Pacific, we make a quick stop in Hawaii to watch a HONU CROSSING. This was inspired by an image that a fellow spinner posted on Ravelry.com and she thought it would be a fun colorway for me to recreate in wool.

This is her version in merino/bamboo:

And a couple more I couldn’t resist dyeing up in polwarth roving and merino/tencel fingering yarn:

And lastly we head farther east and south to beautiful Asheville, NC for another oldie, MORNING AT BILTMORE INN in sw merino/cashmere/nylon fingering yarn and BFL/silk roving:

enjoy!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 35-36

Some weekends I do really great with organizing my time to dye/paint and crank out a good amount of dyed wool. It also helps when the creativity hits me just right. Week 35 was one of those weekends for me and I was able to dye up 11 skeins of yarn 🙂 That was so much fun, and I didn’t even mind the re-skeining (by hand!). Here are some of the colorways:

VIEW FROM FURIGEN in merino/tencel lace:

THANKSGIVING in merino/tencel fingering:

SURF ‘N’ TURF in merino/silk lace weight:

TEQUILA SUNRISE in superwash merino lace weight:

SEA DRAGONS in merino/bamboo fingering:

PEACH COBBLER in merino/nylon/stellina fingering:

MORNING at BILTMORE INN in superwash merino/nylon fingering:

BILTMORE BENCH in superwash merino, fingering:

COMET TRAIL in sparkly merino/silk lace weight:

EIFFEL AT DUSK in superwash merino lace:

HALONA in a tweed fingering:

Some handspun fun . . .

GOLDEN PINEAPPLE in Peruvian wool:

HIEROGLYPHICS in superwash BFL

enjoy!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Weeks 33-34

Aloha All! Here are my yarns/fibers from weeks 33-34!

This is AHI POKE in superwash merino wool lace weight. The Fiber Fairy (she-who-will-not-be-named) secretly gifted this skein to another fiber enthusiast. How cool is that?

WINDWARD WATERS is a merino/cashmere/nylon blend fingering yarn that reminds me of the waters off Hawaii.(yes, i know, what doesn’t remind me of Hawaii . . . )

AQUA OVERLAY is also a mer/cash/nylon blend. This was dyed with a beautiful bright aqua, then overlayed with black. I love how the aqua bits poke through here and there.

BEACH UMBRELLA is named for all those colorful umbrellas you see on any given day at Waikiki Beach. A lot of the hotels will rent out these large umbrellas to offer a bit of shade to sun worshipers.

A couple versions of RAINY DAY EIFFEL in Falkland British Merino/Tencel lace and a “Sparkle” fingering weight.

More LAVENDER LEMONADE in mer/silk lace and mer/bamboo fingering weight.

And some wool!

This is FALL HARVEST, a South American wool top.

Oh, sigh and WAIMEA CANYON in merino/tencel. Swoon. . .

WAIMANALO STORM in targhee!

PEACH COBBLER in BFL/Silk:

STREETS OF VERSAILLES in merino/silk:

and the inspirational photo taken on a street in Versailles, France

a quick note on this photo, this was taken Thanksgiving Day 2009. we were trying to find a place for lunch and i knew exactly where i wanted to go. since i allow myself only ONE Big Mac sandwich per year, i always wait until i’m someplace special to have it. i made my family have Thanksgiving lunch at the McDonald’s in Versailles and it was the BEST Big Mac i’ve ever had! when i see this photo i actually don’t think of King Louis XIV’s grand palace, but of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. . .

SUNSET OVER TITLUS in superwash merino:

and the inspirational photo taken atop Mount Titlus, Engleberg, Switzerland @ 10,000 feet up

SURF ‘N’ TURF in BLF/Alpaca:

and THANKSGIVING, in merino/bamboo:

Also, a couple weeks ago, I found a great site with instructions on how to blend fibers using hand carders so I thought I’d give it a go. I took about 1/2 ounce of merino/silk fiber dyed up in my Ka’anapali colorway and blended them in about 2 passes through the hand carders. I did pull the roving out just as in the website and it worked. Here’s a quick photo of the pulled roving ‘nest’ on top of the original non-blended wool. Fun!

enjoy!