Lion Monument in Winter Colorway

Here is a brand new colorway to the shoppe: Lion Monument in Winter! This was inspired by a photo I took while visiting Lucerne, Switzerland in the winter of 2010.

The monument honors the fallen Swiss Guards during the French Revolution – revolutionaries stormed the palace of King Louis XVI and overran the Swiss Guards in 1792. This monument was dedicated in 1821 in a beautiful grotto. Over 200 years later, it still impresses any visitor to see it. I’ve seen it twice – in Fall and Winter, and each season carries beauty, reverence and contemplation.

It was great fun to get back into the dye studio and create this colorway. I love neutral colors (my wardrobe consists of a lot of grays, blacks & white) and I envision knitted/crocheted socks or hats to go with any outfit!

Available in lace, sock, DK & worsted weight yarn on AlohaBlu.com.

Direct link: alohablu.com/collections/yarn

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Here are more images from that Switzerland trip. This one shows a good scale of the Lion with me in the foreground. Truly a beautiful and massive piece of art.

Here is one of my favorite pictures – hubby calls it the “Christina” hobbit photo.

Years later, I still have this purple wool coat, and have since purchased some lighter weight puff coats for colder weather. Though after watching “Shetland” on Britbox, I may have to invest in a navy blue double-breasted peacoat like Jimmy Perez wears. . .

Here’s a night shot of Lucerne! Just stunning.

I would be remiss if I didn’t post some food images. After all, Switzerland is the land of chocolate and cheese. (FYI, Swiss Air serves cheese sandwiches and chocolates as snacks on their flights. How.Truly.Awesome.)

Candies & Chocolates @ Heini, Luzern

Cakes & Tortes

Cheese fondue @ Restaurant Fritschi, Luzern

I’ll end this with a fun photo of my first time skiing! What better place to learn then in the Swiss Alps with a master ski instructor (our Godson’s Grandfather, who worked for a ski equipment company)? He fitted us up with the proper equipment and gave us lessons in skiing & snowboarding.

I had a blast going up and down the kiddie slope along with pre-teens and toddlers (even the toddlers with pacifiers-in-mouth were better at skiing that me – LOL) and was happy I did not fall down once! Jake and I have vowed to go skiing/snowboarding again so it’s definitely on our bucket list.

Snow fun @ Hasliberg

Stay tuned for more colorways and photos! Be sure to follow on Instagram as well:
AlohaBlu Yarn : http://www.instagram.com/alohablu
AlohaBlu Photography: http://www.instagram.com/alohablu_photography

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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!

Yarn & Fiber Colors for Week 10

Hi all and Happy Friday! Here are a few colors from last week:

BIG SUR VIEW is a Merino/Bamboo/Nylon blend and the inspiration photo is from a visit to Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California.

LAVENDER BARK was a fun experiment using Superwash BFL. This was based off of yarn that I spun using a pretty lilac/purple and a dark brown.

MEDIEVAL WALL is the second version of this roving. This one uses a wonderful Oatmeal BFL base wool which I then dyed with browns, grays, yellows.  Inspirational photo is from the Medieval Wall in Lucerne, Switzerland.

PRETZELS & BEER. What else is there to say? LOL! I have been dreaming about dyeing up this colorway since our trip to Switzerland. We visited a brewery in Lucerne where we ordered a handmade pretzel and Swiss beer. I wish I could remember the name of my drink because it a mix of beer and soda (maybe like a Sprite) and was quite refreshing! We like the brewery so much we went back a few days later for more pretzels and beer 🙂

SWEETHEART is a lace weight yarn that was a nice shade of bright pink that I over-dyed with deep purple. I like it better this way 🙂

Enjoy!

Hasliberg

As the weather is getting warmer I thought I’d share more beautiful winter scenes from Switzerland.

These are from our trip to Hasliberg where I learned to ski. In the Swiss Alps. From a Swiss Ski Jedi Master. It was AWESOME! The photo on top is a view from the road in front of the family ‘hut’.

This is the road in front of the house where our friends would expertly ski and snowboard down and make a perfect-10 stop right in front of the house. It was like watching the Olympics.

From the house we went up to the Bidmi Ski station and that’s where we had our lessons on the bunny slopes along with other Swiss children 🙂

Once you get there, you can basically ski, sled or board anywhere there is snow. We, of course, had our cameras out like total tourists and were taking photos of everything. Here are a few of the wonderful scenery.

(Hasliberg, Switzerland | December 2010)

 

Mount Titlus

One of the afternoons on our Switzerland vacation was spent at the famous Mount Titlus in the town of Engelberg. I’ll start with my favorite photo then chronicle our adventure up (and down) the mountain.

This is a view from the top of Titlus, which is 10,000 feet elevation. There were plenty of birds around and I waited until this beautiful black-winged fellow flew into frame. It was -9 degrees C (15 degrees F) @  10,000 feet so I was freezing, but what a view!

Starting from the beginning, this is a view of Engelberg from the first gondola ride. (There were 3 different cars you had to get on to get to the top!)

A view of the platform for the 2nd gondola car. You can get off here and ski, but a lot of folks are heading to the top. Most of these people are in ski attire!

So, the artsy-type in me loves this photo. It’s another view from atop Titlus with a lens flare.

One exhibit they had at the top was the Glacier Grotto – where they have carved through a real glacier, fitted it with color lights that flickered in time with the music (which you choose). We were amazed to actually be IN a glacier, especially after seeing them from far away last summer on our Alaska cruise.

Sunset. This is the same view as the photo two above, except without the lens flare 🙂

Being this high up, we were above everything so these fluffy clouds look like bodies of ‘water’ in between the mountain tops.

When it was time to go, we were one of the last to leave (had to catch the sunset!) so we watched as the day turned into night during the 45 minute ride down the mountain. This is Engelberg @ night. Magical.

(Mount Titlus @ Engelberg, Switzerland | December 2010)

Fürigen Yarn!

This is by far one of the funnest yarns I’ve every spun! The brown is a natural Corriedale, the white is undyed Peruvian wool and the blue is Peruvian wool that I hand dyed.  I spun each color separately then plied them together to make a 3-ply worsted weight yarn. It’s rather heavy at 4.90 ounces (!) for 139 yards.

My inspiration for this one is the wonderful town of Fürigen in Switzerland and this photo of the house overlooking the lake is one of my favorites.

This yarn is available on the shoppe, though if no one takes it, I might just have to keep this one for myself . . . LOL!

Fürigen

Here are some photos of our family’s town in Fürigen, Switzerland. The photo above is the sun setting over Hotel Fürigen, which is not open now, but scheduled to be re-modeled into apartments as well as hotel rooms.

The photo below is the same sunset only an hour or so later. We walked to a look-out point and this is looking back towards the hotel (I think that’s the hotel in the center-right of the photo).

As we were walking to the look-out point, I took this photo of the lake as seen from the front of a house. This gorgeous house is actually a vacation rental house, so you can rent it out and wake to this view everyday. Swoon . . . .

Another view of the lake.

I took this photo in the town of Stansstad where we stayed at a local hotel. The snowy area up the hill is Fürigen.

(Fürigen, Central Switzerland | December 2010, January 2011)

 

Images of Lucerne

It had been about 20 years since I last visited Lucerne and it’s still just was beautiful as I remembered. This time the streets were snow-lined and the air crisp rather than filled with summer blooms, and still a great great city.  Here are some images of famous landmarks.

This is the 8-sided tower adjacent to the snow covered Chapel Bridge, which is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe. There are over 100 hand painted panels on the inside that were completed in the 17th century. According to my guide book, this tower has served as a lighthouse, prison and treasury.

Another snowy view of the Chapel Bridge and tower.

There is a beautiful medieval wall that goes along the north side of the Old Town which was built to fortify the city.  The towers are impressive as are the views of the city from atop the hill.

I love how all the tops of the towers are different. Photo by Jake.

Another view of the wall and foreground foliage.

A view of the neighborhood and city.

The Lion Monument is a tribute to the Swiss Guards who gave their lives while guarding the Tuileries Palace of Louis XVI in Paris in 1792. Taken with a flash, this photo captures the afternoon snow fall.

This photo is just to show you the scale of the monument.

And lastly, Lucerne at night. At the center of the photo is the Jesuit church.

(Lucerne, Switzerland | December 2010)

Pilatus

During our holiday trip to Switzerland, the sun poked through the clouds intermittently (unless you were above the clouds of course), but on the last day it was clear enough to see Pilatus mountain. We stayed in a quaint town called Stansstad and our hotel was a block away from the lake’s edge. During the summer months, residents enjoy all types of water sports in the lake and the winter months are spent in the snow. Across from Pilatus is the mountain town of Fürigen, where our friends/family live with gorgeous views of Pilatus, the lake and surrounding towns. Photos of Fürigen to follow shortly 🙂

(Stansstad, Switzerland | 1 January 2011)