by carmen | Jan 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
Okay, so no one told me that dyeing involved flames, chemical masks, mathematics and does not allow for a nice big piping open cup of coffee in your work environment. Last last condition alone might mean that dyeing is not for me.
And then I saw the colours……..
fuchsia TEAL
orange chartreuse
All of these greens came from the same dye pot. It’s an exciting exploration to see how each fibre accepts the dye.
There was so much more accomplished in the afternoon than simply making seas of green. Since I spin, I focused on dyeing rovings…What a difference between the BFL, kid mohair and wensleydale. The lustre of the kid mohair is remarkable. I also had a small silk skein as well as a roving of merino, bamboo and rayon that made it on to the painting table. I’ll be picking up those finished fibres on Thursday.
The only thing missing in the new process for me is actually raising the animals providing the fleece.
by carmen | Jan 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
Pearl sent this to me this morning and I am still trying to recover. My dream come true. A knit bus. Come on knitters, hop on and let’s take that trip to the magical wool store, where nothing itches, ALL of the wool is in sale bins and just the right colour and enough for your project.
The yarn taggers and graffiti artists out there rock my world. Other than world peace this is the best thing ever.
BTW, a book about this new wave of yarn taggers is coming out and it’s local gals….You’ve got to love the West Coast. Click here for the link.
This is much more interesting than the piddly little skein I was going to show you today… Oops, here it is, just for comparing how uninteresting it is now…
Gotta go, heading out to the bus stop.
by carmen | Jan 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
I will not be moved from this opinion….Silk, silk, glorious silk.
The fushia tussah silk has such an incredible shine to it. As I was coming home on the bus, I pulled it out of it’s clear package and spread it across my knees, actually fanning open the roving. I held it up to the sunshine and then ran my hand across it several times. I then touched it to my face.
For a moment, it was just me and this glorious fibre. For everyone on the bus riding with me, it was an interesting spectacle. No one seemed freaked out, just a bit curious. After I packed it back up, and pulled out a knitting project, my behaviour apparently made more sense. No more spectacle.
Once I got home I continued to play with the fibre. The fushia layer on the bottom, then teased beautiful mohair locks, the mustard is a squishy merino and the coffee coloured topper is some local romney locks. Quite the fibre cocktail.
I won’t be spinning this for a while. I just like looking at it on the shelf. It glows when the light comes into the room. Yep, nothing better than silk.
by carmen | Jan 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
I tend to keep politics out of the blog, but when it involves knitting or crochet, I’m willing to make an exception. Originally spied on Lime and Violet this morning, and then went straight to Ravelry.
Happy Inauguration Day!
Here is the link for the artist.
by carmen | Jan 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
So I bring my embarrassing yarn to class and it’s just not right, well, not exactly not right, but unfinished. It needs to be plied. These yarns are not singles. Back to the drawing board.
Toni is now in my class. It was exciting, but seriously no visible Starbucks in Coquitlam and only one hiding in a Safeway. Finding our way back to class was a bit of a misadventure, but it’s no fun to get there in a straight line!
So much pretty fibre in class today. It was a silk fest. As soon as I came home, I started spinning the matching singles to ply. It feels good to finally be on the right track.
by carmen | Jan 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
I have retooled a design from last year. There was nothing wrong with the design, but my yarn suffered a slight accident in shipping. This disentangling has given me some extra time to contemplate the original design.
It’s given me a bit more time for something else I have not experienced for a while. Stillness. I am delicately and intuitively detangling and winding…up, over, under, around, over again…and with no reason to rush or hurry. Mindfulness, calmness and an all over sense of peace over what would ordinarily make me crazy….
Blah, blah Canada Post, curse, curse…..deadline…..argh, the universe…..blah, blah..
I have no idea when this shift occurred or if this will happen again at the next misadventure. Somehow I am hoping it will. It felt nice.
