Purple Power

I added a bit more purple to my lace-weight alpaca yarn. Here's the result.

The original yarn is on the left, overdyed yarn on the right. I wanted to add a bit more colour without obscuring the subtle variations. I think I achieved that. Now I've skeined  up all the yarn I have left and am ready to overdye it. I think I'll try to repeat what I just did for half the skein and add a bit more oomph to the rest. That should give me the effect I'm after. In any case, I know I can't end up with something I won't be happy to use with this yarn and colour combination. 

Better than Expected

This piece has a long and somewhat odd history. It's turned out better than it deserved to, really.

It started with a lovely lace-weight alpaca yarn, which unfortunately only came in muted blue and purple tones. My preference is for brighter shades, but the fibre was nice enough that I overcame my reluctance. I started on a feather and fan lace scarf. After about half a metre of knitting I flagged and stopped.

The project sat in my to-do box for many months. I pulled it out a few weeks ago. I felt bad about it, but couldn't convince myself to restart the lace knitting. On the other hand, I respected what I had done too much to pull it out. Then this idea popped into my head. Could I turn it into something else?

First I added a bit more length in garter stitch. The next step was to block the lace to make it look its best. That happened yesterday morning. As soon as it was blocked I was happy to have saved it. I stitched the short end of the garter stitch section to the side of the feather and fan section. Here's the result.

I like it. In fact I almost love it. Yes, I would prefer it to be a bit brighter, but I'm sure I'll wear and enjoy it as it is. And I have enough of this yarn left to try overdyeing it to spark it up a bit. There's a 100 meter skein in the dye pot as I'm typing. This story will be continued. 

It's Addictive

I thought I'd nearly finished my most recent armchair project, but I keep adding "just a few more rows".

I've just used the last of the variegated pink yarn. It's one of the alpaca yarns I used for the bushfire blanket. I used them in their natural colours for that project. For this one I've brewed up some great combinations of my landscape dyes to overdye both the cream and the natural grey colours. I think that means I really am about to do the last row, but there are probably enough colours left to keep me going through this evening. Then my next challenge will be to clear off my big table and tie up the fringes. 

Hot Hat

After the success of the black bunny wristies with blue trim. I decided to try for a matching hat.

I used the bunny yarn alone for the top, by which time--you guessed it--I was tired of plain black already. I added a strand of my hand-dyed lace-weight alpaca for the rest of the crown of the hat. I was pleasantly surprised at how much that little bit of blue lifted the whole thing. The other benefit was that it made for a denser, firmer fabric. Just right for a real hat structure. Then for the brim I dropped out the bunny yarn and used four strands of the alpaca to add the extra "pop" of blue. The whole thing is done in single crochet stitch (or double crochet depending which language you speak). I like the way it's holding its shape and I'm looking forward to how warm it will be now that the colder weather is here. What's more I have enough of both yarns to make a scarf to complete the outfit. More on that anon.

More Dyeing

I pulled out the dye pots on the weekend. Actually I used the rice cooker, which is one of my favourite dye pots. I still have a fair bit of the alpaca yarns, so I tried a little comparison.

I guess this is a bit of a test of the quality of the monitor's colour display. The differences are clearer in real life than they are on this computer. I've put a scrap of the undyed yarn on top of the dyed skeins: beige on the right, grey on the left. These are both natural fleece colours and the grey in particular look quite distinct to me, but they over-dye remarkably well. There's just a slightly different shading in the colour between the two. Now to admit, they're not quite dry yet, so I'll need to wait a little before I can wind them off and put them to use.

Colour Interest

When I started to tidy up my living room the other day I came across several skeins like this.

It's an 8-ply alpaca yarn which I bought a couple of years ago. I've still got quite a bit in grey and beige. Obviously this skein is neither of those. I've done a bit of over-dyeing for a new blanket project. Next I need to wind off some balls of yarn and pull out my crochet hook. 

Armchair Project

I like to have at least one "armchair project" on the go all the time. Here's my current one:

It's going to be a sofa throw, if you want to be formal about it,--or a comfort blanket if you want to look at it a bit more emotionally. I started it a week ago and am planning to give it to a family affected by the bushfires. The yarn is mostly natural coloured alpaca. The blue contrast is a blend of wool and mohair. I love the way the different natural alpaca colours both blend and contrast with one another. The blue is for water, which we so desperately need, and it's also a bit of a signature from me, since this is one of my favourite colours.

What's makes a good "armchair project"?

• It should be simple enough that I can pick it up for a few minutes and put it down again without having to worry too much about where I'm up to.
• At the same time it should be interesting enough to hold my attention for quite a while if I just need a quiet sit.
• If it's a nice soft texture, all the better, since I'm often sitting in that armchair to pull myself together or take a break from a heavy day.
• Also an armchair project often turns out to be something big: in contrast to the "take along" projects that I carry around with me. Big also has the benefit that I don't have to keep thinking of a new project to replace one I've just finished.
• These projects usually turn out to have some personal meaning as well. I find myself thinking while I sit and work on it. While my hands are busy, I think about what I'm making and why I'm making it; and where it will live when it moves on from its life with me.

Ball Winder

Continuing my "occasional series, introducing vital pieces of equipment" . . . mmm that does sound a bit grander than, "looking at my stuff" . . . here is my ball winder: The little metal arm with the coiled eyelet swings out to guide the yarn. The end of the yarn is held in the slit at the top of the plastic cylinder. When I wind the handle, the bit that looks like a flying saucer spins around and wobbles from side to side. It wobbles in a predictable patttern because of the angle at which it is set . . . and the result is a ball of yarn that looks like this:

This is alpaca yarn--that's it's natural colour. I have a darker grey, a chocolate brown and a caramel--also natural colours, just as they came off the alpaca's back, only cleaner--to go with it. The point about the ball of yarn, though, is that I can pull the yarn out from the centre of the ball. So the ball doesn't bounce around while I'm working with it. Believe me, that is a good thing!

I commented earlier that the "ball winder" has a rather unimaginative name. Since then I've remembered, and started to research something called a "nostepinde". That's a fancy name for something that looks like a nicely shaped wooden stick. It's the predecessor of the ball winder. All the turning and wobbling from side to side is done by hand. I admired one at the Guild the other day and one of my fellow students commented that she does exactly the same winding pattern on a toilet roll and it works just fine! So, why would I bother even thinking about a nostepinde? Well, the ball winder is a bit bulky, whereas a nicely shaped wooden stick, aka nostepinde would fit nicely into my pencil case. And besides, I just love gizmos and gadgets and nicely shaped pieces of wood, so I'd rather have one of those in my pencil case than an empty toilet roll.