New in Blue

I made another welcome visit to Beautiful Silks on the weekend. Having tried out the samples I'd picked up last time, I was ready to stock up. I'm very excited about this new fabric-yarn. It's a silk waste in the form of torn strips. Perfect for dyeing and mixing with all sorts of other lovely things. Here it is in blue, fresh from my dyepot.

I've promised myself some time in my studio this afternoon to start working with it--or should that be playing with it?

Lemonade

It's a beautiful warm spring day. Yesterday I made lemonade. It was easy and today it's cool and tangy. So is the green wool which I've just pulled from my drying rack.

I've had a busy week and not quite enough sleep, so a sleepy sunny afternoon is just what I feel like today. 

Baby Blanket Begun

I decided not to go with the granny squares for the baby blanket. Instead I've turned to my favourite armchair project design.

I've dyed up some more yarns in the past few days. I like the way the variegated blue and palest of greens set off the other colours. Is this the time to confess that those two were dried off with my hair dryer because I couldn't bear to wait any longer to get stitching?

For reference, that's a 3mm crochet hook and 2 ply wool, so it's my usual design in miniature. It feels particularly apt to do it this way because a really big blanket like this was my gift to the parents-to-be. 

Beautiful Brown

I took up my dyeing challenge yesterday and brewed up these colours.

A combination of warm colours like red ochre, waratah, desert pea, kangaroo paw, sandstone and citrus resulted in a rich blend of autumn tones. Can you tell from the names that Landscape dyes are made in Australia? Meanwhile Spring seems to be well and truly on its way down here. I'm seeing more and more flowers on my daily walk.

Some photo-editing skills are on my wishlist. The skein is just a little bit more earthy in person  than what is showing up on my screen. I'd be grateful for any suggestions about where to start with learning to adjust my pictures. I'm using a PC and don't expect to convert to the Apple family any time soon.

Flower Variety

I'm filling in some of the gaps in my range of flower brooches. Of course there are plenty of pinks and purples in the collection already. On my table today:

The white one is made from Bendigo 2 ply yarn--it was an experiment. The blue-green is one of my procion hand-dyes--a corn silk fibre. The brown is a hand-dyed wool, left over from my latest armchair project. 

Warming Up

The forecast today is for 17 and sunny. Already the sky is blue, even though the temperature is only about 9 degrees. I can't express how much of an inner glow the forecast of *sunny* sparks in me. I'm planning to tackle some of the perpetual weeding challenge today. Meanwhile, I've already finished these--on the strength of a forecast. I think my mind must be solar powered!

My usual crochet rose-brooch pattern, this time in a hand-dyed bamboo fibre. I wasn't sure how the bamboo would hold it's shape, given its great capacity for drape, but it's made a firm glossy fabric that I'm quite happy with. 

Sort of Science

Colour mixing is definitely not rocket science, but the spirit of experimentation is alive and well. I've been carefully controlling all but a few variables to come up with my shade samples. Here's my set up.

I have three sets of these--they're designed for home-made icy-poles. I've thrown away the lids with their built in sticks, leaving me with a set of tiny wells to receive my dyes, water, vinegar and wool. I'm dyeing samples that are about 1.5 metres long. Folded up they fit nicely into the available space, with plenty of room to move and colour evenly. The bank of itty bitty dye pots sits in a lunchbox of water. The whole thing goes into the microwave to heat up. The water bath helps to regulate the heating and keeps everything nice and warm for longer. Otherwise it would be too tricky with such small quantities. I've done half a dozen sets of these over the weekend. I'm happy with the way it's working out for me.

And the Rest

The purples for my colour wheel are done.

As is often the case, I'm having trouble getting those colours to show up accurately. I adding white and greys to the frame for the camera to "see". Nothing changed. I also tried adjusting the colours manually, but I couldn't get the subtleties to show up any better. For reference, the other strands of colour are exactly the same as yesterday's. Any tips? 

Colour, Colour, Colour

My hand-dyed colour wheel samples are nearly done.

I ran out of space in my small kitchen before I'd mixed up the purples. I left those until last, since I'd had a good dose of that colour spectrum recently. This morning I tackled the washing up from recent meals and colour experiments--in separate sinks. Then I mixed up the dyes for my purples and popped them into the microwave. They're developing as I type and will be ready to rinse later today. I also did samples of different dilutions to achieve a spectrum of different tints for each of my primary colours. So my next task is to mix up some different shades using my landscape Currawong dye. The trick is to use a small enough dose of the black to see subtle differences.

By Request

My friend Sharon requested some yarn in the hot pink-purple tones I've been using for my socks. It's just about ready.

The weather here hasn't been conducive to drying, so the skeins are hanging on the back of my spinning chair in the living room, where they can have the benefit of some warm air. After that I just need to wind them into balls and they're ready to go. I anticipate a happy visit to the post office tomorrow.

Meanwhile I've been working on a hand-dyed colour wheel for myself. I'm using teeny-tiny samples, so it's been fiddly, but dyeing is always fun.



Marine Multi-Marle

This blog has recently been dominated by pink-purple tones. The blue-green range is another favourite of mine. This morning, while some of the pink-purple yarns were soaking and rinsing. I mixed up this multi-marle combination on my big table.

This time I have eight different colours, though it is hard to distinguish them all in the picture.

On my colour-to-do list is a hand-dyed wool colour wheel for reference purposes. I'd also like to challenge myself to do an interesting brown colour-way. I'm not immediately attracted to the natural colours, but they don't have to be dull. 

Next Day

Here's how yesterday's test skein looks today.

The colours have softened and blended and the distinction between the two different pinks is even less.

I dyed another skein in this same batch. When the original brew had apparently absorbed all the colour it could, I added another 50 grams of yarn which had previously been dyed a patchy blue. That one is now in the sink rinsing. As you would expect, it's much more purple than this one. 

Sock Success and an Opportunity

My first pair of toe-up socks is done. My plan is to try a slightly different technique for my next pair. There was just enough yarn left over to make a little flower brooch.

Meanwhile a friend has asked me to dye some yarn for her to use. That's just the little push I needed to get back to my idea of selling hand-dyed yarns again. So it will be dye pots here soon. 

Hand-dyed Happiness

I'm knitting another sock. This is a relatively thoughtless sock. That's not a reflection on its character. Perhaps I should say it's relatively "un-premeditated".  I hadn't really planned for my next carry along project after I finished the hot heels socks. I pretty much just cast these on as I was heading out the door so I would have something to carry with me in my handbag. Now the first of the pair is done and the second cuff is also nearly done, so it won't be long before I have one more opportunity for pretty warm feet.

I wasn't too sure about this particular skein of yarn before I started knitting, but I'm loving how it's coming off the needles.

It's the extra touches of red that confused me while it was in the skein and amuse me as they show up in a few stitches here and there.

Hot Heels

Here's my idea of the perfect footwear for a great night in.

The yarns are Bendigo 8-ply--I can't quite remember which one as it's years since I dyed these--on 4mm double pointed needles and 5 stitches per inch. I used the adult medium size from Anne Budd's "Getting Started Knitting Socks". And I'm proud to say I did the Kitchener stitch for the toes without checking the book while talking to a friend over coffee. I am rather pleased with that effort. I've re-established my confidence in my basic sock knitting skills after a little break. Now I need to look for a new challenge, but in the meantime I've cast on another pair in the same yarn, this time using the Spiral Rib pattern for the cuffs. That will be the project I carry around to knit in any spare minutes while I'm out and about. The new challenge--whatever it might be--will be reserved for times when I can concentrate and I'll get on with a new big project for my armchair. 

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. 

Nifty Knitting

I love knitting, and do a lot of it, but there are plenty of tips and tricks I am still learning. Yesterday I tried this for the first time.

I often add a crochet border to my knitting. This time I added a knitted border. That involved picking up stitches around the edge and then increasing at the corners. A little knitted facewasher or dishcloth was perfect as  test piece. And no I haven't woven in the loose ends or blocked it to make it look lovely yet. 

I'm planning to make a blanket or two out of my hand-dyed blue yarns. In fact a lot of the knitting is already done. I'm just working out how to put it all together and finish it off nicely. I think a knitted border will be part of the final design. 

Early Results

My microwave dyed skein is dry.

This first experiment was really just to check my basic technique as it's a while since I did any dyeing in the microwave. By the time it had cooled down all the dye was exhausted. I was overdyeing some blue yarn with landscape grevillea. I'm happy with the berry colour that resulted from the colour combination. As you can see there are patches of undyed yarn visible. For my next test I will use a bit more dye and try to move the skein around in the dyepot a bit more to avoid that. I really like a variegated result for most of my dyeing, but not so much for colour wheel samples. And of course the yarn for my samples will start off white.  Meanwhile I have a useful skein of yarn in a colour I like.

Sky

There are patches of blue in the sky today! And I have enough natural light to photograph this addition to my blue brew collection. It's the feltable wool I picked up for a bargain price recently--now hand-dyed and unfelted.

I'm still planning the blanket I mean to make with the various hand dyed sky blue skeins. Meanwhile I was able to pick up another ten balls of this yarn in white at the same price. I want to do some samples and a colour wheel with my Landscape dyes.

In other news, the brighter light is showing up the dust bunnies and cobwebs around the house very clearly, so a bit of cleaning is also on the priority list.

Good Thing?

You know I love a bargain! So when I saw this wool for only $2.50 per ball it immediately caught my attention.

I was looking for some yarn to dye to go with my blue brew, so feltable had me a little wary. I bought two balls to try it out. I'm happy to report that my test skeins are dyed and rinsed with no sign of felting. Now to check if that particular bargain is still available. I'll post a pic of the dyed yarns when they're dry--assuming the weather clears up anytime soon so I can take a picture without artificial light.