Raspberry Truffle

I came up with this colorway a few months ago, and though it was not what I was actually going for, it was love at first sight.  It is a blend of olive brown, golden brown, and burgundy.  I had no idea what to name it, so I did what I usually do in such cases -  brought it home and showed it to Brian.

He was sitting at his computer working on something, took one quick look, and said absently "it looks like a raspberry truffle" and then turned back to his computer screen.

Right.

So of course I had to knit something with it!

 

This is a new Swirl, Wild Thyme.  Love. It.  This is definitely my favourite swirl so far.  It consists of two yarns; one an alpaca, merino, bamboo blend that has small loops and is very soft and fluffy.  The other yarn called for in the pattern is a DK weight, so I used a merino and bamboo blend that has a light sheen.  The two yarns take dye in a similar muted manner and I think they are lovely together (kits are available, see our website).

I also made a shawl out of one of my 500-yard skeins - this is a bonus sample for Yarn Durango, a great shop that is now carrying Cat Mountain Fiber Arts yarn.

I liked how this shawl came out so much that I immediately started another one for me.  I think this is my new favourite colourway.  

We'll be doing a trunk show at Needle Rock Fiber Arts in Telluride on Labor Day Weekend.  More details soon!

All the cool kids were doing it

Of course I am about a year behind the times compared to all the cool kids, but I just had to make a Color Affection.

I think I saw about 30 of these at Vogue Knitting Live in New York, and I really was wishing I'd had mine finished then as it was cold and windy where we were there.

I used three skeins of Cat Mountain Fiber Arts Superwash Merino Sock Yarn in Dusk, New Jeans and Terra Cotta.

I did the added yarn over on the edge that Yarn Harlot suggested, and it was still pretty tight.  Not sure what would solve that, but it seems okay.  Its very cozy, and I liked this color combination. 

More of a Knitter

I am more of a knitter than a weaver.  I weave a little on Schacht Flip Rigid Heddle Loom.  I am not very good at it, I am afraid.

Nevertheless, last weekend I decided that I would warp my little loom and weave a project with a Cat Mountain Fiber Arts Fusion 800 Skein.  To my delight, I was recently accepted as a vendor at the Intermountain Weavers Conference and I really need some hand woven samples to show how this yarn looks woven.

After dusting off and unfolding my loom, I realized that I did not know where my warping peg was.  Correction: I knew precisely where the peg was, but the whereabouts of the clamp that I needed to hold the peg to the table remained a mystery.  Not to be deterred, I devised substitute for a warping peg.  I am too embarrassed to post photos of this, but suffice to say it involved a folding chair turned upside down with the legs up in the air, placed about 6 feet from the table where I braced the loom.  Off I went, using a direct warping method. I used the six different smooth strands of this eight-textured skein for warp, thinking that they would be less likely to break or fray than the two fuzzy yarns would.

Feeling Very Accomplished and Clever, I tied off the warp strands and got ready to weave.  And promptly realized that I did not have a shuttle at the house.  (I do have countless sets of knitting needles at the house, please refer to the title of this post.)

So my weaving project had to wait until this weekend.  Fortunately I remembered to bring a shuttle home when I was at the studio on Friday and now have nearly finished a scarf.

The colorway is "Ancient Mariner." I am using all of the eight textures as weft, and with little rhyme or reason, am just weaving an inch or two with each one and then changing to another. 

My selvedges aren't that great (again see the title, and the first paragraph, of this post), and I am seeing some waves in the fabric.  I think the waves are a result of using six different types of yarns with different fiber content as warp - they stretch differently than one another.  For example, the 100% superwash merino is stretching quite a bit, while the 50/50 merino/tencel blend is not stretching much at all.  I think it will all be okay when its finished, which I hope will be later today.  Very likely a real weaver who is not a hack like me could verify this.  Happy Weaving!

A Reluctant Model

I really hate having my photo taken.  Thankfully, I have a very patient husband who also happens to be a photographer who also happens to have taken classes to learn about lighting and posing, er, voluptuous girls to make us look a little less large.   He is so lucky to have me to practice on!

So last week we did a photo session in his studio (conveniently located in the Alamosa Masonic Lodge next door to my yarn studio) to record some completed knitted projects made with my hand dyed yarns. Please excuse the goofy expressions.  A model I am not.

Here is a Swirl jacket from the Knit, Swirl! book by Sandra McIver.  This was "Plum Perfect" in 10-textured Fusion Yarn in the colorway  "Scheherazade."


Next is another Swirl jacket from the same book.  I just finished this one - the pattern is "Sheer Beauty" in the colorway "Aurora Borealis."  This was a special kit created just for this jacket, and is a merino/silk/stellina (glitter) and kid mohair/silk/lurex (glitter) blend.  I have also created kits for this jacket that do not contain glitter, having found that while some knitters love bling in their yarn, others are violently opposed to it.

The yarn that I used for "Plum Perfect" can be found on our web site, at my studio, in our vendor booth if you catch us at an event, or at one of the wonderful yarn shops that stock us (see right).  We are working on getting kits for other Swirl jackets up on the web site, but presently they are available in our studio and at events.  Happy Knitting!

Hello!

Welcome!  This is the new home of my former blog, In Search of Joy.    Check back for posts about dyeing yarn, knitting, cooking, hiking and more.