ombre

Stoppin' traffic

in

I have a confession. My attempts at getting truly vibrant colors have been futile as of late. When I mean vibrant, I mean so vibrant that it makes your eyes hurt because the color looks like it's physically moving the medium it's in.

But recently it seems the tides have turned. And of course I didn't even mean to do it. Isn't that always the way? But this neon orange - I'm sorry, we should really call it traffic cone orange - looks pretty awesome. 

Sock Yarn Soak Up

I bought this sock yarn last year. It's a wool/nylon blend and I just found out is great for dying. Well, it's great because it soaks up everything you put into the pot. And that's wonderful because I hate wasting dye. But when I say soaks up everything, I mean that it soaked it up within seconds and I had to dye this particular warp twice just to get the amount of yarn coverage I wanted. It was insane.  

What's also insane is that this particular color is called 'mouse gray'. I don't see anything about it that says mouse. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen a purple-ish mouse, right? Maybe that's what they're like out in the country, but all the mice and rats I've ever seen in this rat-infested city are more of a gray-brown.

How gorgeous is that? I love the affect when it gets warped onto the loom, with all of its variation. The hope is that this will eventually become pillows. Cross your fingers and stay tuned!

Undulating Twill...

Undulating twill is a great weave structure that gives a little visual interest to something that otherwise might look flat. Usually I use it with solid colored yarn because the weave structure is so interesting that it will take precedence over the color. This time around, I wove up a grey version of my favorite undulating twill pattern for a scarf. But the grey was felling a little dull, so I decided to spice it up a bit. 

A huge part of the fascination of dyeing is noticing what colors are leached into the fiber and in what order. (More on that soon! I have some really awesome ideas in the works based on this concept.) 
The fact that the blue leaches into the fiber last gives this one an interesting dynamic: you can see the blue at the edge and the red is deepest on the outmost layer of fuzz, best seen here:

Where's yours?

A lot of people, now that they know I've opened this little business, ask me when they see me, "Why aren't you wearing anything you've made?"

Sigh.

I've been quite busy making Christmas presents, and frankly have sold most of my stuff (this was not an attempt at gloating) but I figured I should probably put something together to show off in person. Okay. I'll squeeze that in, along with the rest of my tasks....

So here it is. A new scarf. Based on this one, but scaled in both directions and I changed the pattern a little. Solely for me. Consider it an early present to myself.

100% alpaca with ombré over-dye

Yarn Co...

Often I buy fiber off the internet thinking it's one thing, just to get it in the mail and find out it feels totally different than what it is. Such is the life of buying tactile things in a not so tactile way. So I've started to scour the NYC area for various yarn stores. It's really hard to find spools for weaving, but there are lots of sources for knitting. 
Recently I went to The Yarn Company, the boon being that they are close to my apartment and also sell high quality yarns. I found this really great 100% merino wool. So soft, naturally dyed, knits up quickly. 

Perfect for last minute Christmas gifts!