Sunset Sky

Continuing my color exploration.......
This time it's blues and purples. This combo above reminds me of a purple sunset in a blue sky.









The colors in the skein in the smaller photo also reminds me of some beautiful sunset colors I have seen. This is the only skein that I made of this color combination because I originally dyed it with the skeins you see below, but the lighter pink section did not dye evenly. So I decided to hand-paint in some orange and this is what it came out like.

I Really Like These Colors

Some more of my dyed yarn. these samples are some of my favorite color combinations: pink, orange, and teal, olive green, light brown and lavender.



I am working on softening up this yarn, since it is quite rough. I believe it came from a rug factory. After dyeing the yarn, I wash it, then soak it in fabric softener for about 30 minutes, then rinse. It definitely softens the yarn a bit, but it is still on the rough side. I am experimenting now on felting the fabric. Future posts on that.

Another Toy

In my search for ways to make knitted items faster, I decided to check out a knitting machine. There are quite a few on the market, but my thought was to get an inexpensive one to play around with, in case it became a failed experiment. I checked out Ebay, and found tons of machines, from $20 to over $10,000! The one I chose is a Bond Incredible Sweater Machine, which has a plastic bed and carriage.

It took a little time to get the bugs out of it, but now have it working pretty well. It is very fast to make a simple stockinette stitch, but when you start doing some kind of pattern, you have to hand manipulate the stitches, which takes some time. Still, I think it has some potential for certain things, and the idea of upgrading at some point is not out of the question.


You can see some samples I made here, just playing around.

MORE YARN!

For this batch, I used Teal as the main color, tie-dyeing each skein (2 skeins of 220 yards each).
Once the teal was in the yarn, I untied the scrap yarn that was used to resist areas of the skeins and then hand painted the yarn with Periwinkle and Sapphire Blue. At the very end, I sprinkled a bit of dry Chartreuse over the wet yarn, then heat set the colors.
It's interesting to sprinkle a dry color onto the wet yarn, in this case at least, the chartreuse came out very bright, but since there is not much of it, it doesn't overwhelm. It definitely adds a pop of color, though. I can see using this method when you want to add just a little bit of contrasting color.

It's also interesting that greens are the primary colors, though I also used some pretty dark blues.

Definitely enjoying the process!

THE SEA INSIDE (my yarn)

This color palette makes me think of the ocean, with shades of blue and light green, kind of like an inland bay, with shallow water and new plant growth on the edge.

The colors are a bit pastel, since I didn't use really saturated dye stock. I am pleased with the variety and the play of color throughout the yarn, though I have to say this is not my favorite palette.