First, there is the lovely pink sweater update. (Vogue Knitting, or VK for short, gives this piece the very glamorous name "U-Neck Sweater".) I must mention that I was in denial when I bought the yarn for this sweater and under-bought. I finally admitted defeat a few weeks ago, and ordered more from Yarnbow and Hello Knitty. Now that I've finished the first sleeve, I'm going to need more of the Sierra. Aarrggh!
I believe I mentioned before that the pattern includes cap sleeves, which can only make arms appear short and stubby. I happen to not need any help in the short and stubby department. Instead, I'm going for graceful 3/4 length sleeves. Tonight, I cast on for the second sleeve.
Next, I updated the Etsy shop with my latest hand-dyed yarns. Spinning fibers will be done another day (I feel the couch and last night's episode of CSI Miami calling me). Without further ado, I give you Pink Hydrangea,
Wistful, as in remember those days when all the boys wore faded jeans and leather boots (and that was pretty much all you wore too?),
Springy, with lovely spring greens and lively blues,
Red Dirt (I'm clearly feeling nostalgic for the hills of Charlottesville where I went to college and where the dirt is made of red clay. The dirt is also red in the town of Blacksburg where Virginia Tech was the setting for the horrible shootings yeserday),
and Midnight, all in Dragonfly Skinny Sock. I've been wanting to call this "Midnight at the Oasis" ever since I re-skeined it. Remember that Olivia Newton-John song? I may have been in middle school then. Not the coolest, but I think I may have secretly liked it. This skein was kettle-dyed, along with some roving I was dying to coordinate with my Blue Jean roving.
Some colorways I take careful notes on and replicate pretty effectively, and some are end of the day, use up all the dye colorways. The latter are usually either gorgeous, or ... not. Blue Jean turned out to be gorgeous. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was done at the end of the day Gryphon came to dye with me. Here is Blue Jean and the roving I dyed to go with it.
And this is a 2 oz piece that I dip-dyed in the pot. Too bad I didn't do more of this! But I think I will do more later.
These are a new yarn, called Dragonfly Twist. A light worsted weight yummy soft merino yarn. One of the four plies in this yarn is more tightly twisted, causing it to take up the dye with more intensity. Sometimes the yarn becomes speckled, as in this Bell Bottom Blues,
and sometimes, a deepened, more complex color. I'm still experimenting with it. But the softness is unbeatable.
Finally, we had come crazy spring weather here, well everywhere, actually, and this weekend we had to bite the bullet and clean our house. Perhaps it's easier to do it as Mutant Alien Batman with the sparkly red cape?
