lost (top) and found (skillz)

I can't find my superwash merino top. (Sisties, top is fiber that has been combed to prepare it for spinning.) It was my favorite of all the hunks o' fiber that we dyed at Yarn School. I'm almost certain that I remember squeezing it into my suitcase. What if it popped out and fell on the floor at the Howard Johnson's in Kansas City when I had to stay over Sunday night? I'm desolate. Wellllll, not really. Disappointed, though.

I'm consoled by this yarn. I dyed it this weekend under the direction of two Mad Dye Scientists and who happen to be the owners of Mountain Colors Yarns, Diana McKay and Leslie Taylor. !!! This is half of the 1 pound of Mountain Colors 4/8's wool that I dyed in these colors--around 1000 wonderful yards. You know, it kind of reminds me of another yarn I adore... (If you follow that yarn link, scroll down to the bottom. I'm talking about the STR, not the Anabel Fox, because though my feelings for the Anabel Fox Donegal are deep, they are of a different, tweedy variety of yarn-love. End of aside.) Maybe I should call this yarn Chicken Hawk instead of Rough-Legged Hawk.

Yarn Today, a yarn shop here in my little valley, hosted a fiber retreat on Friday and Saturday. I was able to take the Mountain Colors dye workshop on Friday and a class on Saturday on entrelac knitting. Two of my fondest knitting desires have been realized: 1) I've learned how to knit backwards, and 2)I had the creators of the most beautiful hand-painted yarn of all time (Mountain Colors Red-Tail Hawk--What can I say, I like the hawks...) coach me on how to find color palettes I love and then replicate them in fiber. I'm feeling completely spoiled--first Yarn School and now this!

Leslie and Diana had a quick and brilliant way to get us to dive right in with the colors: They handed out magazines and asked us to pick out a picture that spoke to us and use it as our inspiration for dying. First we did a test skein of their Weaver's Wool, decided what worked and what did not, then dyed the two giant skeins of 4/8's. I don't really like my test skein. It reminds me a little too much of some variegated Red Heart yarn that I crocheted with when I was about 11. Maybe I'd like it better knit up, maybe not. I'm very glad that Diana and Leslie had us do the practice run, because I would have been peeved to end up with 1000 yards of early-80's Red Heart look-alike yarn. Anyway, I decided that I needed to concentrate on the reds and golds and leave all blue out of the equation. I also lightened concentration of the the darker dyes (the browns and purples) and used more of the gold.

What shall I do with it? Clapotis, perhaps?

yay for socks

I'm (ever the joiner, despite protestations of needing to be "original" and "unique") adding another knitalong button to the sidebar, not only because I've cast on for a pair of Socks (thin yarn, skinny needles), but also because that button is way cool. Yes, I've cast on for another project; no, I haven't actually completed the wrapalong project.

Wait, did I never publish that post in which I agonized about the pink and blue stripes in the Rusty Wrapalong? Well, in summary, I shoved it into a bag and tried again with the purple and brown--and I'm feeling the love, baby. No worries about abandoning this ship for the third? fourth? time. I'm sticking with this color combination and this time I mean it. How about a picture...


I haven't figured out the white balance thingy on my camara yet--but the yarn colors are accurate. See why I love purple and brown? See why I love Mountain Colors? See why I love Mountain Colors' Red-tail Hawk colorway? All right, maybe not everyone is dying over it like I am, but if you could only see the way those colors slide by on the needles, so individually and collectively gorgeous. The colors are muted--but intense at same time. Confession: I bought the Mountain Colors yarn with the intention of knitting a scarf for a friend, but kept it, as I was quite certain that noone could love it the way I do. Sad, I know, but there we are. :)