Picture by Nicolas Raymond, used under Creative Commons License – Attribution 3.0 Unported. Click picture to be taken to the original for download.
March is another month where I went with the colors I wanted, and fit an ‘inspiration’ to it. This has been just a long dreary winter and I was ready for some colors of spring! I love this picture of the limestone kilns at Annestown Beach in Ireland. Blue sky, green grass, natural browns and tans.
My planning (yes, I do plan ahead) had Safari in a self-striping pattern, and Wensleydale for a fiber. I knew these would take the dye quite differently, so I decided to work opposite of my usual methods….I designed the yarn first. Eventually, I’ll show you my prototype….it was not pretty, but I will transform it with an overdye later. Anyway, I wanted strong colors, and a nice stripe…I guess it would be more an abstract modern take on Annestown Beach! I’ll get a picture soon for you, as I’m making my own pair of socks from this, but it will stripe about 4-5 rows each of the lime and the turquoise, with about 2 rows of the brown in-between them. I love Safari for a sock base, easy to knit, fluffs up great when washed, and the 75% Corriedale and 25% Nylon blend wears like iron…..I have several pairs I have had in heavy rotation for 6 years and there’s no sign of holes.
Next up is the fiber, Wensleydale wool combed top. I chose this this fiber looking ahead to summer where you may prefer to be knitting something laceweight. I didn’t want to muddy the colors, and wanted to give you the most flexibility in making the yarn fit your vision for the colors, so I dyed them separately….1.5 oz each of the green and blue, and 1 oz of the brown. The colors are the exact same dye recipe I used on the yarn….I love how it came out muted and heathered, and much more like the inspiration photo. I hope you don’t mind the ‘messy bun’ presentation…it made more sense than braids for the length of each color. Just clip the tag cord and it’ll all be ready for you. Remember, Wensleydale is a long-wool. It will do great as a laceweight, keep the twist and ply low to keep it from being harsh. Wensleydale is also a good fiber to use for Boucle.
Thanks for joining me for March’s fiber journey. I have a few limited spots in April Tiger Club if you would like to join the fun.
