Yarn Along..

September starts my favorite time of the year.

I am autumns child.

It kicks off with the annual 'Harvest Festival'

and the (be still my heart) antique sale at the barn.

Always full of treasures, but for me it is really about just 

getting to "be" in that gorgeous barn once a year.

Spent some time in the village poking around shops.

Then home to start labeling yarns for vending at Penn's Colony.

..naturally dyed..

::love::

Just checked this out at the library last night and can't wait to 

read it:

Nature's Colors: Dyes from Plants by Ida Grae

Knitting away on the Antarctis which is perfect for

days filled with blue skies and falling leaves.

~

Joining Ginny

Yarn Along..

Number 6.

Does anyone else have a pattern they like to serial knit??

Gosh..

I go back to the lovely Antarktis

every. time.

Pattern by the lovely Janina Kallio Designs.

(be sure to check out her Solace shawl in previous post)

Oh.. and a new favorite project bag by 'Yarn Pop'.

The small bag is perfect for one cake of sock yarn.

Reading and loving..

Its a fun read that I can't seem to put down and totally

makes me wish I was hitting the trail.

~

Joining Ginning

Solace

Finished a lovely little shawl this weekend.

I chose to use some of my naturally dyed

yarns ~ a lace weight dyed with Logwood

and a fingering weight dyed with Cochineal.

The blend of the two yarn weights makes for a light,

soft, and warm shawl!  Up until now I haven't really knit with lace weight yarn.

Such a nice way to try it out without having to commit to a "lace" project!

Pattern:

Solace by Janina Kallio Designs

~

Bleu..

Last spring I purchased a small packet of 

Japanese indigo seeds from a shop on Etsy.

Kind of a 

lets-plant-them-and-see-what-happens thing.

They grew.

Last weekend I got to thinking I should harvest some 

and gave dyeing a go..

As I mashed them into the pot my fingers turned blue.

Okay.. good sign.

The next day the water was blue and there was a film

on the surface characteristic to indigo.

Another good sign.

Whipped air into it,

added more ingredients,

let it sit,

heated it..

..so lost in the excitement I never checked the pH..

and chucked some yarn in the vat!

BLUE!!

Holy. Cow.

.

.

b l u e.

From the b.a.c.k.y.a.r.d.

~

Top to bottom:

100% small farm Alpaca 

Non-superwash Alpaca and wool

Superwash merino wool dyed in Queen Anne's Lace then overdyed with indigo

THIS just came in the mail:

Sequence Knitting; Simple Methods for Creating Complex Fabrics

by Cecelia Campochiaro

Total splurge, BUT it is a gorgeous book.

Be sure to listen to her interview on Woolful.com.

Can't wait to dive in..

~

Joining Ginny