Inspired by bamboo

I'm really pleased that my new bamboo Perran Yarns have turned out so well. 

Both Parakeet & Unicorn colourways are now in my Etsy shop, with more bamboo waiting to be dyed.

The yarn has inspired me to find more handmade bamboo goodies on Etsy, which I've included in this treasury.

Enjoy!

Figgy Pudding!

So who's started planning their Christmas projects?

Sneaky preview..

.. of the latest colourway of my laceweight merino silk sparkle yarn - Stormy Skies. 

Dramatic!

Available soon..

Perran Yarn giveaway!

Only 24 hours left to get your free entry in to win you choice of one skein of Perran Yarn!

The giveaway is hosted by Handmade Crafts UK, with a different prize each month. Worth keeping an eye on.

Get your entry in now!

Back to the dye pot!

In the run-up to Christmas every spare moment was filled with craft fairs and preparation for them. My trusty dye pot sat forlornly on the shelf, and I was itching to get back to it!

Now that we're firmly in 2013, I have time to replenish my hand-dyed Perran Yarn stocks. Only a small amount of time, but regular. Here's the first lot for this year.

I've gone for more of the deliciously soft chunky baby alpaca. It soaks up the colour beautifully, so what better shade to go for than Teal Temptation!

The only downside that I've found is that this is an incredibly difficult shade to photograph accurately! 

I've learned quite a lot about GIMP from the last few hours spent playing around with hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast settings.

This yarn also looks fabulous when knitted or crocheted; for example just 1 skein of it makes my Tassel Stitch Button Cowl pattern. 

If you prefer something different but not sure what, take a look at the many options here on Ravelry!

It's been a while...

...but I'm on the Etsy UK Front Page today in this great treasury by Katiedidonline - woohoo!

You can see one of my gorgeous new hand-dyed yarns there - Barley Fields - which has actually shown me that I love this rich sunny yellow!



I bought a fabulous pot holder from Katie recently - it really is a lovely item and very well made. It's now in daily use in my kitchen.

Yarn giveaway!

Fancy winning your choice of 100grams of my hand-dyed Perran Yarn (excluding laceweight)? Enter here!

http://madewithloveuk.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/giveaway-sixskeins/

Dyeing to show you...!

Coral reef

On Saturday I had just 1 hour to fit in some yarn dyeing. I've been wanting to do this for weeks, so it was a case of now or never!

I managed to get it done in time - just - and the gorgeous Coral Reef laceweight merino dried overnight thanks to the fine weather.

On Sunday morning I reskeined the yarn, after setting up a very Heath Robinson-looking affair which used almost all of my winding equipment!

I had a lovely photo session with 3 beautiful skeins, and they are now available to buy in my Etsy shop. 

These will look stunning when knitted up!

Note to self...

... do NOT try to eat microwave-super-heated food quickly - the blisters in your mouth from the ensuing burns are too painful!

On a brighter note, take a look at these hand-dyed daffodils!

My youngest daughter repeated a school experiment to show me how the flowers suck up the water in the vase.

The red food colouring in the water shows up the network of veins in the petals and gives them a whole new look.

Amazing what your children can teach you!

Remodelling peaches

I'm really pleased with how well my hand-dyed Perran Yarns have sold in my Etsy shop.

The only one that hasn't done so well is the laceweight merino in this delicate "Peaches and Dreams" colourway.

Its blue, green and purple sisters sold out, but only 1 ball of this one has found a loving home.

The yarn is gorgeous - smooth and soft - but obviously this shade is not what lace knitters want. Time for a remodelling event.

First of all I need to re-skein the balls so I can overdye them. 

I've done one ball this afternoon and had to stop - this is a lengthy manual task winding back onto the niddy-noddy, so it won't be rushed.

More tomorrow.

Shortlisted

 

Recently I posted about entering the makers-online photo contest with a picture of my lovely hand-dyed Groover superwash wool/silk/bamboo blend 4ply/sock yarn.

Well I didn't win, but I was included in the shortlist of 27 of their favourite photos! I'm really pleased as my photography skills are only just improving thanks to taking produce pictures for my Etsy shop. Check out the winning and other shortlisted photos - they're great!

Hand-dyed lace and sock yarn for sale

Remember the laceweight and sock yarns that I dyed recently? They're now up for sale in my Etsy shop so grab them while you can - no repeats!

What's for dinner?

Not this I hope - although I have to say it looks yummy to me..



Isn't it amazing how 3 different yarns take up the same dye so differently? I love getting surprises. :-)

These (and other) yarns should be up for sale in my Etsy shop soon, so keep watching the sidebar!

A colourful life

Oooh, look - pretty colours!

I finally got around to dyeing some yarns again, and remembered how much I love the surprises you end up with.

I've just sat and tied up 11 more skeins (small and large) for another batch this weekend.

That'll end up with my DDs coming into the kitchen pinching their noses saying "Poo-ee, Mommy what are you dyeing this time?"!

Actually, youngest DD amazed me tonight as she dug out some yarn and needles, got me to cast on, and is now knitting a pink and purple scarf for eldest DD's teddy! The last time she tried she did a couple of rows and got frustrated, but this time I had to make her put it down at 9pm to moans of "Oh Mommy just one more row.." Sounds familiar!

Twisted!

Yes, the moment has come. The Twister is finished.

What a great day to show it off - glorious sunshine but definately cold enough for a merino wool sweater.

I am in love with this yarn. It's so buttery soft that it feels more like angora than merino. I just wish I could get hold of more, but that's not going to happen. It's a one-off.

I'm so pleased with this sweater.
I love the way the design (alternating twist cables with ribs in between) came out.
I love that the pattern matches up around the side seams.
I love the way the colours of the hand-dyed yarn blend together.
I love the fit. OK, it could be a smidge longer, but it will be when I lose weight. ;-)

This was a long project - it ended up as 3 months from initial idea to trying on the FO - but it was so worthwile. The seaming, usually my most hated task, went like a dream thanks to that butter-soft yarn.

And the amount of yarn left over? 22grams! Enough for a small project I think - maybe a headband or similar.


I mentioned some lessons I'd learned along the way - here goes:

1) When planning a stretchy (ribby) design, make sure you add extra to the length; remember that the sideways stretch pulls the garment up shorter when worn.

2) Sketch out the design (as in schematics with stitch pattern in place) in the planning stage - you might find that you want the stitch pattern to match up at the sides/sleeve seams, or you want a cable to split around neckline, etc.

3) Sounds so obvious, but cables and ribs take quite a lot longer to knit in finer yarns, so try to remember this when embarking on a cable sweater knit in DK weight yarn!

4) Bear in mind that highly-patterned designs may look different over a larger area than they do in your swatch - so knit a bigger swatch to make sure you're getting the effect you want.

Ahhh, I'm happy. It was a great challenge and I loved every stitch. I'm off to bask in FO glory.. and wash my hair.

Knitting extremes

I recently gave in to temptation and bought this skein of hand-dyed cashmere 4ply yarn in shade "Heather" from The Knitting Goddess.

It's an extreme opposite of my recent knitting projects, which have been some quick chunky collars and scarves on 10mm needles. This feels like I'm knitting with sewing thread in comparison, despite using 3.5mm needles!

I've chosen the simple Feather and Fan pattern as I wanted a simple lace project that would be reversible.

I am starting to love the way the colours are traversing as I work up the scarf, and the yarn is creamy soft although it feels more like laceweight to me than 4ply!

I haven't yet decided whether this will be a Christmas gift for somebody else - or maybe for myself as a special treat. :-)