I’m about to discard the veil of secrecy I’ve kept for a while… I just shipped out a lot of skeins of yarn to one person. I dyed more yarn in one colorway than ever before, even a bit more than the time I did my Seaside colorway for Annie Modesitt’s retreat a few years back.
The secret? I dyed yarn for the knitalong group for August, in the Yahoo group called “Whenever” (instead of a sock of the month they have a sock of the “whenever you want to participate”). Kathy Nehrenz designed the sock and asked me to design a yarn colorway (she had colors pictured in her mind for the sock) for the knitalong.
The design is called “Summertime Socks” and my yarn is called Midday Garden. I’m doing the colorway only this once. I did make a few extra skeins in case they have late additions to their knitalong, and if for some reason there are leftovers after the knitalong is on its merry way, I can sell what is left. I won’t be dyeing it again.
This is the first time I’ve done four colors (plus white) on one skein. I usually stick to three or fewer. She pushed me to try something new… and the tiny 80-yard test skein I made for Kathy to swatch looks pretty lovely… I’m pleased.
Of course, I could not do any sort of automation at all with four colors (in the fear that I’d overlap colors that turn into mud when they touch) so even though I did three dye lots, the skeins are as individual as you and I. Two skeins right next to one another will be a little different, it’s just the process of pouring dye on the skeins as they lie on the table together. That makes it sort of wonderful, though. Absolute uniqueness.
I am sure it’s not too late to join the group and get involved if you are inclined. It’s a short sock for summer with a bit of lace, it should be a perfect summer project. If you are interested, go to yahoo groups and join the group called “Whenever” and Kathy can get you going.
Or not. Your choice. But that’s my project of the week, one more reason I’ve been gone/silent for a while. I had no helper this time around, and it was an incredible amount of labor for just one person to do. Winding the yarn is the boring part (first I wind from white yarn on cones into loose dyeing hanks, then I dye, then I take the dyed hanks and re-wind into tidy skeins to show the colorway more as it looks knit up). However, I worked on learning words to some songs while winding away for hours and hours.
After mailing the yarn out Wednesday morning, Brian and I went to Muskegon (a 2 hour drive) for the day to see Brian’s family. They do a camping trip each year and the sisters from out of state come in. Since for some reason I know those two sisters best of the family, it’s really special to see them and it was worth the drive to be there a while together.
It’s too funny now that it’s over… but we got back home past midnight and there was a bat flying around our house. Ugh. Luckily Brian found it in the unfinished part of our attic and with gloves and other gear, caught it in a crumpled-up old shirt from the rag bag, and took it outside to let it free.
It was nerve-wracking especially when we didn’t know where the bat had gone, and when he was trying to catch the thing. Now it’s just a bit funny. Have I mentioned I’m not much of a fan of nature? Especially when it moves in to my house? That’s a bird and a bat in less than a month. I hope that means we’re done for a while.
OK, so now I’m home for a while. My next overnight trip is Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, Michigan, where I’m teaching the third weekend in August.
I have a few local classes coming up, and I’m working very hard to get my three new patterns finalized for my website and my local shops where I teach/sell patterns. Bags to Go is in shops but not yet on my site or Knittingzone.com, the other two are very close to their first release.
I’m knitting my fourth Perfect Hug Shawl, Diana knit her third yesterday. Once I have all the writing down I’ll have it tested one more time by someone else. I’m hoping it will be in a week or less, since the shawl takes a day or two to knit.
OK: meanwhile I need to sleep. Goodnight.
Photos: Summertime Sock by Kathy Nehrenz of the Sock of the Whenever Yahoogroup (group name is Whenever). One of the two piles of yarn I shipped to Kathy for the kits for the August knitalong, though the colors aren’t exactly true on my monitor.