Sat 16 Oct 2010
On Sunday, I finished the second sleeve. I blocked the sweater this morning, and now it’s out on the porch to dry. We’re supposed to have another record-warm day, so hopefully it will be done by this afternoon. I haven’t woven in the ends yet (just in case final adjustments need to be made), but it is done!
It’s almost noon, and you can see how steeply the sunlight is sloping. Winter definitely approaches.
I also took some pictures of the dyeing I did last weekend. I was hoping to get pictures of the skeins laid out on the wood railing (a much prettier background), but a few seconds’ testing showed me that that would result in my skeins blowing away in the autumn breezes. So here they are, skeined up and safely sitting on the patio table instead.
My goals were first, to see what I could get from the new colors, and second to try for a more gently varied handpaint that might not show as much pooling. My neighbor and I were talking about this, and both of us love handpaints but don’t care for blotches of color. I was wondering if I could apply the dye in a way that would reduce the abruptness of the color changes. I’m not sure that I’m there yet, but I think this one comes the closest:
This one is also close, and its little spots of dark brown make me think of a giraffe. Wouldn’t it make a great toy giraffe?
This one is my absolute favorite. I love how the colors came out. I still think it would have patches, but I might not mind them in such pretty colors.
This one wasn’t quite what I expected, but I like how it came out. It’s kind of a Christmas-y set of colors, going from reddish brown to green.
This is my other favorite. It feels like it came straight from the maple trees outside, and I love it. I’m usually not a huge fan of orange or yellow, but I love them here.
On Tuesday, I finished the teal scarf that was on the loom. I’ve just washed it, and it is hanging to dry. I’m hoping that it will be ready for pictures soon.
So many beautiful colors! I love seeing them all together like that – a whole palette in one place. And that sunshine looks nice, too – we have none of that here 🙂
Congrats on the sweater being finished!
The dyeing looks like lots of fun. All of them look wonderful, but love #2 and #5. The unusual differences we see, you see a giraffe and I see a snake or frog. 🙂
Yay for finishing! Always a good thing.
I’m enjoying watching your color experiments–I especially like your idea for the giraffe! I also agree; the greens/yellows is my favorite, too.
I do believe you were channeling autumn with those colorways. Now I have an image of a giraffe in the sugar maple in my backyard stuck in my head!