Knitting on Impulse

Flirtatious Fir

I just couldn't let go of this photo - the idea that sturdy brown fir cones begin as such lavishly pink little flowers intrigued me.

There is a lovely mix of browns, and even a hint of olive to set them off:

I chose midrange hues for part of the sock yarn, and pastels for the other:

and pastels for the other:

Both sock colourways have been designed so that the brown hues and the red/pink hues will alternate in full rounds for most sock sizes.

The BFL:

I am drawn more and more to the idea of semisolids and subtle blends - even in a richly complex colourway, I like the effect of choosing hues in a similar value range.  Except for specifically designed striping effects, high contrast creates a graphically intense variegation that can overshadow the colours themselves. It can be very challenging to create a balanced blend, while still honoring the spirit of the original inspiration, because light and dark are not the only factors in contrast.  Warmth and saturation play a vital and sometimes surprising role, and the balancing act is a delicious blend of intellectual planning and sheer instinct.

The silk blend turned out rich and shimmering, as always:

The merino lace palette honors the delicacy of the wee blooms:

Yarn's Up!

Over here.  Details, as always, tomorrow.

Summer Days

I've come to the realization that the only way to be productive over the summer holidays is to get up... first.  Six AM on the patio looks like this:

And this:

Round about 08:00, the munchkins stumble out for sleepy morning kisses, and the day begins to gather momentum. I try to remember that this time is precious rather than unproductive:

As the afternoon slips away, we turn our imaginations to the remaining farm market produce:

 

Patio suppers are an exquisite summer pleasure, sometimes accompanied by just a wee bit more wine than is technically necessary.  Rob and I linger at the table while the kids run wild in the garden, and a wee bit of knitting gets done:

Then the flurry of baths and bedtime, cleanup and last minute tasks for tomorrow....  it's invariably late, but sleep is postponed just a bit for a cup of tea and a half hour of mindless knitting.

Small steps, incremental progress - summer is a good exercise in choosing to live in the moment.

A Good Day to Dye

Warm, but not at all humid, with a lovely breeze to ruffle the fibres.  I like the idea that my yarn is imbued with Whistler mountain air before winging its way around the continent (and occasionally across the ocean).

It's not this week's colourway (in case you were wondering), but part of a new colourwork (kit) design I'm working on. (One that was born on a recent morning of deliberate daydreaming, come to think of it.)

Have I mentioned how much I love the dyeing?  It takes the thrill of Seeing that further step - to stroke, taste, digest the delicious colour, make its essence mine and then pour, dip, squeeze, fondle and caress the fibre, step back, hold it to the sunlight, adjust the seasoning and caress again until it blooms into the fullness of being and expresses exactly the joy that was bestowed upon me by the original. Pure bliss. Seriously.

Daydreaming

It's funny - when I was working in a profession where external forces demanded things of me all day (and often night, for that matter), I used to daydream far more.  It was an escape, a wee act of sanity-saving rebellion, and many of my best creative ideas came about during those daydreams.  Once I gained more choice (well, sort of - I am a parent) in the allotment of my thoughts and energies, I began to permit myself far less thought-leisure, feeling it to be a waste of time, and also unecessary, since I had achieved a more permanent form of escape.  Even knitting became just another form of multi-tasking. I am realizing though, that setting aside driven productivity for quietness and listening and unharnessed thoughts is far more than just a guilty pleasure (and why does pleasure come with the guilt adjective?) Joy and clarity and creativity and simple solutions to seemingly complex puzzles - given the chance, all these things fall effortlessly into the mind, like rain splashing into a quiet pond.  The confounding thing is that they don't come via the familiar avenues of struggle and effort and More, but by letting go and doing.... nothing.

Sometimes the transition to Nothing needs a little help though, and the simple shawl serves that purpose beautifully on a crisp summer morning:

The View From My Cubicle

As the saying goes, a bad day at the Market is still better than a good day at the office. Not that it was a terribly bad day, but... let's just say that those of us whose financial wellbeing is tied to the tourist economy are rooting for an upturn in the fortunes of you lovely folk to the south. 

The mirror to the right belongs to my exceedingly talented next door neighbour, Catherine Bayly of Raven Studio. 

Bee and Thistle

It only took me... what... three months?  The beta version is ready to go and test knitting will commence shortly.

Lost Lake

There's really nothing quite like the colour of water that trickles in icy rivulets out of a glacier, collecting into a fine torrent that crashes down the rocky mountainside, gathering up the mineral essence of ancient stones along the way, to finally tumble merrily into a serene blue gray-green pool amid the towering cedars.

Pristine shades of turquoise and pale green fade into delicate olives and hints of purplish grey in the shallow water:

I decided this week to show the yarns both as-dyed and reskeined.  I like the tidiness of reskeining, and the extra opportunity to screen for flaws, and I really think it gives a more accurate impression of the eventual knitted effect.... but the original skeins are just so darned pretty.

The BFL:

The merino lace:

The sock yarn:

and the superwash merino/silk combo:

So which do you prefer.... reskeined or original?  Or reskeined with photos of the original....

Yarn's Up!

Over here. 

If you want to be added to the growing list for email notification, just drop me a line at ruth AT impulse-of-delight DOT com.

Harmonic Projection

This idea seized me rather vividly one night last week, just as I was drifting into sleep, and I was extraordinarily gratified the next morning when the vision translated successfully into physical reality.

A graceful wave intersecting a plane, and what if..... what if it could be woven into three dimensions, yet still transparent, revealing its linear origins....  The creation of this form pleased me in the sort of mathematically tactile way that I often crave but rarely find. I think I have found the spark I need for more exploration.  (The stone is fluorite, by the way, and I'm kind of in love with it.)  The necklace may be found over here.