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.

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.

Forget Me Nots and Sunbleached Silver

I haven't found very many truely blue flowers, at least around here - Nature seems to run to purple, given half a chance, but the easily overlooked Forget Me Not is one of my favorites.

I gave the tiniest interval of buttercream to the BFL, in homage to the flowers' sunny centres, but contented myself with sweet shades of azure alone for the alpaca/merino, merino/silk, and sock yarn:

 After all that spring-fresh naivete, I opted for something wise and weather beaten for the second colourway.  The sunbleached walkways bridging the seasonal creeks and ditches on Blackcomb provided the inspiration:

I'm learning that sometimes the subtle semi-solids are the hardest to pull off, because there are many layers of hues to blend in seamless fashion. Careful attention to value is paramount; a single overly pushy colour can topple the balance of the entire skein.

The sheen of the silk in the merino blend perfectly mimics the shimmering surface of sun-baked wood:

The BFL has a quieter but still distinct luminosity:

The Summit Sock:

And the Merino Mist, which would melt into a shimmering haze in intricate lace:

Yarn's Up!

Over here.

PS - Rob has a slightly swelled head now, but all the birthday wishes are hugely appreciated!  For a special treat, I let him watch me reskein this week's yarn....

New Spruce (2) and Summer Grass

I couldn't leave the spruce theme alone - not after the baby needles popped out of their little brown shells and wiggled their tender green baby skins:

Besides, the juxtaposition of dusky blue-green with nearly translucent chartreuse?  Irresistable.  Addictive, even.

Here's the line-up (BFL, merino lace, superwash sock, silk/merino):

Funny how different fibres capture such different aspects of a colourway, despite the exact same dyes. Admittedly I'm kind of partial to the BFL - it just makes magic wherever it goes.

Here's a very summery bit of magic - subtly hued grasses waving in a hot breeze:

Velvet tones of burgandy, pink and purple against a barely-there creamy green background - a bit of a technical challenge to keep them separate, but so worth it.

BFL comes through again:

The merino lace presented a conundrum - how to make a semi-solid of such a brilliant contrast?

I think it works - and to me, evokes a field of tall grasses, perhaps with a few wildflowers thrown in.

The sock:

and the merino/silk, which I was particularly pleased with (apparently rightly so, because it is all gone now!)

One other thing - the interest in the yarn at the Market has exceeded my expectations (hooray!), and my initial notion to try to divide up the inventory into "Market" and "internet" is clearly silly.  Therefore, I am going to take the entire stock to Market on Sundays and take the webstore offline for the day, so as not to risk selling things twice.  It will come down early Sunday morning, and go back up Sunday evening around suppertime.  

Yarn's Up!

Over here. 

Anyone else who would like weekly email notification of store updates (no photos, just a quick one-liner with link) just email me at ruth AT impulse-of-delight DOT com.

One other quick note - I've been trying to come up with more unique / personal names for my yarns - you will notice the Merino Lace has been renamed Merino Mist and the Superwash Merino Sock is now Summit Sock.  And if anyone can think of a Whistler / mountain lifestyle / alpine beauty name for the superwash merino / silk blend, I'd love to hear it!

Lupins

It's lupin season here in Whistler, and those lovely purple spikes are blooming in great swaths up and down the valley - in fields, meadows, roadside ditches, and of course, gardens.

 

Two things stand out for me about the colour scheme of the lupin: first, the way the royal blue and pink blend through optical mixing to read purple in the overall impression, and secondly, the delicious contrast of that crisp yellow-green tip with the deep purple florets.  One of the fun things about dyeing is the opportunity to play with different aspects of a colourway in order to show different yarns to best effect.

I still believe that complex lace shows best in the subtly shifting hues of a semi-solid:

Merino Lace:

Bluefaced Leicester:

A new yarn for me - 70% superwash merino, and 30% silk in a 2 ply fingering weight, and does it ever shine!  It would be lovely for a million different projects, including scarves, shawls, and colourwork, but I am going to try a pair of socks soon, because it has a lovely springy twist:

On to the more contrast-y stuff - some BFL designed for the Shifting Hues Scarf:

I'm particularly pleased with that one - that cool green just makes the blue hues so vibrant in contrast.

The socks: although it is a whole lot of work making the big skeins, there is sometimes no substitute for giving each colour a tidy little space of it's own. 

These guys are calculated (for most foot sizes) to alternate round for round between the pink and blue hues, much like the zones of the lupin itself:

This one was designed to give a 4 round repeat of blue/pink/blue/green (I went all out for the literal interpretation and painted in some navy speckles as well):

I also followed through on another idea that has been simmering for a while - separating the colours entirely into a coordinated set of skeins:

A softly spun bulky weight single of 50/50 silk/wool:

I see this as a stripy scarf, maybe a couple of hats...
 

Last of all, another new line of yarn for me - a worsted weight superwash merino, which has the tightest twist I've ever seen in such a yarn.  Lovely and soft to the touch, but also intensely springy and elastic - I've never seen anything quite like it.  Off the top of my head I'm thinking soft yet super durable kids' clothes, hats, things that require great stitch definition, even heavy socks.  Not so much drapey scarves. I probably ought to make something with it myself so that I can report more confidently on its properties, but I'm also swamped with projects.  As a compromise, I've decided to leave it out of the store at this point, but if you are seized with absolute certainty that this is perfect for you and must have it now, email me for details.  If not, my daughter will get something adorable just as soon as I get around to it (hopefully before she outgrows the yardage.)  Here it is (there are two sets of three skeins):

 

 

Yarn's Up

Over here. Only 1.5 hours overdue - not bad, considering I was already behind this week, and spent today driving back and forth to Pemberton to pick strawberries and play with farm animals with the boy's preschool (desperately cute photos another day.)

BTW - I have started email notification of store updates for one reader - anyone else interested?  Just a quick one liner with a link.  Email me at ruth AT impulse-of-delight DOT com if you would like to be added to the list.