Busy

I have had very little time to write in the last few days. We are preparing for the new school year (as a homeschooling family, it means a lot of planning!)and working on Little Miss SockPixie's new room. She felt too lonely on the third floor with her older sister gone.
I have had so little time that there will not even be a picture today!
Have a great day...

Fall Rovings

Today I played with rovings in fall tones. I used my 2 step process to dye the rovings, dyeing them once, and then using shibori techniques overdyeing them in a gentle color bath. I cannot tell you how much I love the richness of the colors. I also love the fact, that each batch is unique. Each day I dye fibers is a unique experience for me.

This week has been a busy week for me, as Miss SockPixie left to study in France for the next three years. I will miss my dear friend with whom I shared so many special moments talking about her dreams or mine. I am adjusting...

Kimono

You have heard many times about my favorite possession, my vintage kimono. Today it inspied a roving colorway. I simply called it Kimomo

I won't say anything more. I will just let you enjoy the color...

Monet Rovings

There is nothing like the subtle colors of Monet. I felt better yesterday, and worked on some rovings inspired by my favorite paintings of his. I dyed these rovings in a 2 step process, first applying a base color, and then using Shibori techniques, overdyed them, thus leaving some of the original colors visible.  I love the results. They are subtle, and share the watery quality of Monet's paintings.

I jus added them to my Etsy Store and hope you will enjoy them!

Crochet's the Cure

I had grand plans this weekend, I wanted to dye yarns and rovings, but I finally came down with this cold I had been fighting for days. So as a result, I am in bed resting.
But you know me, there is no way I could sit and do nothing. So I have been doing some crochet, a retro looking circular pillow. I am using Mission Falls 1824 cotton, and loving it! No thinking required. My head is so foggy now, I can hardly write.

Back to my crochet, and my sneezing!

Color Inspiration

Wouldn't this Vogue picture make a beautiful colorway? I am in the mood for greens...

Let's see what I can create!

A Dollhouse Full of Adventure!

This morning the light was good, and I felt inspired to take some pictures of the dollhouse. I had originally intended to take simple pictures of the house, but as I started to play with it, rearranging its furniture, choosing the objects I wanted, I felt Barbie, or I should say Eve,  had to be part of the house. Before I knew it, there was a story...

... The year was 1964, in a London apartment, night had fallen... Eve was getting ready for an evening at the opera. Her make up and perfume sat on her bed ready for her...

Eve was quick, maybe even a little quicker that night because she was nervous. She had chosen dramatic make up, giving depth and mystery to her eyes, she put on her pearl earrings, tied her hair up, and placed the flower comb that M. had given her earlier that day...

All she needed now was the rendez-vous point with James at the opera house... She sat on the satin covered couch waiting for the phone to ring...

The phone rang...

It was James. In his suave voice he said only 3 words: " Intermission, main staircase," and then hung up. She stood up slowly, and leaned against the wall rehearsing one last time. She would be standing at the foot of the stairs, she would readjust her comb, and drop it to the floor. James would walk by at the same time, pick it up and substitute her comb for a similar one. That is all she had to do to transfer the microfilms that were hidden in her comb...

She walked over to the couch and absentmindedly touched the soft fur stole...She found the softness reassuring...

She went back to her room to put on her evening gown, but paused one last time. What if she failed?

After putting on her gown, wrapped in the warmth and comfort of her fur stole, she walked back to the living room, and sat on the couch, waiting for her car...

...

OK, I am done imagining crazy stories for the day! But you know, secretely, I wonder what will happen to Eve. Will she succeed in her mission?!!!

No Dollhouse Yet

I know you must have been hoping that this post would be about the dollhouse and that I would be showing you pictures. I am afraid I have to disappoint you. You see, in order to take the pictures, I have to transport the house to that one corner of the house where the light is just perfect, which means that Little Miss SockPixie would have to relinquish the house to me for a few moments.

She will be out tomorrow, playing with friends... If the light is good, I should be able to take the pictures, which means tomorrow's post should be about the dollhouse!

In the meantime here is a color treat for you, some superwash Merino Venitian Sunset Roving I dyed yesterday.

My heart is beating a little faster just looking at it! I guess that's what color does to me!

Sashiko Embroidery

I am fond of crafts in general, but particularly inspired by Japanese Crafts. I covet the Japanese craft books, and routinely browse Amazon Japan and get inspired by all the beautiful photographs.

A few months ago, I saw the wonderful post on the Purl Bee about Sahiko embroidery,  and immediately felt like trying this type of embroidery. I love embroidering and love the simplicity of the Japanese designs.

I ordered a kit from the Purl Soho site, got it quickly, picked the thread, but as is often the case, unfortunately put it aside, and practically forgot about it, that is until last weekend.

You see, every weekend, Mr SockPixie, the children and I, go to Rockport to visit my parents, and spend the day at the beach. This last Saturday, I was in a hurry, and had no time to prepare my projects to bring with me. I was about to leave empty handed, when in the corner of my eye, I spotted the sahiko kit, all ready to embroider, on the shelf.

I did not think twice. I grabbed it. I am so glad I did! It was a perfect project for the beach, relaxed, and thoughtless, almost magical as a matter of fact. As I sat effortlessly embroidering, the pattern appeared.

I finished it last night. It will be a pillow for my bed as it matched the colors and geometric patterns of the quilt I finished recently so well.

A Final Look at Little Miss SockPixie's Dollhouse

I never told you how Little Miss SockPixie reacted to the dollhouse we created for her birthday.

She indulged us the whole time we were working on it pretending she believed our story of it being a submarine for Young Mr SockPixie. She was so sweet.

When the big day came, she could hardly wait to play with it. The night before she had discretly prepared a box of items that would go into the house.

We brought the house to her room while she was still asleep, and she saw it the moment she woke up. She was so happy, and so were we.

The house is now fully inhabited by Barbie, and Betsy McCall, but also by some unexpected guests. I did not really intend the posh decor for them, but they seem quite comfy...

I am so happy the dollhouse is fully lived in, and to see her so happy to play with it fills me with joy every day. I am so happy I am thinking of another house, a fairy house, but who knows who will move in!

Dyeing Rovings

I had not dyed rovings in a long time, but found my inspiration again. I am fascinated by the process of dyeing already naturally colored rovings. Shetland, Coopworth for example come in a range of browns. The rovings are not uniformely brown, they also have lighter and darker fibers mixed, which means that when you play with dyes, you can get stunning heathered effects.

I have added some heathered rovings to my Etsy store, but I might just have to grab one to do a little bit of spinning tonight...

Tutti Frutti Friday!

I dyed some more yarn for my Etsy store. This time it's Tutti Frutti!

There is some lace yarn, some sport weight, and some Vegan sock Yarn!

 I don't know about you, but these colors make me hungry for some sorbet...

What do mittens and the Cheshire Cat have to do with each other?

What do mittens and the Cheshire Cat have to do with each other? Everything!
The other day I over-dyed some yummy alpaca, in 2 fun whimsical colors, a bright green and a fun orange.

I decided to knit mittens with the yarns. I sat down, and  just let the yarns take me wherever they wanted. Sure enough, stripes appeared. I thought of the Cheshire Cat. Then a row of hearts for the Queen of Hearts magically appeared! I am back on stripes, but who knows, during my adventures in Knittingland, I might come across a rabbit in a hurry, or a mad hatter...

I Told You I was Having Fun!

After I left you yesterday, I went back to my dye studio... It was fantastic. There were colors, and textures... Merino, mohair, cashmere, and alpaca...

I created greens...

I created blues...

I created purples...

Today I get to knit! The mittens using the over-dyed Alpaca yarns are taking shape. They are full of whimsy, and I love them. I hope to make enough progress to show you tomorrow!

More Playing with Over-Dyes

Today I played some more with my new infatuation over-dyes. I created 2 Perfect Duos of Baby Alpaca yarns: English Lavender and Sea Breeze.

I am in love with the subtle colors. I am in love with their depth. Just imagine striping or fairisled mittens or a tam! I have added these 2 Duos to my Etsy Store. I am going to make this a short post, as I want to get back to my dye studio to play with more over-dyes!

Fun with over-dyed skeins

I had some fun over-dyeing some skeins of fine baby alpaca today.  Over-dyeing is a 2 step process which involves dyeing the yarn a first time in a variegated fashion, they adding an all over color to the skeins thus adding deth to the yarn. Over-dyed yarns seem to glow from within!

As soon as the skeins were dry, I balled them up, and they are in the process of becoming mittens.

This will be a fun design that I am hoping to put together as a kit for which I will design different color combinations! These first mittens will be for me though. I guess I am a little selfish but I just had to have orange and green!

A Yarn for Marie Laurencin

Marie Laurencin is a French watercolor artist I have always loved. I love the women she paints in soft watery hues, with their dark doe eyes.

Here is a skein I called Aquarelle after her work, soft black, grey, muted pink, and aqua with a touch of more profound blue.

It has been so much fun to design new colorways for my Etsy shop. It feels so free. I just love to follow my color infatuation of the day. I hope you will like Aquarelle.

A Kimono for Tiny Betsy McCall

I had more fun sewing clothes for Betsy McCall last night. This time Betsy gets a Kimono!

I actually spent quite a bit of time looking at my own vintage kimono to understand the construction, then  simplified it a little. Betsy is only 8"!  I lined the sleeves , and made the obi out of organza.

I went all out this time and even made her shoes with cork and ribbon!
The final touch was the beaded millinery velvet flower.

I love the outfit so much that I started collecting the objects that will become part of a diorama!

Focused!

This morning I was straightening by bedroom, which lately has been colonized by mountains of fabric, sewing machines, and yarn. As I was arranging the books on my bedside table, I had to smile.

The titles of the books sum me up: knitting, domesticity, handspinning, and obsession, all that topped with a little bit of knitting, a sock in progress for Mr. SockPixie! Pretty focused, wouldn't you say?

Very Vogue!

What do you when you fall in love with a picture (Vogue 1963, I believe), because its colors are so perfect, so balanced, so retro, so classic? You create a colorway and you name it Ombrelles. These colors make me dream, ocean blues, reds, berry pinks, and peach.

                                                                  

I hand-painted 2 SW Merino sock weight skeins in the Ombrelles colorway, and a beautiful cashmere blend in a sock weight. I have just added them to my Etsy Store.

Can you imagine a pair of socks knit in this colorway? Real sunshine in winter!

It Feels Good to Knit Socks

I just could not concentrate on my knitting projects last night. It was not the heat, I was just tired maybe.

Mr. SockPixie was in need of a new pair of socks. Socks are the perfect mindless project for me. They are quickly finished, and follow a predictable path. The problem was I did not have enough yarn in any colorway to knit socks for him (he is a tiny size 13!) I dug in my craft room, feeling rather like an aecheologist looking for 2 matching bones, and I found a ball of Noro Silk garden Sock yarn, and a ball of no name black sock yarn.

I thought striped socks would be a lot of fun, in particular as the Noro colors would change.

The stripes started with apple green, then switched to practically black green, then grey, and now the blue is coming. I just can't stop knitting, hurrah for socks and Noro! My knitting mojo is back!
These are some wild socks though, and I hope not too wild for Mr. SockPixie...

A New Dress for Betsy

I started my Sunday full of good intensions. I was determined to finish my knitting project, but with each stitch, I found myself thinking more and more about a new dress I could make for Betsy. After a few rows, I gave up, put the knitting away, and fetched the fabrics that had triggered my dress reverie.

I had a piece of black cotton cloth, a piece of black fabric with miniature cherries on it, a little piece of black lace, and a piece of black ribbon.

The resut, a black dress with a little cherry apron on top. Betsy is also sporting a new hair color for the occasion, a rich auburn brown!

I used the lace at the neck, at the shoulders and at the hem of the simple black dress.

I really like the simple black dress. Though black is not a very Betsy color, I like the fact that it seems to bring another side of her personality forward. Maybe she reminds me of the little French children dressed like miniature adults, looking so serious and spotlessly clean in the playgrounds of the Jardin du Ranelagh. She reminds me of Sophie, a girl whose imaginary adventures and misfortunes were told by the Comtesse de Segur.

I have been dreaming of creating a world for her, something French, and slightly old-fashioned, A world in which like Sophie, she would have a beautiful wax doll she would forget in the sun...

There I go again, off on another reverie!

Handspun Finn Bonbon and Dollhouse Fun

Finn roving has to be my favorite fiber to spin. I find it the easiest to spin, and I love the resulting yarn. It is just beautiful, matt looking, and baby soft.

I named this skein Bonbon. Its colors were inspired by the bonbon colored dresses of Marie-Antoinette.
It is 110 yards. I can just see a Cerise Baby Sweater for a baby girl! I just added it to my Etsy Shop.

On the dollhouse front, I am almost there. Yesterday I received an adorable re-ment tea set. The detail is amazing! (I ordered it from Priscilla's Treasures.) And the color...emerald. It reminds me of the vintage Anchor forest green glass dish sets. Little Miss SockPixie will be so happy!

The dollhouse should be done tomorrow...