Thursday, January 14, 2010

More Shetland Spinning

A few posts ago, I said that I would continue spinning some Shetland before I moved on to another breed of sheep. My plan had originally been to spin more of the deep natural chocolate color, some of the butterscotch color, and to knit a fair-isle project.

You know what happens to good plans? They get changed!One day, I was just browsing the Interweave Knits website, and in their pattern store found this pattern. The SockPixie girls were sitting in my room next to me, and as they saw the vest, the room filled with oohs and aahs!



This pattern called the Indian Floral Vest was designed by Pam Allen and published in the Winter 1999 Interweave Knits magazine.

I have not been dyeing yarn lately (I will explain later). But at that very moment, the urge to dye was too strong. I rushed downstairs, grabbed the pots, some yellow and some red...I stood next to the pot, staring at the roving, but not stirring for fear of felting... the color gradually saturating the already deep butterscotch.

I only pulled it out when I was sure the color even after drying would be like a jewel.



The color exceeds my expectations. The butterscotch undertones give a unique glow to the red... I could go on and on, but I'll keep it short: "ooh...aah!"

I can hardly wait to start spinning. Of course I will have to test spin a little, to get the best yarn possible for the project.

This means I must hurry and finish knitting Mr. SockPixie's Shetland Socks before I get all wrapped up in this new adventure.