Hand-dyed Surprises for Tomorrow!

As you may have noticed, I have not dyed yarn in a long time. But this week, I finally did. It was so exciting to play with colors again.

I approached dyeing just seeking to please my hunger for color. I created colorways to match the fibers, and picked fibers to flatter the colorways and reflect the textural qualities of my inspirations. I will have only a couple skeins available in each colorway, and the colorways will vary by fiber. There will be soft haloed alpaca blends and cashmere blends, luxurious silk blends, and seacell blends.

I chose to paint sunsets in Tuscany inspired by one of my favorite novels, Room with a View.

For Sunset over the Arno, I picked an Alpaca blend, seeking to capture not only the colors but also the hazy texture of the Tuscan evening air after a warm summer day.



I hope you will join me tomorrow, Sunday, to enjoy the romantic sunsets of Tuscany.

Cute as a button!

The American Girl Doll sweaters are knit! I went and picked the buttons yesterday at Windsor Button in Boston.





I found exactly what I wanted, 1/4 inch buttons in colors matching the little sweaters: a soft green for the Jamieson's Sweater, and a coraly red for the Knitpicks sweater. I love the fact that the buttons are slightly iridescent. They look like little gems.

I don't know how you feel about it, but for me buttons are really important, they can make or break a sweater. Their color can sometimes play on the subtlety of the colors in the yarn, or highlight a delightful stitch. Buttons are just amazing!



I probably owe my fascination for buttons to my mother's button tin box. I am sure you mother had one too. As a child, I spent hours every Wednesday afternoon rummaging through the buttons, delighting at the sounds they would make as my hand dug deeper and deeper,and swooshed them to find the one perfect little treasure I had been dreaming of. I would categorize them, and engage in active trade with imaginary customers. I would spread my collection all over my mother's bed, even though I had been clearly told not to do so. But isn't your mother's bed the only place to sell buttons to imaginary customers? After hours of playing, and shortly before my mother's return, I would reluctantly put all the buttons back in the tin box. I would vaguely straighten the blankets to erase all traces of my activities.

I am sure my mother was never fooled, in particular when on Wednesday nights as she was getting into bed, she would find some forgotten buttons...

I have a button tin box of my own now, and little Miss SockPixie spends hours swooshing, digging, and trading...secretly of course...on my bed...

Relaxing Crochet

I am making real progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater pattern . The pattern is written and is being tested before a final editing. I expect the pattern will be ready sometime over the coming weekend. I am going to pick buttons tomorrow, and I am going to spend some time brushing the hair of the dolls, and playing with different outfits...of course the only reason I am "playing" with the doll is for the pictures! ;)

My knitting has been so focused lately that I needed a relaxed easy project. Crochet granny squares are exactly what I need when the knitting gets intense. I can just crochet a couple a day, and eventually I will have enough for a blanket!

I found the cutest pattern for floral granny squares on the beautiful blog Rosehip.

I had some Cornucopia yarn by Kollage in my stash, in bright cheerful colors. So there we go, here are the first 3 squares...



These little flowery squares make me smile. I think they could cheer up anybody's day, don't you?

Natural Inspirations

For today a little natural inspiration...



This makes me feel like embroidering...

Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater

Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater? Need I say more?

Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater

I started reknitting the American Girl Doll Sweater today using Jamieson's Spindrift in the Moorgrass colorway.

So far, everything is progressing beautifully. The colors are scrumptious, and the pattern looks so beautiful in this yarn.



I have reworked the pattern for the main body of the sweater so that it is knit in one piece (except for the sleeves.) No seams at the sides means a little less bulk under the arms, and of course a little less finishing. I am also going to replace the shoulder seams with a 3 needle bind off for a nice clean look.

The work on the Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest was halted for the day. I always feel odd working on 2 projects at once. I feel guilty half the time and even find myself worrying that one project will become jealous of the other! Do you ever feel that way?

Knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest

Yes, I am finally knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest! I started yesterday afternoon. I actually started with the left front. (I know you should start with the back, but I just felt like knitting the fronts!)

The left front is finished and I have marked the location of the buttons in order to place the buttonholes properly on the right front. (I am looking forward to making the buttons, they are crochet buttons!)



The detail on the vest is beautiful. I love how Pam Allen worked the bottom edge. It is so feminine, and the waist shaping will be so flattering. And the way my red handspun Shetland is knitting up is making me so happy!



Before I go, I wanted to tell you Mr. SockPixie loved his Moth Mittens, and wore them for the first time today!