SockPixie Retrospective

This week was a week of reflection for me, and I decided to bring some of my favorite colorways back for a special encore.
Choosing was difficult of course. This color called to me and then that one but I eventually settled on a few. I hope you will enjoy this SockPixie retrospective.
Here is Raspberry Cheesecake, one of my first colorways...

Homme Fatal

There is a little story behind the inspiration for this week's Homme Fatal Collection. It all started because Mr.SockPixie was gone on a business trip for 5 whole days... I was so bored at night, that I decided to entertain myself with some of my favorite classics.
I watched Pillow Talk, Gone with the Wind, North by Northwest, Out of Africa...
As I was sitting there, enjoying every minute of the movies, I realized that I rarely created manly colorways, and why not try to bottle up in a skein of yarn what made each of my favorite actors so irresistible? And there you are, the Homme Fatal Collection!

Here is Cary Grant, perfect in grey.



Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Colorways

As Valentine's Day is approaching, I tought I would dedicate this week's colorways to famous real and mythical couples.

Here is Lucy and Ricky:



Happy Valentine to you all.

Mysterious Colorways

This weekend, I found my inspiration in the most unexpected place. I remembered the covers of my favorite mystery writer Agatha Christie.
The colors were so unique, mesmerizing an mysterious.

There are 7 Agatha Christie colorways, all variegated, in both yarns, and rovings.

A little taste of the collection with Destination Unknown:



If you are like me, you might like to knit an read at the same time, so why not grab an Agatha Christie mystery and knit!

Spinning Diary

I have been spinning even though I have not had that much time to post about it. I steel a few hours here and there to spin. When I spin, I lose myself. When I spin, the Mom, the business woman, the homeschooling parent, the wife recede, and for far too short an amout of time I am me, and I am just for me.
It is so easy for women to forget who they are as they try to be everything. When I spin, the motion of the wheel, the fibers steadily slipping between my fingers, the bobbin turning, all take me away. As soon as I sit, I let a big breath out, with the first pedal push, as if I was hypnotized, I am transported. I do not think about anything when I spin, I am entirely focused on the fiber,and the yarn I am creating. What do you feel when you spin?

Back to my spinning...
I recently created a colorway called Danaides inspired by a painting by Waterhouse. I knew the moment I dyed it that I would have to spin it. I felt so drawn by the colors. As soon as I had a moment, I grabbed a roving of it in the Finn.

The experience was marvelous. The Finn was so easy to spin. The long staple probably helped a lot. The yarn that came out of my fingers was so smooth. I loved the colors even more. I could not stop spinning. Before I knew it, I had spun half the roving.



I loved the colors so much that I decided that I would ply the yarn to itself. I wanted to keep the colors pure. I had to force myself to wait long enough before plying.

Then I plied... The result made me so happy. The yarn that resulted was soft, bouncy. And the colors...



I set the yarn and let it dry and just sat there admiring it. I have not yet knit with it. I have been carrying the skein with me everywhere I go. I have a special project in mind for it, a baby sweater design that I have been thinking of for some time. I just need to spin a few more skeins in compatible colorways!The sweater I have in mind is inspired by patchworks, and should be very forgiving to my novice uneveness.



Now I just have to dye the perfect roving to go with my danaides.

Thank you Leon Bakst

This week's SockPixie inspiration came from the costume designs of Leon Bakst (1866-1926). His costumes and colors have an exotic flair. The colors are bold, and contrasted which always is a lot of fun for me to work with.
Here is a sample collage of the colorway Zobeide:




Oh, and if you are wondering why there is no roving in the Iskander colorway, well let's just say that ice dams and frozen pipes can steel some of one's time!

Enjoy Bakst's colorways!

A Day with Modigliani...

My weekly color inspirations take me in many directions. I am a sort of color libertine, one week in love with one, the next infatuated with another.
Last week, I fell in love with Waterhouse, this week with Modigliani. Their approach to art, and color is so different, creating the colors is like discovering dyeing all over again.

Here one of these amazing colors which I called the Lady in the Aqua Room.

First the painting:



The yarn in a luscious SW BFL:



And in a new Alpaca/merino roving blend:



Enjoy your time with Modigliani!