Mystery Revealed

Well, it's been a few weeks since the release of the final "clue" for the A Few of my Favorite Things mystery knit along, so I think it's pretty safe for me to post finished photos.

Yarn choices from left to right: Gaea Creations Tori Sock in Apple Pickin', Beauregard Blue, and Embers; Malabrigo Rios in Arco Iris, English Rose, and Apple Green; Black Trillium Fibre Studio Lilt Sock in Super Happy Fun paired with Sweet Tea Yarns Sweet Sock in Dad's Worn Denim and Dreamsicle.

Gaea Creations Tori Sock:

 Malabrigo Rios:

Black Trillium and Sweet Tea Yarns:

I've also knit two using leftovers--one in various fingering weight yarns and one in Cascade 220. Yes, that means I've knit this pattern FIVE times. The combination of short rows and mosaic really is that fun.

Clue #1 is a smallish triangle of modified garter stitch.

Clue #2 is the first mosaic section.

Clue #3 is the big short-row section. This bit is so fun that I'm always sad when it's over.

Clue #4 is more mosaic, but slightly different than the first.

And finally, Clue #5 is the fun short-row edging.

Wondering about good color combinations? Here are some fun Gaea Creations combos.

Option #1: This is the combo I used. Tori Sock in Apple Pickin', Beauregard Blue, and Embers.

Option #2: Lilac-Breasted Roller, Beauregard Blue, and Nebula.

Option #3: Dance Party, Beauregard Blue, and Nebula.

Option #4: Jupiter, Beauregard Blue, and Nebula.

Okay, so this definitely reveals that there's a big gap in my color collection: I need more solids and semi-solids. 😁 But even with the limited range, these could make some gorgeous shawls! And if you have some other color ideas, I'd love to work with you to create your very own color combo!


In other news: Keep an eye out this weekend or early next week for a shop update! Here's a tiny look at what's coming:

The Biggest Announcement of 2020

This announcement has been several months in the works, but I'm so pleased and proud to inform you that I've opened an Etsy shop selling my very own hand dyed yarns!

As many of you know, I've enjoyed dyeing yarn with Kool Aid and other food dyes for many years. This fall, I expanded by skills to include commercial acid dyes and absolutely fell in love with the process. Color is my jam, and being able to create exactly the yarn I want in exactly the colors I imagine is more fun than I can tell you.

I'm starting off small with only three yarn bases and twelve colorways. Dye batches are small--three skeins per pan is pretty manageable. I know some dyers who say they do four per pan, but I'm always happy with the results if I have no more than three. So, you'll see small quantities for now. I'm happy to accept special orders for larger quantities, though! Just email me!

How often the shop is updated with new stock or new colorways or new bases depends on you! Orders--including special orders and requests--drive development!

The Bases

These are all deliciously soft merino blends that take the dye beautifully! I tested many different yarns before deciding to carry this bases. I hope you love them as much as I do! 

Tori Sock (yes, named after my daughter.)

75% Superwash Merino / 25% Nylon

4-ply

463 yds / 100 g

Elaine Sock (named after my grandma. Y'all know how much I love sparkle? I got that from her.)

75% Superwash Merino / 20% Nylon / 5% Stellina

2-ply

438 yds / 100 g

Christine Worsted (named after my mom who, by example, taught me how to be a maker.)

100% Superwash Merino

4-ply

218 yds / 100 g

The Colors

Remember: These yarns are dyed by hand in small batches, and even skeins dyed in the same pot will differ a bit. If you're using more than one skein in a project, I recommend alternating skeins every few rows to balance out any color differences.

Now for what you've been waiting for! The colors!!

Apple Pickin' is a pale green background speckles of red, orange, and yellow. 

Beauregard Blue is a wonderful semi-sold with shades from bright blue to deep navy. And yes, the name comes from THAT Beauregard. This color on the Elaine base is absolutely stunning!

Dance Party is just fun. It's an aqua base with speckles of violet, magenta, and yellow. To me, it looks like a really fun party. 

Embers. Need I say more? With a range from brilliant yellow to orange to fiery red and even some bright pink, this knits up almost like a semi-solid.

Funfetti Cupcake is inspired by the colors I always associated with my Grandma Martin. She LOVED pink and purple. I tossed a little bit of mint green in there for good measure. Also: she was a great cook and always had sweets on hand for the grandkids.

Hydrangea was actually inspired  by a specific photo of a hydrangea (of course). I love the way the leaf green and bright blue fade into the white that separates them. 

 

Jupiter is my daughter's signature colorway. She sent me the photo below, enhanced with colors we don't usually see in Jupiter pics. I think it's lovely! And it also looks particularly amazing on the Elaine base.

 

Lilac-Breasted Roller is a bird that's native to sub-Saharan Africa. I've had this photo on my "Colors" board on Pinterest for years, without ever knowing what kind of bird it was.When I decided to make it a colorway, I figured I needed to find out! Of course, this photo has been enhanced at some point to make him look a bit more neon than the birds really are, but I love it!

 Macaw is inspired by macaw feathers, of course!

 

Mango is inspired by my mom. I honestly don't know how she feels about mangos. My son picked the name. BUT, when I asked my sisters what colors they thought of for Mom, they said, "Deep red, orange, gold." I also realize that, if you're into that kind of thing, the colors match those used in a certain magical house. Also a certain local high school. 

Nebula. I came up with this color just by playing around and experimenting with pink and purple color combinations. When my son saw it, he instantly said, "Nebula." I think he's right. On the Elaine base, the sparkles look like stars!

Pastel Pop is probably my favorite. As I was dyeing it, my husband said, "Bomb pop!" and I said, "No! It's pink and white and aqua, not red, white, and blue!" But, I could see where he was coming from. So we agreed on Pastel Pop as the name of the color.

Don't see a color that does it for you? Contact me at amanda AT gaeacreations DOT com! I'd love to work with you to develop a color you love.

Sneak Peek

If you subscribe to my email newsletter, you probably saw this sneak peek already. If you don't subscribe to my email newsletter, you can do so here.

I have some fun things planned for 2020. My previous post was about one of them: The MKAL! I'm really excited about that, and MANY thanks to those of you who have already purchased the pattern and contacted me to sign up for the class!

Another big thing coming in 2020 is....well, I can't tell you exactly what it is because I'm still working out the details. But if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you can probably put two and two together and figure it out....but for now, know this: I'm putting a lot of work into the "behind the scenes" aspect of this and will have a big fun announcement when everything is ready to go.

In the meantime, enjoy this eye candy.

Yarny Fun

Many of you know that I enjoy (and have even taught classes about) dyeing with Kool Aid. A few weeks ago, I decided to play around a little bit with Kool Aid again. I had some white worsted weight and fingering weight yarn, and I wanted to try dyeing some true self-striping and gradient yarns. There are a handful of ways to accomplish this, but I decided the knitting blanks would be a fun way to play. So, I ordered a hand-crank, 40-needle knitting machine from Amazon. (For some reason, I haven't taken a picture of it....) It's a finicky little tool, but once I got it figured out, I was off to the races! I made four 50g tubes of fingering, one 100g tube of fingering, and two 100g tubes of worsted. I laid them out on my kitchen table, mixed up my Kool Aid, and had some fun. 

The picture below of my yarn steaming might look pretty familiar to those of you who attended the River Knits Retreat a couple of years ago.

After steaming and drying them, I decided I wanted them in skein format (even though you can knit directly from the blank). I'm blessed with a dad who is an amazing woodworker, and he made me a skein winder so I wouldn't have to use a niddy-noddy!

This fabulous tool makes winding skeins go so much faster! But look at how kinky they are!

 
A little soak and hanging to dry straightened them right out. Below, from top to bottom: two 100g skeins of worsted in self striping cool and warm colors, respectively; two 50g skeins of self-striping fingering weight (shown above on the table); two 50g skeins of fingering dyed in rainbow gradients; one 100g skein of fingering dyed in a long rainbow gradient. 

Y'all. This was so much fun! But I found myself wondering what kinds of effects I could get if I had "real dye." Note: Kool Aid is a real dye. It dyes yarn beautifully and safely, but it does have some limitations. There are a limited number of colors, and color mixing to expand the pallet is disappointing. For example, if you mix cherry (red) and mixed berry (blue), you won't get purple. The red will take up very quickly, and the blue won't take up much at all.  

So, I went to Bluprint (formerly Craftsy Unlimited) and watched a couple of classes. Professional Yarn Dyeing at Home and Next Steps in Yarn Dyeing were both very helpful. Last weekend, I dyed some mini skeins (that I made with my awesome skein winder!), and you guys? I'm in love.
 

I took this basket of bare yarn (the grey ones have stellina in them! SPARKLES!!!), and dyed tons of samples, playing with color mixing, depth of shade, and fiber content.

Pure colors in jars in a water bath, ready to steam:

Mixed colors, after steaming:

Sparkle yarn, ready to steam:

Here's the same basket, filled with all of my little sample skeins.

Now I have some ideas for how I want to do some full skeins and projects I'd like to knit with them. Guess how I'm going to spend my weekend!