5.24.2009

my favorite words were the ones i couldn't spell

One of my favorite things about knitting is the way you can use color: whether it's through fair isle patterning, combining novel colors, or beautiful hand-dyed yarns. Inevitably I was drawn to experiment with dyes myself...and by using Wilton Cake Icing Dye, I was able to create a few colorways of my own. I used single skeins of Kraemer Yarns' Jeannie, a wool/nylon sock-weight yarn that could be ordered au natural. These turned out pretty bright (especially the neon green one, I was limited by the colors I could mix with an introductory dye pack), but they're still quite attractive. At least...I think so! Sock yarn is a pretty safe way to experiment because you can get a whole pair out of a single skein. I knit a lot of socks (who doesn't?) and thus this is a win-win situation.

The other nice thing was that having all this sock yarn (and the need for knitted samples so I could show classes what their dye work would look like) forced me to knit lots of pairs of socks. In so doing, I discovered many details that comprise my ideal sock. No two pairs are alike, but by the third pair I was thoroughly satisfied with the design. Factors included length of cuff, ribbing placement on top of foot, toe shaping, heel method, etc. I'm just a little OCD.

Pictured here is my fearless photography supervisor...concentrating as any serious artist should. Most of the photos on this blog are my own, but in the coming days and weeks you'll see more of his photos posted. If you like biking- should I say cycling- check Cyclist 17's photo blog to see what landscapes via bike look like. He's just humoring me by helping with the yarn thing!

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