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Decisions! Which Colourways to Dye?!?
If you’re a member of the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club, you know I love it because it gives me a chance to really stretch my wings and experiment with colour. Every month, I get to come up with ten colourways, and I have so much fun with that!
For July’s Mini-Skeins, I did another Start-Anywhere Gradient Mix. This one moves from a fabulous sunny-gold through to a delicate purple, which blends into a deliciously juicy blue (see the touches of purple hidden in the blue?), and finally melts back into that gold, creating vivid streaks of green as it does. I love the vibrancy of this mix — all the brightness of summer there in one sweet little bundle!
(And this best bit about these colourways? You may not know this, but when yellow and purple mix, they form the most sublime khaki colour. I think having that bit of earthy contrast in the mix really helps the brighter colours to pop.)
And to be honest, when the Mini-Skeins are finally all twisted and gathered into bundles, it’s usually the Ombre & Gradient Mix that’s my favourite. But this month… this month, the Multicolour Mix just reached out and grabbed me. All of the colourways in there are pure experimentation — I had no idea how they’d turn out — and the results blew me away!
There’s one that I think would be stunning if I took the colours and broke them out into a Gradient bundle of their own. And three more that are really calling to me to be dyed again, perhaps as Limited Editions. Can you guess which ones I’m thinking of?
Most of all, I can’t wait to get my Mini-Skein bundle caked up and ready to… oh, decisions! Should I knit them, weave them or crochet?!? I want to do all three! What would you do with yours?
A Colourway for Languid Days
According to last night’s 11pm news, the temperature here in western Pennsylvania is about to get miserable: 92 degrees F (33 C) with humidity that you can cut with a knife. I’m no fan of hot weather and I know it’s not due to last long but, while it’s here, I’ll be taking shelter in the coolest spots I can find.
So, it seemed a perfect time to share with you the latest Yarn Alliance parcel, because the inspiration for this colourway is all about finding refuge from the hottest summer temperatures.
Inspired by a languid summer’s afternoon spent in the shade of a lush tree, its branches draping lazily above and letting the sunlight through only in little pools here and there. No matter how harsh the sun’s ray or how wilting the day, the shelter of that cool, dappled shade is the most refreshing place to be.
Y’know, if I’m honest, this is not a colouway that I feels natural to me — I am not often a yellow kind of girl — but the truth is that I just love this colourway! There is something about that just feels so summery and hot… a little singed around the edges… and yet with that wonderfully cool streak of blues and greens. I just cannot wait to see how this knits up!
And every Yarn Alliance parcel comes with a gift and, this time, it was a perfect match for the colourway. When those long, languid days turn into perfect summer evenings, there is nothing nicer than sitting out in the cooling air with a beer (or, in this case, a cool English cider). Renee from Knerd made us these custom beer cosies with the idea of “cold beer, warm hands, dry knitting”.
And y’know, no matter how hot and miserable the day, I think that just has to be the perfect way to end it. Don’t you agree?
The InterStellar Yarn Alliance will open in September for new subscriptions. Want to be the first to hear when it does? Click here to get on the mailing list and get early-bird notification of the opening dates!
1.. 2… 3… Wait, 1.. 2…
Counting from one to five shouldn’t be tough, but this month I totally stumped my assistants Jade and Amy, and had them counting… and then recounting… and then starting over again.
They were bundling the June Mini-Skeins and, for the Ombre & Gradient Mix, the rule usually is that the most intense skein is number one, working to the gentlest skein at number five. Easy, right? But this month, I did something a little different.
But first, let me show you the Multicolour Mix. June always feels like such a bright, clear month — no snow, bright skies, blazing sun — that it felt right to dye clean, clear, happy colourways. Don’t they make you smile?
Now, which of these do you think I should do as Limited Editions? The pink and green? That happy yellow with pops of peach and green? Leave a comment and tell me which ones are calling your name!
But it was the Mini-Skein Club Ombre & Gradient Mix that was giving the SpaceCadet assistants pause… You see, most months, the Mini-Skeins have a definite start and a definite end, and Amy and Jade know exactly where to start.
But this month, I did something a bit different. I dyed five skeins that formed a complete circle, and all blended into each other. So, instead of starting a project at Skein 1 and working through to Skein 5, you could start a project anywhere in the set, and the skeins will still all work together.
Fancy that gorgeous Skein 3? Start there! It will blend into Skein 4, which blends into Skein 5, which blends into… and here’s the trick… Skein 5 blends neatly back into Skein 1. So you can start anywhere and still work your way right through the full bundle, creating a beautiful gradient effect no matter where you choose to begin.
Such a simple change, and yet it has a really big impact on your project. And I am so chuffed with the result! Don’t you just love it? So tell me, which skein would you start with?
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