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Tibetan Fairisle

This summer when Bret was in the U.S. he brought me a teaser of the new colored yarns that The Rocking Yak is producing for 2013.  They are fabulous!  The green yarn has been dyed with local plants found on the mountains in the region that we work in, while indigo was used in dying the blue.  I knew right away that I wanted to knit up something special for myself with the new yarns.  I rarely knit for myself.  Isn’t that how it always is with knitters.  Anyway, as the weather began to get cooler, I started looking around Ravelry to find something to knit.  I found this free fairisle hat pattern which inspired me to create a hat with my own design.  I wanted the hat to have a Tibetan design. Here is some of the colorwork I’m working on.  This is a sample swatch that I’m knitting up as I work out the designs.

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>>>> odosketch

My favorite things about the weekend is sleeping in late, eating a big family breakfast, and relaxing.  I really enjoy the extra time without any of the everyday pressures of having to be some place at a certain time.  It gives my kids time to be creative in their play which brings me joy in watching them. It gives my husband time to be creative in his workshop shaping wood.  I like to spend the extra time exploring the internet to find new, fun and inspiring places.

My most recently discovery (that I can see taking up too much of my time), is odosketch.  This creative website is a lot of fun. You can create your own sketches & look at sketches created by other people.

Go check it out & leave a link in the comments so I can see what you create!

 

>>>> warm fall colors

I was going through my stash of yarns and came across 4 skeins of this fabulous yarn from Manos del Uruguay.  I love how the colors match the trees outside my windows.  I had made a sweater with this yarn shortly after my son was born over 7 years ago. I wore the sweater a few times before my sweet husband placed it in the drier while helping me with the laundry.  Of coarse it felted, so I passed it on to a good (much smaller than me) friend.  It became her favorite sweater that was well loved & I was happy to have given it to her.  I hear this yarn calling to me again.

>>>> a busy time of year

Here in Indiana the autumn leaves are changing as the air turns cooler and the days grow shorter.  Preparations are being made for the colder months.  Handmade gifts are cast onto knitting needles, menus are being planned, and travel arrangements are being made.  As much as I love this time of year, and everything that comes with it, this year I find that I long to be in another place on the other side of the planet.

The Rocking Yak is moving into a busy season.  The villagers are coming in from working the fields.  The yak fiber is being purchased & delivered to our precious spinners.  The mountain sides are being combed for natural dye materials, and soon days will be spent dying, washing, and balling yarn.  It is a lot of work for the few living and working on the Tibetan Plateau and I wish I was among them.

gathering of 5 medals

This weekend was one of our favorite events of the year, the gathering of 5 medals. It’s a historical reenactment of the colonial period that changes from year to year. This year we found more people working with fibers than in the past.

spinning with a drop spindle
twining a bag
dying with natural dyes
dye stuff
indigo

>>>>

I found the natural dyes to be the most interesting as it is an area I would like learn more about.


A great article I found on the topic can be read here.

fabric with soul

 

Why do we bother to take so much time and labor actually knitting something when there are so many good machine knitwears? They are durable, inexpensive…
Why?
Because, we must stubbornly believe that all the care our hands give to each and every stitch creates something more than just a “look.”  It may be subtle, but we know when we wear and touch a hand knit item, we can feel the thoughts of the person, who made it. It becomes a companion that ages with us, and shares with us a history. It is a fabric with soul.

 

~ inspired by Habu Textiles

Sunrises like marbled paper

The other morning, I was setting at the gas station admiring a beautiful sunrise when I had a revelation.

Have you ever marbled paper before?  It’s such an amazing process.  An artist starts with a tub filled with a water solution.  This solution causes the water to become heavier than the colors used, which allows the colors to remain suspended at the top of the tub.  The artist will drip drops of color on to the surface of the water.  As the drops are suspended the colors can be layered.  Then, when the artist is finished with this step, he/she will pull a comb through the water causing the drops to merge, and morph into the designs that we call marbled.  Each time the comb is pulled through the water the colors swirl, and change.

As I sat there watching the sunrise, I saw the clouds shift and change across the sky.  I noticed that the effects of the sunlight on the clouds changed the display of the sunrise as the clouds changed.  I could imagine God’s hand, His fingers being drawn across the sky through the cloud formations. And just as the artist’s comb would cause the suspended colors to swirl and change to create a marbled masterpiece, God’s hand caused the suspended clouds to swirl and change creating a magnificent sunrise.