Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Swatch is not a dirty word

This is a picture of some of the dyed roving, "Philon" that I mentioned yesterday. The color is off because there is no green in the sample. Before I wind the yarn onto my winder to become a skein, I sometimes have a chance to knit a little swatch to see how it works up. This yarn felt downright sensuous in my hands. The merino and mohair adds just the right amount of bounce and luster. Even though I would rather spin than knit, I think that it's important to sample what I'm trying to promote and sell.
When I first started working with the alpaca, I was a dieheart natural color person. I thought it shameful that anyone would contaminate the precious alpaca by dyeing it or adding silk or mohair, or heaven forbid, sheep. After a few years of actually working (knitting) with what I'm producing, I'm loving my blends and yarns. My choices for blends and colors have become intuitive and much more fun that trying to plan everything.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Variety truly is the spice of life, Maple! LOL

I too am a bit of a purist when it comes to the natural fiber and colours of alpaca, however having purchased some of your dyed, and blended yarns, I have become a real fan of both the naturals and the dyed/blended yarns. I wouldn't want to be without either, now! :)

I love seeing how a hand-dyed yarn knits up in a swatch. I don't have much experience yet with working with these, so can't easily visualize what the knitted effect will be.

It's wonderful to follow your journey to becoming more intuitive and following your inner joy/wisdom. I say, go for it! :)

Margaret

Brenda said...

Gorgeous colors! And I really like the natural colored fibers, too.

Unknown said...

FYI, Maple, 'Emak (Grandma)' s, aka myo10 at Etsy :)

I'm learning to blog just recently at KnitWits and Yarn Tales.

Knit - R - Done said...

I was driving through rural Montana yesterday and saw many, many sheep. A few times I saw "guard dog" alpacas staring at us from the side of the road and I thought about you and your ranch.

Anonymous said...

Ha! I blogged about swatching today as well! :-)
That swatch of yours came out beautifully!

LazyTcrochet said...

It looks so luxurious!

Firefly Nights said...

Eventually I'd like to add dyeing to my current fiber arts skills but I haven't ventured down that road yet. Will be taking a class later in the year.

Map