Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Autumn Colors

I had to go out this morning. I had million other and quite important things to take care of inside today but the sun came out, colored the sky beautiful blue and the remaining leaves on trees rich yellow. I looked out of the window, took my boots and camera and went out. There have been so many grey and rainy days in a row that seeing sun was a treat. Soft sun rays were like loving touches.I must admit that the red/orange twined sweater can be a bore at times. Yes. We are having a crisis. But so far I have not abandoned her. Yesterday I had to go and buy a new circular needle because I felt that the stitches were like glued to the old circular. So do you think it helped? Not really, and I see this as a very bad sign. Beth gave me a little bit of advice having socks on the needles just in case when I took this twined journey but I thought I would not need socks, I thought that the sweater would be fine, just fine. I should have listened to Beth. I have reached the waist line and I must confess that I just about have had it with this for time being. But if I drop this now, will this ever be done? Maybe I just should keep on twining.
There is this little voice in the back of my mind telling me that I'm wasting all my good knitting time when waiting since this sweater is very difficult to drag around and I don't have anything (nice and easy) to knit on the road at the moment.
Luckily there has been some distraction... these little skeins of yarn that have been dyed by Niina with natural dyes. Look at the little yellow skein - the color is like from the pictures of the leaves from above. When quilting I dyed some cotton and linen with fiber reactive dyes and I have once attended a weekend course with natural dyes, but it was a very long time ago. It was a fall after extremely rainy summer and all the yarns came out different hues of green. Lovely green even when the color should have been sort of yellow. Every now and then I have thought about trying dyes again...
The red/orange sweater - being the only (so far allowed) creative outlet - forced me to consider other alternatives outside knitting. I have been spinning a bit of Corriedale.This color did not speak to me. It is beautiful blue for spring and summer but at this time of year it felt out of place. So I dumped it into a kettle.Poured some reactive dye over it and let it boil for a while. And it turned into this blue. Very dark and difficult to capture the right color. I tried in shadowand in sunshine.After doing this skein the dye bath was still very strong. So I threw in some white Shetland. It should be done soon.

What if I spin some grey singles and ply with white and then dye... I'm not sure I can turn back any more. Something tells me that a new journey has just begun.

PS. About the wild birds... I have them served from best china with good wine. I just eat, don't shoot or clean or cook. Just eat.

22 comments:

  1. Just beautiful!

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  2. Wonderful pictures.
    I agree with the sock idea - if the twined knitting becomes a chore, you'll never want to finish it, or even wear it once it's complete. It's such a beautiful project, it would be a shame if you forced yourself and didn't enjoy it.

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  3. I love the deep blue, but what a difference a bit of sunshine makes to colour and the soul of a knitter!

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  4. Thanks for going out today and taking pictures! Those colors sure are a treat for the soul!

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  5. Anonymous19:17

    Those are beautiful pictures, my thanks to you for sharing them.
    It is important for me to always have a "waiting" project in my car that is easy and has no time limit or deadline. I knit ribbed hats for charity--a women's shelter--and it's amazing how many toques I can provide by November--just from doctor's waiting rooms, friends who are late for lunch, etc. When it comes to the decreases for the top, and sewing together, the project comes inside for finishing. Sometimes it is good to take a break from a tedious project. If you never go back to it, that tells you something. But probably you will go back to it some day. Let's make our knitting hobby a joy, and leave our guilt trips back in history.
    Marlyce in Windsor, Ontario, Canada

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  6. Great pictures. I agree, start some socks and you will feel better.

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  7. Love the dark, heathery blue. What do you plan to make with it?

    The pictures of the leaves are very inspiring; warm, light, a slow - but lively dancing. You need to have a small project in hand that captures that look and feeling.

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  8. Goodness... are all those skeins naturally dyed? That's amazing. The colors are so vivid!

    I have a sweater that I don't feel like working on, either. I think that no matter how lovely the sweater is, once you pass a certain point, it becomes a chore instead of a pleasure. Then you just have to wait for the inspiration to finish it. But when inspiration finally comes, the whole thing is done in a flash! That's how it seems to work for me, anyway.

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  9. I love the rainbow of natual dye colors you have in the photo there. So many decisions! What to work first.

    Can you spend some necessary time with your red and orange each day (even if it is just one round) and then move on to something light and easy on the needles when you need a break?

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  10. Anonymous21:43

    What a wonderful dark shade of blue you dyed! You've captured the mood of approaching winter perfectly with that color. Very fitting.

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  11. Anonymous22:14

    You're on the waist? And you started from the top? You must be 2/3 of the way done. I'd love to give you sage advice, but there's this baby blanket.....
    Margie

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  12. I have a shawl that I called my vacation shawl because I took it everywhere with me this summer. It is very plain, very simple knitting.

    I've tucked it away in a special place to wait for next summer. I was bored with it. Now I'll have a half finished shawl to work on next summer. I can look forward to taking it out again.

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  13. Anonymous00:45

    I think I agree with Marie; perhaps you should spend just a bit of time each day with the sweater, and then work on a sock or something else that interests you. For me, if I put something away, I might not get it out again for quite awhile. Like the baby sweater I was working on, which now doesn't fit the baby it was for. The poor baby only got a hat.

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  14. Anonymous01:58

    You need a carry-around project for traffic jams (do you have those where you live, I wonder?), waiting rooms, waiting to pick someone up, waiting to be picked up, whatever... And if you don't go back to the twined sweater, well, maybe next year it will be just what you are looking for. Or not. But in the meantime, get yourself some knitting that you like.

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  15. Anonymous02:09

    You will love natural dyeing, I'm sure. I thought I wouldn't because you can get a lot of icky yellows and tans, but our guild has a dye garden and it's a ton of fun. Sure, there are yellows, but there are other colors too and it's all so interesting. I haven't even tried our local mushrooms yet, another source of dye.

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  16. Lene, I can't believe you don't have at least three projects on the go at the same time - the big one, a secondary one,and the little travelling one. Are you so organised, so disciplined? I can't believe it of someone who has such a relaxed way with words. I couldn't cope with having just the same knit companion for weeks on end - I need light relief now and again. Get on to some jolly socks in a very bright colour for Hallow-E'en and you'll love the sweater all over again soon - promise!

    I'm going to get into dyeing in a big way soon too - I want to capture those colours I see all around.

    Jo
    Celtic Memory Yarns
    (back home from her travels)

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  17. Anonymous05:00

    Hey, Kate in AK - is that Alaska? Do you have rock tripe lichens there - the umbilicaria ones? Steeped in 50/50 ammonia and water, they make a range of fabulous purples that do not need a mordant! Maybe there are lichens like that in finland also.

    Best wishes, every one.

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  18. I am just getting into dyeing and find it to be more addictive than knitting. I dyed roving 10 days ago, spun it last week and knitted a scarf in less than two days! I am usually the queen of UFOs but something about doing the entire process kept my interest! I think I need to research this lichen thing Ellen mentions....

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  19. Anonymous02:58

    oh boy, this dyeing post really got my blood racing lene! love the colors of natural dye . . .
    i have dyed two-tone fiber and it comes out two-tomed when you dye it. it's a good change of pace.

    and happy bloggy birthday!

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  20. Your pictures in this post are spectacular with the intense sun. I love the way you changed the color and added the white.

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  21. I can understand the need for diversion from the twining. Large projects challenge me like that. The spinning and dye-works are a nice color break from the red/orange. Maybe that's what your eyes needed?

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  22. Anonymous20:54

    I love seeing all the colors of yarn lined up next to one another. My favorite colors always look even better when they are not alone but rather next to other vibrant tones.

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