Catching Up
I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. This week just flew by. I was really busy with work, so I won't have a huge amount to post here. It kind of sucked, too, because all of last week it was above 70 degrees and I so much wanted to just go home and read my book club book, but I couldn't because I had so much to get done. So much for the flexibility of being self-employed, eh?
Last time I posted pictures of my yarn for the Wobbly Circles Tote. I think the color in the picture was way off because pretty much everyone said that the oregano looked too dark and the lime was good. I had all the yarns together in a bag for the last few weeks and everytime I walked by that bag the lime green just jumped out, so I really think the bright flash in that picture brighened up the sapphire and lotus pink. I appreciate everyone's feedback, though, and it got me to thinking. I had originally started with loving the oregano and raspberry together and putting the sapphire with them because it looked kind of purple to me. Here's a picture of the yarn outside, so maybe it's more true to color:
So I got to thinking that maybe I needed to ditch both the lime and pink. But then I thought maybe instead of the sapphire, I'd use some amethyst I also have in stash as the main color. The whole point of this project was to use stash yarn, so I have to make what I have work, for the most part. So, I could either go with sapphire, pink and lime and join in 2 other bright colors or Amethyst, oregano and raspberry. I checked the stash some more and thought about joining in the leftover yellow from the first Nantasket basket. The other colors I have in stash are not suitable for either grouping, so I decided to go to the yarn store one more time and pick up just two skeins, which isn't too much to add. Especially since The Yarnery is having a 20% off everything in the store sale. So, after going through all the Lamb's Pride I decided to stick with my first choice, the oregano and raspberry and put it with amethyst as the main color. I added in rust and sunburst gold and I think I really like this grouping. I may have been attracted to these colors because of Project Spectrum, but I really do think they look good together.
That picture still isn't a good reflection of the colors, even though it's outside in natural light. It looks like they're all primary colors, but it really is a gold, not a yellow and the other colors are more subtle. No matter how I try that Oregano looks dark, too, and it's not that dark in real life. This color card is the best representation I've seen in person, if you're really interested.
Of course, it could just be that I don't have a good sense of color. Either way I really like these colors and I'm definitely going with them. Even if everyone else thinks the green is too dark or they don't go together, I like them and will be happy with the bag, so that's all that really matters, to me. The knitalong has started, so I'm planning on casting on tonight. Speaking of colors, I also bought a few more skeins of Cotton Classic at The Yarnery for my mitred squares blanket. I know that's going to be really colorful and perhaps some will find it hideous, but I think I'm going to like it.
In other Project Spectrum news, I felted the third Nantasket basket and it didn't turn out so well:
As you can see, it didn't really felt much. As I posted before, I used Peace Fleece for this one. It's a little bit heavier than the other two yarns I used, so it ended up being a lot bigger to begin with. Since it didn't felt down much, the finished project was a lot bigger than the first two. I tried to take a closeup of the fabric so you could see what it looks like, although it's not so great:
I ran it through the wash I think 4 times. It felted some and was really, really hairy. I shaved it to take away alot of the hairiness. The blue for the handles actually seemed to felt much better, although they are still floppy and not stiff like the lamb's pride handles. I gave all three baskets filled with goodies to the kids this weekend and they all seemed to really like them. They were excited that they got to keep them. Katie got the Peace Fleece one and liked it because it was the biggest one. So, all's well that ends well. No more baskets for me for a while - I'm kinda sick of them.
I started knitting a baby hat out of a gorgeous orange bamboo yarn from Alchemy, but neither of the two pictures I took look very nice, so I'm going to wait and post a picture of that later in the week.
I knit up a few squares for animal shelter cage liners for Chris on Saturday. I just grabbed the closest acrylic I had in stash, which turned out to be some Lion Brand Microspun. Coral isn't really orange, but I consider it a pink and orange hybrid, so I think they're cousins and this counts as a PS project :-)
It was just a quick, fun little diversion on a day that I was mostly working on my taxes - ugh. I'm excited to be taking things OFF of the stash inventory instead of always adding them ON, too.
Sunday I decided to do a little Project Spectrum beading. First up is a necklace with a little orange and yellow in it:
I saw this cool heart-shaped bead and it immediately reminded me of the Irish flag, so I thought maybe I'd pair it with a three-strand seed bead necklace in the Irish flag colors. This didn't turn out exactly what I had in mind. I think I may pick up a large jump ring and hook the bead onto all three strands of the necklace. Or maybe I'll leave it. Next I worked on a millefiore necklace, but I decided it needed some metal, so I'm going to pick up some silver heishis and finish it up later. Last, I made a bracelet with some red, brown and yellow beads I really liked:
Kind of hard to see - I took a bunch of pictures and none of them were great. The darker beads are red, the lighter ones are a rootbeer color of brown and then the yellow is obvious. and yes, I really like accenting my pieces with silver heishis.
Last time I posted pictures of my yarn for the Wobbly Circles Tote. I think the color in the picture was way off because pretty much everyone said that the oregano looked too dark and the lime was good. I had all the yarns together in a bag for the last few weeks and everytime I walked by that bag the lime green just jumped out, so I really think the bright flash in that picture brighened up the sapphire and lotus pink. I appreciate everyone's feedback, though, and it got me to thinking. I had originally started with loving the oregano and raspberry together and putting the sapphire with them because it looked kind of purple to me. Here's a picture of the yarn outside, so maybe it's more true to color:
So I got to thinking that maybe I needed to ditch both the lime and pink. But then I thought maybe instead of the sapphire, I'd use some amethyst I also have in stash as the main color. The whole point of this project was to use stash yarn, so I have to make what I have work, for the most part. So, I could either go with sapphire, pink and lime and join in 2 other bright colors or Amethyst, oregano and raspberry. I checked the stash some more and thought about joining in the leftover yellow from the first Nantasket basket. The other colors I have in stash are not suitable for either grouping, so I decided to go to the yarn store one more time and pick up just two skeins, which isn't too much to add. Especially since The Yarnery is having a 20% off everything in the store sale. So, after going through all the Lamb's Pride I decided to stick with my first choice, the oregano and raspberry and put it with amethyst as the main color. I added in rust and sunburst gold and I think I really like this grouping. I may have been attracted to these colors because of Project Spectrum, but I really do think they look good together.
That picture still isn't a good reflection of the colors, even though it's outside in natural light. It looks like they're all primary colors, but it really is a gold, not a yellow and the other colors are more subtle. No matter how I try that Oregano looks dark, too, and it's not that dark in real life. This color card is the best representation I've seen in person, if you're really interested.
Of course, it could just be that I don't have a good sense of color. Either way I really like these colors and I'm definitely going with them. Even if everyone else thinks the green is too dark or they don't go together, I like them and will be happy with the bag, so that's all that really matters, to me. The knitalong has started, so I'm planning on casting on tonight. Speaking of colors, I also bought a few more skeins of Cotton Classic at The Yarnery for my mitred squares blanket. I know that's going to be really colorful and perhaps some will find it hideous, but I think I'm going to like it.
In other Project Spectrum news, I felted the third Nantasket basket and it didn't turn out so well:
As you can see, it didn't really felt much. As I posted before, I used Peace Fleece for this one. It's a little bit heavier than the other two yarns I used, so it ended up being a lot bigger to begin with. Since it didn't felt down much, the finished project was a lot bigger than the first two. I tried to take a closeup of the fabric so you could see what it looks like, although it's not so great:
I ran it through the wash I think 4 times. It felted some and was really, really hairy. I shaved it to take away alot of the hairiness. The blue for the handles actually seemed to felt much better, although they are still floppy and not stiff like the lamb's pride handles. I gave all three baskets filled with goodies to the kids this weekend and they all seemed to really like them. They were excited that they got to keep them. Katie got the Peace Fleece one and liked it because it was the biggest one. So, all's well that ends well. No more baskets for me for a while - I'm kinda sick of them.
I started knitting a baby hat out of a gorgeous orange bamboo yarn from Alchemy, but neither of the two pictures I took look very nice, so I'm going to wait and post a picture of that later in the week.
I knit up a few squares for animal shelter cage liners for Chris on Saturday. I just grabbed the closest acrylic I had in stash, which turned out to be some Lion Brand Microspun. Coral isn't really orange, but I consider it a pink and orange hybrid, so I think they're cousins and this counts as a PS project :-)
It was just a quick, fun little diversion on a day that I was mostly working on my taxes - ugh. I'm excited to be taking things OFF of the stash inventory instead of always adding them ON, too.
Sunday I decided to do a little Project Spectrum beading. First up is a necklace with a little orange and yellow in it:
I saw this cool heart-shaped bead and it immediately reminded me of the Irish flag, so I thought maybe I'd pair it with a three-strand seed bead necklace in the Irish flag colors. This didn't turn out exactly what I had in mind. I think I may pick up a large jump ring and hook the bead onto all three strands of the necklace. Or maybe I'll leave it. Next I worked on a millefiore necklace, but I decided it needed some metal, so I'm going to pick up some silver heishis and finish it up later. Last, I made a bracelet with some red, brown and yellow beads I really liked:
Kind of hard to see - I took a bunch of pictures and none of them were great. The darker beads are red, the lighter ones are a rootbeer color of brown and then the yellow is obvious. and yes, I really like accenting my pieces with silver heishis.
rdladd@arnan.com
