Joyce Makes Art

Inspiration Bags

The very last Elliebelly Yarn went out in the mail today.  It was the Pixie Merino I showed you earlier this week, and this:

This is "Allison's House" -- the very last colorway I've dyed, and fittingly, for the very first work at home mom I ever got to know.  The colors are based on Allison's house (d'uh) and are dyed on a bulky yarn, Talia Merino, that is soft and very satisfying to knit with.

Allison is going to have a shrug from this yarn, and I can't wait to see it.

When I first started Elliebelly I would sell, perhaps, one item a week.  I hand-stamped all of my tags and enjoyed creating little pieces of art.  I decided to go back to that idea for the Pixie Merino, and ended up stamping on little muslin bags and putting the yarn info inside of them, thinking perhaps they could be filled with dried lavender and used to protect yarn from moths later on.

I hope everyone who gets one will find a good use for their inspiration bag.

The Last Elliebelly Yarn

I'm finishing up the last bits of Elliebelly yarn today, and feeling both sad to be having an ending and excited about the future.

The last bit of yarn I'm dyeing is for my friend Allison.  Allison made the most amazing baby clothes for all of my children and is the best seamstress I know.  She sent me pictures of the furniture she had upholstered for her living room, and asked for yarn the played with the same colors.  It has been painted and is in a final steam bath now.

I'm also sending out the last of my custom orders in the morning.  This is some worsted weight superwash merino, done in Paintbrush Colorways that make me think of stained glass.

And also some Seasilk, my favorite yarn, painted in my favorite colorway, Melted Crayon.

There is also a bit of Alpaca in Marble Angel and Crayon.

Although these are the last Elliebelly yarn pictures you will see for quite a few years, I hope you will still stick around for knitting and art.  I have plans to finally dye some yarn for my own stash, and will likely talk about different dyeing processes too.

I'm off to sit at the pool while my kids swim and start some summer knitting.  Although I have a number of projects that need finishing, I feel in love with a summer sweater pattern, Mia (and also here for Ravelry members), that Jamie at my Local Yarn Store, In The Making, wrote.  It's a charming pattern that double strands Koigu Sock with Sport weight linen, and I haven't yet decided whether I will stick to stash or do some dyeing, but I'm so excited about starting this pattern, that I suspect I'll be picking some yarn I have on hand.  Stay tuned.

Knitting Survivalists

Isn't it wonderful? The internet find my grown children send to me!  It's wonderful having a child who is old enough to have a girlfriend who knits, so that he has to value that activity.  Ah, sweet justice.

This cartoon comes from the nice people at http://wondermark.com/491/

Yarn Candy on a Sunday Afternoon

I've been limping along with one of the kid's point and shoot cameras for the last few weeks, while mine was in the shop.  It's finally back.  I'm so happy to have it, that I thought I would take a few pictures of all the yarn I haven't been able to show you lately.  I hope it provides lots of color inspiration for whatever you're doing this weekend.

This is "Kim's Blue" on Seasilk -- intended to be a sweater.

I'm especially fond of "Kaleidoscope" -- here on Blue Faced Leicester, because of its run through a full rainbow spectrum of colors.

And this is "Honey Flower."

And "Oliver," a colorway many of you have seen before, that was inspired by my youngest child, who loves these colors together.

The last picture I have for you on Blue Faced Leicester is a Paintbrush Colorway, "Bronwyn," which I am particularly in love with because of the subtle color changes.

I've been dyeing some Inca, a blend of Silk, Alpaca, and Merino.  Inca is one of those yarns that is so pretty when it's dyed that you're tempted to put a big basket of it out on a table. 

Last but not least is some "Crayon" on Silk Mojo Sock Yarn.