Gardening – Page 4 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Exciting Mail Day!

Posted on July 14, 2006 by Joyce Makes Art

What an exciting mail day! Here’s something I have been really looking forward to

Yarn from a small herd of suffolk sheep in Canada . The sheep are well cared for and organically raised and the yarn is milled without any chemical additives. Plus, it has the virtue of resisting felting in washing, which makes it absolutely perfect for knitting covers and longies to put over cloth diapers. The wool retains some natural lanolin and has excellent waterproof properties, and it gets softer and fluffier with washing, making it the perfect wool for diapers. I am really excited to get it because it seems like half a dozen of my girlfriends are pregnant and I’ve talked them all into using cloth diapers, so now I’m going to have to dye and knit away. I feel so lucky to have been able to get so much of this yarn!

Equally exciting was the fact that some of the curly mohair I’ve been waiting on showed up today as well. I love this fleece for embellishment in felting. If any of you remember the felted journal I did for the Altered Workshop round robin I am in, I used some of these beautiful curly locks to embellish the inside of the journal cover. Drought related problems in the southwest have made this more difficult and expensive to acquire, so I was really happy to be able to get this. A bit immediately went into the dyepot with some of my new Australian dyes. I can’t wait to use it!

Finally, I have to show you some yarn I dyed yesterday. This is your basic Peace Fleece worsted. It is such wonderful yarn. I use it for mittens and hats and have plans to do a vest for ollie and some socks for myself, using some of their bright jewel tones. This yarn echoes, but begins to move beyond, my recent total obsession with copper patina colors in yarn. I love the deeper blues here. Ellie says this yarn looks like Fairy Waves. I love the stunning way wool absorbs dye — the results always amaze me.

Fairies!

Posted on July 7, 2006 by Joyce Makes Art

I’m trying something new — little fairies on cotton fabrics that can be used as appliques on clothing, incorporated into quilts and purses, and anything else you can dream up. (altered books? collage? school book bags? toothfairy pillows?)

You can see them on etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7846. I hope people will love them and snap them up for their own projects.

In other exciting news in my house, the first borage plant of the summer is ready to bloom. I absolutely love borage, which does not grow particularly well in hot, humid, Alabama. Its translucent blue flowers never fail to enchant me. And my tuberoses seem to have shot up overnight. I am looking forward to having their beautiful, gardenia-like smell wafting across the entrance to our house in short order.

Gentle Reminders

Posted on July 4, 2006 by Joyce Makes Art

As I sat down at the computer to write this entry, my three year old came running inside (naked from the waist down, but wearing a silk cape and carrying a stuffed felt sword) to inform me that "there was a dead bee outside and it’s so sad, I think I’m going to cry." His fifteen year old brother was trailing behind him, managing to keep a straight face. "C’mon mom, I’m going to show you," he insisted. We went outside to see the bee and to make a nice resting place for him in the dirt. Sometimes I need these gentle reminders of what really matters — those simple, peaceful, even slightly sad moments, where we put aside the work we are doing or, in this case, our simple indulgences, and take time to look at the small things that matter to our children and families. His baby face is so sweet. I feel so very fortunate in all of the important things.

I want to share the results of my recent foray into the garden — for those of you who remember the basket full of herbs from the other day. I’ve dried my blend of anti-moth herbs and sewn the first batch into sachets.

Take that, evil moths!

In the new on my needles category, this sweater is for a friend who is pregnant with her first girl. I don’t usually do the foofy edging stuff, but I saw this yarn, Filatura di Crosa Bon Bon, knit up at my local yarn store, and really liked it for a baby sweater. The pink is heavenly, divine bamboo yarn. I am totally in love with it, although its low twist makes it a candidate for splits if you aren’t careful. I think this same combination would make a wonderful back to school skirt for my daughter.

Gardening Meets Knitting

Posted on July 1, 2006 by Joyce Makes Art

We briefly distract you from your wool related activities to share a morning foray into the garden. A mixture of my favorite herbs, (yes, that is a branch from my bay tree, grown from a 4" cutting, in the back of the basket. I was told they would not grow in Alabama and have never seen another one here, but I was determined to have one), but what does this have to do with knitting you ask?

The herbs have been stripped from their slender branches and are carefully drying under tents. Once they are fully dry, they will become drawer and basket liners to keep my precious wool safe from the noxious moths who are particularly drawn to the hot humid regions of our house known as closets at this time of year.

Back to more traditional pursuits:

I dyed some yarn in a copper patina colorway yesterday, to go with some of the handspun I shared with you last week (a picture of the first ball is down below). The colorways are working out perfectly, so that the handspun, which is a thick and thin with an almost thrum effect in places, can be used as an accent with the newly dyed yarn.