Page 81 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

A Bit of Dyeing and A Bit of Art

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Joyce Makes Art

It's that sad ritual of late summer — the beginning of another school year. Our two youngest started on Friday — we have two more to return, a week apart, to school up north. In the middle of shopping for clothes and packing, I've managed to steal away a few quiet moments for art.

A long-forgotten back order of roving showed up in the mail a few weeks ago and I've been itching to dye it. An early Sunday, with no one else up, proved to be just the solution for that. I decided to dye some complimentary rovings, using the same base colors, thinking that perhaps when it was spun it could be used together somehow. I've dyed (actually, am dyeing as the last bits are cooking now) about 40 ounces total, both superfine Merino and Blue Faced Leicester, and can't wait for the final results.

While roving was marinating in dye this morning, I found some time to play with a yard sale find — this charming little frozen charlotte head. She is currently gracing my skein winder, although I'm not sure that it will be her permanent home. She has such a serious, demure little expression.

Charlotte watched over me while I worked on a canvas I've been playing with. I very rarely work in this large of a format, but I wanted to play with textures on a larger piece. This piece went through a very colorful background texturizing stage, which I've now glazed over with white. I have no idea where it's going, but thought it might be fun to share the process. I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of the earlier colorful stage as well.

You can see a little bit of the earlier incarnation in the upper left corner.

One fringe benefit of taking the kids back is lots of time while flying and settling in to knit. I'll be taking a couple of squares of Ellie's quilt along with me, and am trying to decide on a larger project to bring along — probably the Far Away So Close shawl. I'll share the progress along the road.

The Artist Decorates

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Joyce Makes Art

Although this is just a humble knitting/art blog, I secretly aspire to be a high-end design blog like decor8 or remodelista. High fashion. Cutting edge. Very, very beautiful.

Well, actually, I don't. I'm sort of surprisingly satisfied with being just plain old me. But I do want to share a little bit of my new in-home office space. We've moved on from the little kitchen update, and the office is this month's excercise in refreshing our home.

We started with this:

Actually, that is not completely true. We started with peeling red walls, inherited 13 years ago from the previous owner, and the desk in the middle of the room amidst a tangle of computer cords and lots of junk. Nothing else.

One night I mentioned in an offhand manner to the Judge that it would be nice if there were two desks in there so we could surf together. "Not possible," was the response. The room, he opined, was too small. I took that as a challenge, albeit with a little bit of help from uber-cool Birmingham decorator Sarah Jernigan.

I have to start by telling you that Harry found the entire process of moving furniture in and around to be completely exhausting. He promptly retired to the stairway. He seems to believe his coat is set off to perfection by the new lavender-gray paint job.

While he napped, I did all of the work.

Do you like the results? It's now a fully functional office with plenty of filing space and a lovely settee (Room and Board, my new favorite store for furniture basics, and their in home delivery is excellent). The addition of the little frosted glass table at the end of the settee gives me something to pull around and work on when I get tired of reclining on the settee and eating bon bons. (And yes, for those of you with a keen eye, the pillows on the couch are Liberty of London for Target.)

The finishing touch is a fabulous George Nelson saucer fixture — something I've wanted to have in my home forever but have always thought would be out of place in our Tudor home. It turns out to be the perfect touch for a modern oasis in the middle of Tudor arches and kid-clutter.

I like it so much that here it is again, up close and turned on.

In case you are worried about Harry, you will be relieved to learn that he revived, promptly upon realizing that there was salmon for dinner.

All in all, it was a good day.

What to Knit?

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Joyce Makes Art

I've fallen. Fallen hard.

It hasn't happened for a very long time.

But this yarn. This.

Irresistible in every colorway I've seen it dyed in.

It's Malabrigo's Rasta. And did I tell you I fell hard?

Laguna Negra.

Oxido.

And Zarzamora.

And more Piedras, the colorway that started it all with the scarf up at the top.

Joining, already in my stash, Arco de Iris and Indecita. Yes, fallen hard.

If I can convince myself to move beyond just petting it — lovely, soft, Merino — this is the start of my holiday knitting. I have plans for a couple of hats, a shawl or two in a large chunky lace, and perhaps another scarf. The colors are so pretty, with each skein its own unique mixture of the colors and shades used for its colorway. There is a certain element of indefinable and unpredictable difference that makes what would already be an exceptional yarn a mystical experience to knit with.

You can't overestimate the the qualities of a really fine yarn. Love. Yes, it's definitely love.

More From My Art Journal

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Joyce Makes Art

Here is another study from my art journal. I've been working with different purples a lot lately, and am rather sorry that this is a page in my journal and not something I can put on our freshly painted purple walls.

Random Things That Make Me Happy

Posted on August 8, 2010 by Joyce Makes Art

Fresh produce from the farmer's market.

Cashmere, just waiting for me to dye it so I can knit something for Ellie.

Japanese Rice Candy, found at World Market. Growing up in a school system that had a large Asian population, this, along with seaweed wrapped rice balls, was one of the biggest snack-time-trading scores.

Freshly picked baby tomatoes from our garden — and the person who picked them!

Tiny visitors to our home.

Art Journal

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Joyce Makes Art

I like art journals. They're intimate, not competitive. There are no time constraints. They're personal. These factors can work against you if you need a little push the right direction, but this year, I'm finding it to be just right. I'm not in any swaps at the moment, but I've been working in a journal where I've given myself permission to experiment and play, even if the results aren't "art."

Thought I would share a few fragments with y'all this week, since I haven't been knitting much.

Swatches and Progress

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Joyce Makes Art

Today, two items of knitting news. First, swatching (an afghan for our new couch) and second, progress (the Barnraising Quilt).

First, swatching. We're doing a little bit of updating around our house. While looking at some new furniture, I began to notice that big, chunky, knitted throws were everywhere. But they were (1) expensive and (2) Acrylic or blends. While I get the washable appeal of acrylic, I'm a natural fiber girl. So I load up with 15 skeins of Wool2dye4's Lux Superchunky. I meant to knit just a quick swatch to see how it looked, but I couldn't stop. A skein later, I had this:

I can't extol the virtues of this yarn enough. It's a blend of Merino, Alpaca, and Silk. It knits up nicely on size 15 needles, although it isn't quite as chunky as the yarn I was seeing in the stores blankets. I simply couldn't stop playing with it. I fooled around with some cables.

Then I played around with them some more.

And finally, just a simple rib.

I'm not sure how I'll knit the final piece, but I know it's going to be fabulous and particularly snuggle-y in this yarn. Having not yet picked out a couch, I don't know if I'll keep the yarn undyed or if I'll dye it up to work with what we pick out. But I'm already dreaming about it.

Second, Progress. I've started another square for the Barn Raising quilt. It's my favorite one yet. (I've noticed that each new one seems to become my favorite, but I really mean it this time).

This is Koigu KPPM and I love the unusual colors that are included in this skein. In keeping with my usual penchant for knitting two of these squares at a time, I've got some leftovers from the skein of Elliebelly's Rebecca's Kitchen that I used for my friend Amy's baby sweater that I'm ready to tee up for another square.

I'm still in awe of the knitters who seem to effortlessly knit up a quilt in the space of a week. I'm going to be years putting this one together, but it's really fun to put all my leftover sock yarn to good use and watch it start to take shape.