Tag Archives: Navajo plied

Feb27

Orchid Ripples

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Orchid Ripples

Background:

I was commissioned to make some thick ‘n’ thin yarn in hot pink, lime green and white. I decided to spin a long-striping yarn in these three colours. The fibre was split into 5g sections and an irregular single was spun in a repeating colour pattern. I then used navajo plying to create this thick and thin textured yarn.

Story:

There’s a slice of paradise that I choose not to share.

Where the wild orchids grow, immodest in their radient pinks, standing proud against verdant greens.

I approach – request an audience. Their bobbing flowers acquiesce.

The lake appears as I crest the brow of the hillock. At the lakeside I dip my toe, and the water answers with ripples.

The orchids’ reflection is broken, like the turn of a kaleidoscope. Rippling pinks, whites, and greens. The world responds to my presence, and yet I am at peace.

 

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Information:

Title: Orchid Ripples

Composition: 67% Merino, 33% Whitefaced Woodland

Weight: 100g / 12 WPI av. / Irregular DK

Length: 187m / 205yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: February 2016

Skein code: 0089

Fibre: 21 micron dyed merino and natural whitefaced woodland

Source: World of Wool

Status: Sold

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Dec14

Darkside Rainbow

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Darkside Rainbow

Background:

I acquired this fibre at the knitting and stitching show one year. I had such fun spinning this in my garden during springtime, and loved how the colours mixed in the yarn. This is a yarn that can look very dark, or full of bright colours depending on the lighting conditions. It gave me ideas of colours swirling and not quite behaving as you’d expect.

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Story:

Rainbow colours: disordered and chaotic.

Not the regular laws-of-physics arc in the sky.

There’s a rebellion of colours falling where they may. Like irridescence on a wet road, or a splash of diesel.

It’s still mathematical – still obeying the laws. But somehow … it’s the badboy of the rainbow world …

Rainbow badboy flaunts the rules.

Doesn’t care what he’s thought of by other fools.

Rainbow badboy does it his way.

Makes a show of not caring what they say.

Reputation’s his only pride.

Is he just as rebellious on the inside?

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Information:

Title: Darkside Rainbow

Composition: 100% Pure Wool

1.

Weight: 56g / 11 WPI / heavy DK

Length: 84m / 92yd approx.

2.

Weight: 56g / 10 WPI / heavy DK

Length: 71m / 78yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: April 2015

Skein code: 0021

Fibre: Unnamed wool

Source: Wooly Knit

Status: Sold

Nov24

The Walk to Weyland’s

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The Walk to Weyland’s

Background:

This skein was created from divine fibre, handdyed by Hilltop Cloud. The luxury combed top came as a dyed rainbow gradient in beautiful harvest shades. I decided to spin it as a fractal yarn, so split the fibre lengthwise into halves, split one half into quarters, split one quarter into eighths and split one eighth into sixteenths. The fibre was spun finely in sequence from the half to the last sixteenth, and the single was navajo plied to preserve the colour changes. Combined with the luxury fibre, this was a very special skein indeed.

Story:

Crisp autumn day. Frost dances with sunbeams in a perfect pas de deux.

2.2 kilometers says the sign.

Set off up the hill, to the ancient trackway, passing the signs of autumn, harvest just around the corner.

Leaves give up their vibrant green life and mellow to chestnut shades. Showers of red hawthorns peek through and purple sloes gather in abundance.

The sky shifts – from clear, bright blue to purple-grey clouds rolling in.

We pass the abundance of the hedgerow – leaves, trees, berries, shrubs, flowers, fruit, crab apples.

The hedgerow parts, allowing views across the farmland. A copse of trees in the distance surrounds our destination.

More than five-and-a-half thousand years old and still revered today.

The path comes to an end and the trees form the entrance. I lay eyes on the long barrow, and wonder at my ancestors.

I shall rest a while at Weyland’s Smithy.

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Information:

Title: The Walk to Weyland’s

Composition: 33% Camel, 33% Seacell, 33% Faux Cashmere.

Weight: 100g / 16 WPI / Sports weight

Length: 265m / 290yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: October 2015

Skein code: 0069

Fibre: Combed blend of camel, seacell, and faux cashmere.

Source: Hilltop Cloud

Status: Sold

Aug14

Five Shades of Twilight

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Five Shades of Twilight

Background:

Five shades of the same colour, kept distinct via navajo plying. The “rebellious older women” in the story is a reference to Jenny Joseph’s famous poem.

Story:

What does purple mean to me?

It means Parma Violets,

Tanzanite,

Rebellious older women!

Suffragettes,

Lavender bushes,

Spanish bluebells,

Twilight,

and Summer midnight.

So if you ask me why I like purple, that’s my reply.

Five Shades of Twilight

Information:

Title: Five Shades of Twilight

Composition: 100% merino

Weight: 100g / 15 WPI / Sports weight

Length: 292m / 320yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: April 2015

Skein code: 0027

Fibre: 21 micron dyed merino

Source: Wingham Wool Work

Status: Sold