This week we have a guest post from the lovely Sara, whose gorgeous yarn is also up for grabs for you to win over here!
Hi, My name is Sara and I run an
indie dye business called Sara’s
Texture Crafts. I am delighted to have been invited to write a
short piece for Amanda on her lovely blog OwlPrintPanda. I hope
you enjoy what I have written and if you have any questions, please ask.
A very brief bit about me… I studied fashion
business at the London College of Fashion, which lead to my working for a
number of British Fashion Designers and a few Textile houses. It was here that
I became drawn to wool as a fibre and so Sara’s Texture Crafts was born. I
started out supplying felt makers, which led to learning to spin and weave so that
I could extend my ranges. Recently my yarn range has taken off and so I‘m
learning lots of different dye techniques to provide interesting colourways for
you to knit with too.
So while thinking about what I
wanted to write about, I was also planning my yarn giveaway with Amanda and so it seemed only right to
concentrate my efforts on one of the questions I am most often asked by yarn
buyers at shows… How does that (yarn colourway) knit up?
As an indie dyer I have probably
close to 65/70 colours for yarn alone; available in variegated, semi solids,
two tone, gradients and colour blocks… with some new ideas on the way. So it is
impossible to swatch every colourway and display it on my stall clearly. I try
to work on swatching ideas from each main dye technique instead, so you can see
how an example of that might look.
Now given that this is a big
subject with lots of dye techniques to cover, I thought it best to start us off
with my tips for looking at bold colour mixes in variegated yarn.
I find occasionally that buyers
shy away from bright bold mixes in variegated yarns, especially if they haven’t
knitted something similar before.
I am here to say… Don’t be afraid of bold colour mixes!
Rosemoor is made up of bright
pinks, greens and a mix of those to make teals. It can be quite a shock to see
it in the skein like that… it’s very bright and bold.
When you start knitting with
Rosemoor you can immediately see that this particular mix softens down.
From a distance the finished
project culminates into a fabric that reminds you much more of the swaying
sprays of flora in a garden on a summer’s day (as intended in this case) and
less like the bold pop art interpretation that the intensity of the skein originally
gave off.
Let’s think about that for a
minute… going back to that beautiful garden on the summer’s day… from a
distance a flower bed seems blended and harmonious, but up close in actuality the
flowers are bold and unforgiving in their colour to attract insects. It’s the
planting design that gives that blended feel from a distance.
This is the same with variegated
yarns… They are designed so that bright skeins can often be more muted and
blended in the knitted fabric.
It is the art of diffusion.
This is how I design my
variegated colourways… to allow the colours to blend in a harmonious way.
So don’t be afraid of bold colour mixes!
Here are some Tips to Consider When
Buying Variegated Yarns;
·
View the
yarns in natural light where possible. This will help you see clearly
how the colours look and if they might suit you. On-line shops will do their
best to show you a good representation of those colours on their website, if
you aren’t sure about colour tones then ask before you buy.
·
Ask to
see a sample of that dye technique. Stall holders and shop owners do
try their best to show examples. Depending on the base the example is knitted
in, compared to the yarn you are looking to buy they will be able to give you
some guidance.
·
Remember; the more
colours in the yarn then the smaller the number of stitches each colour will
travel across in your knitted row, allowing for more colours per row and
creating a more diffused ‘space dye’ effect. Generally dyers seem to produce variegated skeins with 3-5 different
colours, or blended colours they have chosen to work together as a harmonious
knitted effect.
Tips on Pattern and Stitch Choice
for Variegated Yarns;
·
Experiment
with smaller accessories projects. If you aren’t used to such
bright colours, then play with knitting socks and mitts to start with… bold
pops of colour can really make an outfit stand out. If you are unsure of such
bold colour choices, then knitting garments that sit away from your face will
help you learn to get used to their intensity and also hide the colour choices
that didn’t quite work for you.
·
Experiment
with sock blankets and home décor. A skein of variegated yarn would
make a wonderful addition to hearts in Amanda’s Heart
Garland pattern. Equally it would break up solid shading in sock blankets too.
This is a great way to use bursts of colour… you might find an affinity with
variegated yarns through working projects like this.
·
Keep
stitch choice simple. Simple stitch patterns, like a stockinette, garter
or slip stitch will make the best of the colour… but remember intricate lace
will get lost in bold colour variation.
Tips on Wearing Variegated Yarns;
·
Think
Simple. Wear variegated yarns against softer or neutral shades to help soften
the colours further and wear it against a black or charcoal to intensify the colour.
·
Print or
not to print. Paired with simple colours and shapes the
variegated yarn becomes the star of your outfit… but pair it with a very clever
print and it will fade the intensity of your knit and give you a diffused
colour element to compliment the colours in the print.
From here I plan to take this
further in one of my new Tutorial
Series over on my blog Crafts of Texture. Pop
over if you’d like to learn more.
I hope you have found this useful…
Happy Knitting and thanks for having me!
Sara x
