— Assigned Pooling, Crochet, Dyeing, Knitting, Weaving —

How Can There Be Too Many Butterflies?

June 16, 2022

Good morning and happy Friday to you! Last week, I told you about my new butterfly collection and that I had a few more colorways yet to be created. Well, I made four more butterflies to add to the original five because how can there be too many butterflies?

Here are all nine butterfly colorways together:

From left to right the colorways are:

  • Zebra Longwing
  • Quino Checkermark
  • Indian Jezebel
  • Monarch
  • Colorado Hairstreak
  • Periander Metalmark
  • Peacock
  • Blue Morpho
  • Blue Moon

Some of those names are quite amusing, aren’t they?

I dyed the ones that had sold out anew, so as I write this, they are all in stock. Here are the beautiful butterflies that I used as my inspiration:

The neat thing about these is that you can create your own sets using lots of different colorway combinations. Out of the nine colorways, I created four with assigned pooling in mind, which we also talked about last week as well. They are Peacock Butterfly, Indian Jezebel, Blue Moon, and Periander Metalmark. That last one is my personal favorite, and a skein of it somehow ended up in my personal stash. No idea how. Of course those colorways aren’t limited to only assigned pooling. They would work nicely for more typical patterns too.

You can see all nine butterfly colorways on Stained Glass Sock right here.

Rounding the Corner

I usually have about 50 active colorways that I am cycling through at a time, adding some new ones and culling some others as I go. It may sound nerdy, but I dye them in alphabetical order, usually leaving a little time for creativity between Z and A. Now I have rounded the corner so to speak, and I’m back at A again. This week I dyed up A Little Princess and Afremov’s Farewell to Anger. I am especially pleased with how Farewell to Anger turned out on Feather Sock. It’s the first time I’ve dyed it on this lovely non-superwash merino/silk blend. Here’s how it looks:

Afremov’s Farewell to Anger on Feather Sock

The other colorway I dyed this week is A Little Princess. Here it is on Squiggle Sock:

A Little Princess on Squiggle Sock

Squiggle Sock is a yarn base that in my opinion deserves more recognition. It makes fantastic texture and almost (though not quite) feels like creating using handspun yarn. I keep thinking how great it would be to make a light summer top using it. Here are a few pattern possibilities I found on Ravelry for that:

It would also be fantastic as a woven top with Squiggle Sock as the weft and something like So Silky Sock as the warp. Hmm. My loom is empty at the moment….

DFW Fiber Fest

I recently got word that I have been accepted as a vendor for the DFW Fiber Fest. It will be taking place for the first time since COVID from September 22nd through the 25th. I have done some trunk shows in that time, but this will be the first big festival since then and since we moved back to Texas, so I’m super excited about taking part in this festival for the first time.

I’m trying to dye a little extra every day so there isn’t a crazy push at the end, but chances are good that it will still be crazy. That’s okay. It’s worth it to get the opportunity to talk with some of you in person and to see other indie dyers in person too.

While we are on the topic, for those of you who go to fiber and yarn festivals, what are your thoughts on what makes for the best booths? I’m always looking for ways to improve my booth, and I would love your insights.

I think that’s everything for this week. Stay safe, especially those of you who are dealing with wildfires and extreme heat. See you next week!