Home Decor, Orange and Pink

One of the last things my husband and I packed up before leaving was our artwork. We both come from art loving families, and each brought a fair bit of artwork to our marriage, whether it was pieces collected by family members over the decades, or (especially on my side), pieces made by family members and friends who were professional artists. We left it to the last because it was hard to pack up so much art tied to so many memories, leaving bare walls behind. You can close the door to an empty closet, but there isn’t much you can do about the walls.

We brought a couple select pieces with us – small, sturdy and mostly of high sentimental value. Unfortunately, none were suited to the large walls in the main room which is dining room and living room. Even with curtains, couch, armchair, and dining room table, the room looked a bit bare and literally echoed.

What to do? We were loathe to go out and buy artwork because either it has to be cheap and/or boring enough we’ll leave it behind (and then do we really want that on our walls?) or we’ll be investing more than we want into something that then has to be shipped home.

Yarn to the rescue! We already own it and it absorbs sound. Some clothes pins and sticky tack later and voila:

It’s a living piece of art! As I pull down yarn to use, or acquire new skeins, it’ll be updated and change.

As I plan out spinning projects or plan shopping trips, it’ll also provide a very visual view of what I already have. For instance, there is definitely a temporary halt on acquiring more light blue/purple yarns. How did I end up with so many?

Green on the other hand, is sadly under represented. Maybe it’s time to pull out my green fiber for spinning, though I don’t have much of that either.

However, if you think that orange and pink could do with a bit more on the wall, I can promise you that they are really doing ok. They just don’t last long enough to make it up.

Earlier this spring I finished this bright orange scarf with Unplanned Peacock Blood Orange Lustral Shawl yarn:

The pattern was the Margaret Dashwood Shawl from Jane Austen Knits. I realize the color is about as not Jane Austen as possible. I do not care. I love orange and feel it’s often underappreciated.

Already caked and ready to knit is this fantastically bright skein of Dream in Color BFL sock in the Oct 2017 colorway:

I plan on making a top out of it using the pattern Zinone. I measured the repeat lengths and did a few test rows, so I’m fairly certain that it will be very varigated without any weird pooling or flashing. Sadly, I only bought one skein, which won’t be enough. Luckily, it appears that an insufficient number of people realized the value of this single run colorway, so skeins are still available. Their loss.

Last, but far from least, is this lovely braid of merino/silk by Hobbledehoy.

It’s the last fiber I got while in the US and the first thing I started spinning when I got to Germany. I spent a couple weeks stalking Etsy at the beginning of the year, admiring this particular braid and telling myself that I would not buy it. I was working on packing, and adding to the stash was the last thing I needed to do. To my relief, the Etsy notice that it was no longer available anymore eventually appeared.

Imagine then my initial horror when just a few days later a package from Hobbledehoy appeared at the office. Did Etsy add a one click checkout somewhere I’d missed and hit by accident? Was I sleep shopping? I opened the package and the note “Happy Birthday” revealed the truth: AwesomeE is sneaky and bought it for me. Seriously the best mid-workday surprise I’ve ever had.

Since it came along during a time of change and challenge, I decided to challenge myself when spinning it up. I aimed for a thicker single than is my usual default (I know I failed at times…) and decided to chain ply each of the four 1oz strips I’m spinning. Confession: I have never chain plied before. Crazy, right? I’ve spun thousands of yards, knitting up entire sweaters of my handspun, but I’ve never chain plied. So here goes…

So far, I think it looks great, if a bit thick and thin (note: challenging yourself to spin outside your comfort zone then using that spinning as your comfort spinning may have consequences). The colors are everything I was drooling over, with constant subtle shifts in color and the sheen of the silk throughout. The magic of silk is one of the things I love about braids with a little silk: just how shiny it will be is a mystery until it’s spun up. With this one, the silk appears and disappears with angle and strength of the light. Spinning while walking in and out of the shade has been particularly enjoyable.

I have no idea what it will eventually become, but I’m pretty sure it will be for me. I’m going to be selfish about this one.