Coming Soon

Spring really is trying to arrive in west Michigan.  I had a premonition today that we could possibly have more snow.  Oh, I hope not.

My place of business is a working studio, not a gallery.  But I must try to make a nice space within the studio to sell what I produce. Right now, it is almost impossible get through the door because of the knee deep dyed fleece spread around in sweater dryers, drying.  The colors are breathtaking.  I am of the school, “it it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” so my colors have stayed the same.

I prefer the ‘printer’s primaries’ to the ‘painter’s primaries’.  Magenta, turquoise, and bright, neon yellow are the basis for most of the colorways I am drawn to.  But a few days ago, I was inspired by a little bag of Pygora fiber that my friend, Betty, had given me.  Pygora fiber comes from Pygora goats, which are bred from Pygmy goats and Angora goats.  Mohair comes from Angora goats. Pygora is desirable due its softness; the addition of a small amount of the fiber to other protein fibers makes a lovely yarn.

The fiber Betty gave me had a little hair in it, and I suspected that one of the reasons she was passing it on to me is because it may have not met her standards for softness.  But when I was looking at the fiber, which was dyed a soft pink, I saw it blended with creamy white llama, navy blue wool and a very pale gold wool.  It turned out beautifully.  It wasn’t as soft as the fiber she usually spins; it was actually on the picky side of the scale, but I wanted her to have it because it contained the generous gift she had given me.

Later, I dyed part of a gray Romney fleece navy blue.  It is a rich, jewel color, alive and vibrant.  Navy punches up surrounding colors the way black cannot.  The colors in Betty’s colorway reflected off of each other.  Now I am excited about repeating what I did for my friend in spinning fiber to resell.  I need to capture that soft pink of the Pygora somehow.  So much for the printer’s primaries.

Today I heard from the Saugatuck Art Club about the Waterfront Invitational Fine Arts Fair on July 2.  My booth is in the second lane off the water.  Last year, I was next to the bathrooms, so this is a better location.  I have struggled with what my signature garment is going to be this year.  I enjoyed weaving and knitting the shrugs that were popular in my booth last year, but they take so much fabric, and don’t provide any coverage at all in the bust area.  The girls are right ‘there’.

A few weeks ago, my friend Sandy wore a lovely shawl with a chunky button that held the sides together.  It gave me an idea.  I could do something similar out of my handspun yarn that might be a suitable replacement for the handwoven sheep to shawl pieces that customers expect to see.  I am first knitting what are known as ‘blanks’ out of undyed yarn on my knitting machine.