A Yarn Thing

I've got a serious yarn thing going on right now. Ok, yes, yes I know that I always have a yarn thing going on, but right now it's all a little bit more intense and giddy and I have that fizzy feeling inside that makes me feel like I could bounce off the walls with excitement. I've been swirling a lot of ideas around lately, pushing and pulling them, twiddling and twirling them (night and day) in the hope that I might be able to ease one or two of them out into reality. My Creative Mind is on FIRE!!!!!!!!!!

So this weekend I started teasing out a new design that relies heavily on colour play, and it is really thrilling for a colour junkie like me. The planning stage for any new project is probably one of the most exciting parts of the journey for me, I thrive on filling my brain with colours and coming up with creative designs.

I'm working my colours in groups of four, and as you can see I am favouring the Low Tech method of design - snippets of yarn, a reel of sellotape, paper and pen. Interestingly I am married to a High Tech Man who has a computer brain, and I know it drives him mad to see me working like this. He hovers around, watching me anxiously as I spend hours snipping, arranging and moving these little bits of yarn around and around. He tells me he could write a computer program to do this for me, it would take mere minutes he says. A computer could come up with all possible combinations he says, it would make life so easy for me.

But I tell him that this slow method of working is vital to the process, it helps me understand the way the colours are working together and allows me to get a true feeling for the design. There is emotion involved for me in this process and I love doing it. Yes it's time consuming, but I love it. Love love love love love it. He shakes his head, doesn't understand my passion or the notion of having a feeling for colours.

I snook off to the studio yesterday morning which is not something I usually do at the weekend. But  I was gripped with colour fever and had run out of some vital yarn colours that I needed for my low-tech snip-snip planning and my obsessive sampling.

I have a tonne of Stylecraft Sepcial DK oddments left over from blanket projects, they sit in a large pink bucket tub in my studio. They are generally in an unruly state, the tail-end of balls that are all raggedy and semi-tangled. So I spent an hour yesterday in my studio, whirling my yarn winder around and around, filling a small box with a whole heap of neat little balls.

Do you have a yarn winder? If you do, you will already know the bliss and satisfaction of owning and using one, and if you don't, well I would urge you to consider treating yourself. They are marvellous things (delightfully low tech) and easy to come by - have a look  online {Amazon UK} & {Amazon US}. I have mine permanently clamped onto the low windowsill in my studio and love a good excuse for some therapeutic winding.

The balls in the above tub are various sizes, but mostly weigh around 20g, so a fifth of a 100g ball. They are great for popping in a bag or box and taking out and about if you are working on smallish projects with lots of colours such as these little squares.

Talking of which - I tried reeeeeeeeeeeeally hard to get the tutorial for the solid granny squares made for you last week, but I was hit with a series of delays. The changeable weather meant that my studio would be full of sunshine one minute then plunged into grey gloom the next, making photography a bit of a challenge. Then my camera battery ran out mid-tutorial. I also had a deadline for a magazine project which needed my urgent attention, so the upshot was that I got to the point of stitching the first two squares together, but ran out of time to finish.

We're on holiday this week too, so it'll be next week before I am back in the studio again. But it's top of my to-do list I promise. I am taking a break from the computer this week to spend time jollying about with the family, here's hoping for some sunshine to brighten our days...

Have a good week whatever you get up to, back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Comments

[تفسير الاحلام]

تفسير حلم المانجو والجوافة والعنب
ضياع الحزاء فى المنام و الميت قى المنام وغيرها من الاحلام فى المنام

[Corliss Thrower]

KWow do you give great instructions. I usually like a video
,but you are so complete. You must have been an a teacher. Thankyou. I am not a beginner, but need the help.

[مؤسسة تنظيف]

thank you

سعودي اوتو

[Janet Tweedie]

Enjoy your holiday with your family! Here in the US, we just began our summer break. Typically, schools here don't attend year-round. Our school in our town begins in mid-August, and ends mid-to-late- May (our last day this year was May 22nd). So, we have nearly 3 months ahead of us, and we make the most of it! Staying up late, sleeping late, no schedule, sports camps, picnics, beach vacations… we look forward to it all year. The last thing I would want to do is work when my kiddos are off school, so I completely understand and appreciate your need for a break off the blog. I hope you enjoy and soak up each second, and I look forward to your return!! xxx

[val]

i wish I could focus like you do.......i'm so scattered and go from project to project, such a cluttered mind. I know whatever you make will be fantastic!

[Susie Kou]

Hi! I'm new to the crochet world. Just love the colors of your yarns. So bright can cheerful. Where do you buy them? Want to start collecting them.

Love your work they r so gorgeous and beautiful.

Thank you.
Susie

[anna]

Dear Lucy,
your site, and' really beatiful, I write from Italy,
I'am sorry for my English is not perfet
your works are pretty
and you are very kind to post with the tutorial
keep going
thanks again from
Anna Maria

[Michelle]

Ooh lovely post so bright and cheery xx

[Hayley Willmott]

You always choose such gorgeous colour combinations! Love them x

[Elsie Pop]

I love my yarn winder, but only seem to use it for skeins which I can stick on my umbrella swift! I have a load of oddments lying around too - sounds like a job for the weekend! xx

[mila]

Bursting with creative energy is the best feeling ever. Enjoy your excitment...

[Lynda M Otvos]

Loving your colors, Lucy. Have a great holiday and I cannot wait to see what you come up with to share.

[JoDee Costello]

Lucy, is there a tutorial somewhere for your lovely crocheted yarn basket? I thought I had seen one before, but cannot find it. It's not the same as the Crocheted Bag, is it? Thanks if you can lead me in the right direction!

[Marilyn Jackson]

I think you would really enjoy winding wool on a nostepinne ..... So simple, so much more aesthetically pleasing balls of yarn.

[Caitlin Smith]

Are you making something with the solid granny squares? Or do you make them to use as color swatches to play around with color?
Love love love your blog! Many thanks - Caitlin

[Margaret Simpson]

Lucy, you are a breath of fresh air. I only found your site two weeks ago, since then I have been practising some of your wonderful tutorials. I hope you enjoy your break away. Looking forward to your next blog.
☺️

[Helen]

Totally understand why you love your "low-tech" techniques, I can while away the time quite happily gazing at my yarn stash and dreaming of what I might do with it. Enjoy your holiday. Hx

[Anne]

I adore my yarn winder... Got it some weeks ago and it has done sooo much in regards of organisation!

Your yarn plays look like a lot of fun! :) I usually lay the balls onto the couch next to each other when I try to figure out new yarn orders.

Take care
Anne (Crochet Between Worlds)

[Kate]

How fun! Sometimes the planning can be as fun as the making! x

[Charlotte]

Unless you calibrate your computer screen to match the dyes that Stylecraft use then it would be impossible to get the colour matches exact - anyway it's much more fun the lo-tech way!

[Sharon Izzard]

Have a great break Lucy. A yarn winder is definitely on my Christmas list, a must since I have started spinning!
I am getting more and more intrigued with each post as to what your brain is cooking up now! :-)

[Esther]

Looks like something exciting is in the works :)

[Marie]

I too love to play with yarn colours and my yarn winder! Thank you for sharing :) x

[Becca]

Love that bit of green sneaking in there. Also, it's neurologically impossible to make decisions without emotion. So enjoy. And have a great holiday.

[Sarah]

Your colour play looks like lots of fun - I think it's fascinating how colours change in different groupings and really admire your ability to select amazing combinations