Thursday, September 12, 2013

Handpainted Yarn Mania!

My name is Bridget and I am a handpainted yarn addict. When I see the colors that these dyers create, I get chills down my spine and I must have them now. I have probably used this same logic to enable you: if you see a color you love, you need to get it now because the next dye lot will probably be wildly different. Here are just a few of my favorite color magicians:

Malabrigo:

Take a squishy soft merino wool base, then apply vibrant colors that knit up into a wild mish-mash of delightful color and just try to keep it off my needles. Just try. Rios is their superwash and it's perfectly lovely and my pick for baby knits but my heart belongs to Worsted--it's a single-ply, lofty and squishable.

Wild Hare Fiber Studio:
My love for Wild Hare is not just because Melissa, the owner/dyer, is so much fun to work with and understands us so well. It's because she creates these fantastic color combinations (animal prints, even!) on yarn that feels nice on the hands and works up into a wonderfully soft and drapey fabric. But also, she gets us--Melissa created yarn for me inspired by Firefly, one of my favorite sci-fi shows, based on some images and my obsessive colored pencil shadings.
Gotta love someone who gets you!

 Dragonfly Fibers:

Dragonfly does these marvelously deep colors and then dusts over many of them with this smokey  haze of black. I find that the haze doesn't hide their intensity but draws it out in those little portions where it peeks through. We have two of their fingering weight bases, Djinni Sock and Pixie Skein--Djinni is fabulous for socks and single ply Pixie is awesome for shawls.

Freia:
Smooth, beautiful handpainted gradients on lovely wool base yarns. Freia is my absolute go-to yarn for Stephen West's Spectra--I made mine using the lovely single ply Sport with Lorna's Laces Sportmate and I adore it.

Three Irish Girls:

 I'm an Irish girl so it only makes sense that I'd be partial to other Irish girls, especially the yarny ones. I love their color combinations and the distribution of those colors. Ordering from them and staying within budget is one of the hardest parts of my job (and yet still one of the most pleasurable). Plus, they do a lot of really fantastic exclusive colors for us.

There are so many really amazing hand-dyers out there and I love discovering them (or having them brought to my attention). To ring in my first guest blog here in true StevenBe-meets-DrawFour fashion, I'm doing a giveaway! Hurrah!

Enter to win the two squishy skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in exclusive Steven by commenting here and answering this question: if you were a handpainted yarn, what colors would you be? (Imaginary bonus points if you tell me your fiber content, too.) The winner will be chosen by random number generator on Sunday the 15th!

Bridget (DrawFour Designs) signing out!

32 comments:

MNStitcher said...

If I was handpainted yarn, I would be a deep eggplant purple with some wonderful teal mixed in and maybe a hint of gray. Of course, I would be a heavenly silk!

microjess said...

I would be hot pink, yellow and navy. I would be killer in a merino/cashmere/nylon blend!

Unknown said...

I would be a blend of wool and bamboo in a wicked cool gunmetal gray color with hints of deep purple and sapphire blue.

mommaras said...

I would be a Caribbean gulf color and be in a merino pashima. Oh wait I have that color but still would got for more Floridian colors.I think I would have to add some purple in there also.

Lynn Fox said...

Oh I would be alpaca in shades of dusty purple, coral, and steel grey.

Our Crazy Filled Life said...

I would be a blend of merino and cashmere in hot pink, sunny yellow, light pink, light grey, dark grey, and black.

Paula said...

I would be a dk weight merino of the colors of a thunderstorm over Lake Superior in the late evening. Dark blue, blue grey, dark purple, black, with shots of lightning silver.

KD Johnson said...

I would be black/grey/purple /green and my colorway would be called wormhole. I would be 80 merino 10 nylon 10 cashmere. I would also be 440 yards for those with big feet.

Sycamore Lane Creations said...

I would be an ultra soft alpaca in a variety of deep thunderstorm greys, warm goldenrod yellow and soft winter white.

njgirl56 said...

Butterscotch, mint, and Grey Goose vodka (steel gray I think!)

Anonymous said...

I would be a pink/purple/orange/limegreen combination, in a blend of merino and cashmere

Unknown said...

I would be a deep eggplant purple with aquamarine blue and of course , silk!!

s_lynnee said...

I'd love a combination of blue and teal and purple in an alpaca.

s_lynnee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I would be green like the leaves in the spring, 100% cashmere!

ikisti said...

dark greens, blues and a hint of black with a little light gray to pop the contrast. I would also be Shetland and angora, shetland for the sturdiness and the angora for the badness that is bunnies.

Nicole Hoffman rav:headythreads said...

Hot pink, acid yellow, and grey colors on BFL...mmmmm maybe I should start a dye pot :-)

Kelly Lightbeam said...

I would be a cashmerino double-skein made out of the color of my daughter's eyes...Steely blue, with lots of depth and a touch of gold.

Unknown said...

I'm thinking of navy blue, olive green and gray in a bulky alpaca.

Rheemick said...

I would be the rich colors of fall. Deep reds and oranges.

Unknown said...

I would be fusia, royal purple, and blue, all with long strands of each color to give each it's own time and space. As for fiber content? Silk and cashmere, of course.

Sara said...

dk wool, sturdy like me in dark purple,dark blue

karianders said...

I would do a blend of merino and cashmere in lime green/hot pink/light gray/dark gray

Kat said...

The colors of a Kansas sky thunderstorm over a golden wheat field, with just a touch of green, merino/cashmere!

Jennifer T said...

I think I'd be a merino and baby camel blend in deep forest green, dark gray, and navy, with some splashes of silvery gray. And just to add some sass, there may be a few clear glass beads for good measure, because why not.

Jules said...

I would be shades of teal and aqua with a little bit of wines and dark purples thrown in. In a luscious blend of camel, cashmere, silk, merino, and whatever else I could throw in there. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Oh, to be a silky blend! Silk with wool, maybe a teeny touch of tencel or even milk protein; the sheen!

Colors would be an amazing blend of amber, mahogany and green... think deep jungle or forest colors.

Call me QAGeek@Ravelry

Laura said...

A strong and sturdy DK weight in the colors of a storm cloud: radiant black, smokey grey, hints of green all deepening and lighting in hues.

Anonymous said...

I would be an alpaca in lovely dark shades of blue going into teal, with maybe a little sparkle in there and purple too!

Claire Getzewich said...

if i was a hand painted yarn i would be made from a silk,wool blend with a touch of tencel and trow in some sparkle please.. my colors would be Shades of purple,with a touch of pink and some lovely dark greens..and my name would be Thistle.

Brenda B said...

I would be shades of blue and green = like the sky blue waters of northern Minnesota and those awesome pine and hardwood trees in mid-summer along Lake of the Woods. Since I am "up there", I am made of wool (85%) and bamboo (15%). Is there a yarn made from pine needles?

Brenda

Yarn Garage said...

Congratulations, Jennifer T! Send an email to bridget@stevenbe.com with your contact info so we can arrange for your free yarn!