ColourSpun ColourWays - Stormy Sunset

I love stormy skies, they are filled with promise.

The ColourSpun Pure Cotton colours in this one are: 323; 321; 319; 025; 026; 027

get them from ColourSpun - Natural Designer Fabric and Yarn

ColourSpun Colourways

I am often asked by my customers to help put together colourways for their projects. I love doing this and so I thought it would be fun to share them. I aim to post a colourway as often as possible and will  give my yarn/fabric/embroidery thread colours with each one so they will be easy to find on my website - www.colourspun.com

Today's colourway was put together for the Playing Hooky crochet group for a blanket CAL. It's lovely and bright and summery and pictured here in ColourSpun Pure Cotton.

Clockwise from the top left, the colours are: 004 017 029 036 402 152 160 424 165 172 183 454

ColourSpun Sale

Sale

20 November –  3 December 2012

All yarn 20% discount

Shop Online – www.colourspun.com

Don't forget to visit my pattern stores on Craftsy, StitchedStuff on Etsy.com and Ravelry

Have fun! :)

Tidy mind, tidy stitches

Day Three: 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches
2KCBWDAY3

How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

My studio is where I spend most of my waking hours and since I usually have a lot on the go, it has to be organised. There are parts that are very organised and sometimes it's organised chaos but generally I have a place for everything and everything in its place :)

 

This is my personal stash. I found these lovely, see through suitcases that fit on top of each other snugly and have little wheels that help roll them off the shelf. They seal well and keep my yarn clean and easy to find. The yarn is organised by colour and the suitcases according to the colour wheel. I have more that I keep in two large wooden trunks, sorted in custom made, see through bags.

I made this felt needle keeper to hang my spare circulars on the wall. It's decorative and the needles are always on hand. My Knitpros are kept sorted in their special "filofax" .

... and this is the organised chaos - freshly dyed yarn waiting to be labled, some drying on a rack and Dandy Bear waiting to be photographed.

A Knitting Adventure with South African Yarn

Leave all your cares behind and embark on a wonderful adventure across our beautiful, wild, diverse, colourful country, South Africa, to find 22 accomplished yarn makers who will tell you their tales and with their yarn, tempt you to explore different knitting techniques to turn the 40 projects in this book into infinite possibilities.

A book for both new knitters and old, who, each time they pick up their needles, venture forth on a journey – some long, some short but all filled with the creative spirit that makes each destination their own.

 

The Book is done!! :) It goes to print next week. Pre order a signed copy of  "A Knitting Adventure - with South African Yarn" or " 'n Brei Avontuur - met Suid-Afrikaanse Wol" from http://www.colourspun.com/ for delivery in May 2011.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this book possible and to everyone who takes it along on their own knitting adventure.

With lots of love  Dana

Colour - with a capital C

The last few days seem to have gone by supersonically - my feet don't seem to have touched the ground, literaly! I had my bum glued to my chair for a solid 3 days catching up on admin so that I could submit my tax yesterday, which was of course the deadline. I really hate admin but I'm going to try to be better at it from now on .... no promises though :)

Yesterday all my new dyes arrived - WOW. I can't wait to use them. I thought I'd spend today immersed in colour, but realised that I wouldn't be able to wash the yarn till Monday and by then it will be rather stinky. I'll have to wait till next week to start playing. I've had a really busy day anyway, I'm proofreading my book and took a little break for a visit to the nursery. I bought some beautiful flowers which will be planted by Eric tomorrow. The garden is starting to look good again. It was hit really hard by early black frost last winter and has taken a long time to recover. Hopefully we will escape the frost this winter coming.

Tomorrow is knitting. I look so forward to meeting with the girls on a Wednesday morning. Heidi was round today and is working on the most amazing crochet project using the African Flower motif. I won't let her cat out of the bag except to say - it's 3D. I can't wait to see her progress tomorrow - she is soooo clever! I'm working on a cardigan in my new chunky cotton. It's a lovely lime green colour.

AAAND ........It's Hobby-X time of the year again in Jo'burg, at the Coca Cola Dome at Northgate to be precise. I'll be working on the Craftwise and Stitches stand from Thursday to Sunday. If you're in Jo'burg - come over and say hello. Hobby-X is one of my favourite exhibitions and I really enjoy the time I spend there. There is always so much to see and do, I love seeing what great craftwork others are doing and all the new supplies that each Hobby-X brings. This year we will be hosting In2crafts @ Hobby-X, a whole range of different craft workshops, each lasting 90 minutes and designed to give the delegates a taste of what that craft offers. I've  been given some time off to attend 2 workshops - both mosaic, a craft I've never tried before. I'll be making a mosaic tapestry in the first one and a mosaic pendant in the second. I'm looking very forward to being taken out of my comfort zone.

See what else is on offer here and while you're looking, you may like to join the In2crafts community - it's free!

xxx

Yarn Clubs

At the dyeing workshop we had last week, the ladies attending convinced me to start yarn clubs. I have decided to start with 3 different ones.

The ColourSpun Mohair Club
This club will offer 150 -200g of different types and weights of mohair - fine, DK, brushed, loopy etc. (not necessarily all at the same time) and will always include an extra special yarn. All will be hand dyed in colours inspired by nature.

The ColourSpun Cotton Club
This club will offer 150 - 200g of different weights of 100% cotton yarn, from fine to chunky.(not necessarily at the same time) It will also always include an extra special yarn. All will be hand dyed in colours inspired by nature.

The ColourSpun Bits & Bobs Club
Suitable for freeform and modular knitting projects, this club will offer 150 - 200g of a lucky dip mixture of different ColourSpun Natural Designer Yarn, including Merino wool, mohair, cotton and art yarns. All will be hand dyed and some may be hand spun.

Each club will deliver 4 times a year and is limited to 20 spots and then a waiting list will be set up.
The cost of the club yarn will be discounted by 20% off the normal retail price.

The details of the each club will be posted on the ColourSpun Group on Ravelry . The first offering will be the ColourSpun Mohair Club at the beginning of February, followed by the ColourSpun Cotton Club at the end of February and the ColourSpun Bits & Bobs Club at the beginning of March.

Hope you'll join in the fun

Natural Suburbia: Giveaway from ColourSpun

My friend, Linda, has a wonderful blog - Natural Suburbia, which is filled with lots of beautiful and interesting things. This week she has a giveaway of ColourSpun yarn - dyed by moi.

If you feel like a treat pop in there for a visit.

Natural Suburbia: Giveaway from ColourSpun: "Please welcome Dana from ColourSpun... Natural Suburbia: Tell us a little about how ColourSpun began and how long you have been dyeing ..."

Cosmos

I love the wild Cosmos flowers that grow along the roadside in our little corner of the world. They usually start flowering in March, so you can imagine our suprise and delight when my friend, Carle' and I found some driving home on the R23. Cosmos was the inspiration for the little girls cardigan in my book.

Carle' was up from Philadelphia in the Cape for a little retail therapy and to present a dyeing workshop in my studio yesterday. We all had an awesome time and I can't wait to see the results. Most of the girls who were there are Ravellers and whilst chatting at tea time, they convinced me that I should have a Ravelry group for ColourSpun - you can find it here. I hope that members of the group will be inspired by my yarn and each other and that through it we will all grow and develop and find happiness in our craft.

Carle has a lovely group on Ravelry too. It's called Nurturing Fibres and if you love yarn, you should really check it out.

HAPPY 2011



I have friends and family that right now are living in a different decade to me - how weird does that sound! By this time tomorrow we'll all have joined them there :)  Generally at this time of the year, everyone makes some kind of resolution for the new year and I've been thinking about what I'll be doing next year.

I'll definately be dyeing, felting, making yarn, knitting and crocheting. I'll be playing with "hot fabric", embroidering and beading. I hope to start painting again and have another go at making metal jewellery. There are a couple of exhibitions I want to be part of and some shows I'd like to see. I think I might teach a few workshops too.

In May 2011 my book will be published, I'm looking forward to that, and in the first few weeks of 2011 I'll still be involoved with the final touches for it.

Not really resolutions, I know but I do know that 2011 is going to be a wonderful year and I'm looking very forward to the begining of a new decade filled with a new energy of love and hope and a better life for everyone!

Etsy SA SILLY SALE

The silly season is almost upon us and soon we’ll all be madly running around searching for gifts for family and friends. It’s so much easier to shop online in the comfort of your home and Etsy shops are perfect for special, quality handmade gifts - and you’ll be supporting a fellow crafter.
The South African Etsy Group will be holding a SILLY SALE from the 1st November for 3 weeks. Shop owners will be discounting selected merchandise in their Etsy Shops. To shop the sale go to http://www.etsy.com/  and search SAsillysale.
I am going to spend the day today uploading specials into my ColourSpun shop and I'm discounting them by 30%. All the yarn is hand dyed, extra soft, DK pure Merino wool , mill spun and Herco treated so it can be machine washed without any fear of felting. The dyes are all earth friendly and light and wash fast. Each item is exclusive, never to be repeated as this DK Merino yarn is no longer available and I need to make space for my new Merino yarn.

Readers of my blog can sneak into my shop today and be the first to snap up a bargain.

Happy Shopping!

Love Dana

ssssSpinnnnn

Hi Everyone,

I've had a wonderfully busy day in my studio today working on projects for the December issue of Stitches. I love the December issue as I get to think up allsorts of wonderful gifts and holiday fare. Since it's a hot and sunny time of the year here, I'm working on summery projects but also have a few gifty things for those who will be spending December in more wintery weather. I'm doing the last part of the birthday calender series and am stuck trying to think of a picture for November. Any ideas, anyone?

I also gave in today and spent some time at my spinning wheel. I have some beautiful rainbow tops that a friend dyed and I am in the process now of spinning it into a funky yarn. Here are some pics.

A Lovely Long Weekend

It's been a really lovely long weekend. We started it off with dinner on Thursday evening with friends we haven't seen for too long. We had a wonderful meal and a good laugh and catch up.

The rest of the weekend has been spent dyeing yarn which has turned out beautifully. The weather has been perfect for dyeing and I've really had a lot of fun. I've also had time to upload some new yarns onto my ColourSpun shop and to read my new book which I'm really enjoying. It's called "The Power" and is about the law of attraction.  

Here's some of the yarn I've uploaded today:

I'm off to do a bit of knitting now - hope your weekend was also wonderful :)

Yarn yarn yarn

Hi there,

I have been really busy this week, my raw yarn finally arrived after quite a delay and I have spent the week catching up on orders, replenishing my stock and filling my yarn wall which was looking a little dreary with all the gaps but it will soon be it's normal bright and cheerful self! :)

I've been up to my elbows in the dye pots and for 2 days had a bright turquiose cheek, I somehow wiped some dye on and never noticed till the evening and by then had a good stain. I tried hard not to go out anywhere but we have to eat - I got some strange looks in the supermarket :) and was tempted a few times to say to the person - "it's because I've been dyeing"!

Anyway, I'm mostly caught up and thought I'd share this photo of the last of the mohair waiting for labels befor they go on the wall and into my ColourSpun shop which you can look at  here.

What a Yarn

I have thought about this subject nearly all day and have unpacked a good deal of my stash in search of the yarn that makes my heart flutter and they all do. I just love yarn and have found it particularly difficult to choose just one. I do however keep going back to the same few yarns in my stash - they are all hand dyed and hand spun.

If you've been reading my blog, you will know that I am a fairly new spinner and have been spinning yarn for just over half a year now. I love spinning and at the moment my favourite yarns are the ones I have spun using Lexi Boeger's book for inspiration.

The reasons I favour them so are:
a. They are all very different from any yarn available in the shops.
b. Each skein is unique - there is not another one the same anywhere
c. They are all made using natural fibres and are so very soft
d. I made them - for me and therefore they are just the perfect yarn for me :)

Coiled yarn

Granny Stacks

Multi colour

Roses

Nubs

I have so enjoyed taking part in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2010  - Thank you to everyone who has visited here this week.

Earth Day Yarn

Luckily there was enough sun on Thursday to "cook" the yarn but yesterday it rained so I've had to dry it indoors.  It's dry now and I'm very pleased with the colours. I'll be gifting 2 skeins to one of  my follower friends tomorrow.

I've had quite a busy time this past week, with lots of running around, so it's been lovely to spend some time in my studio today. I've been finishing a couple of projects for the book and have started another one. I've also labled and photographed some new yarns which will be uploaded onto my shop ColourSpun a little later today.  It's cold and rainy outside - I love this weather - it makes me feel alive!