I finally did something right!

My inner instincts are telling me to avoid human contact as I seem to be 'infiltrated' by the 'speak your mind and don't worry about offending anyone' monsters. So, naturally, I am posting to humans at large - because you just can't be ruled by your instincts.

A little over a year ago, I had this idea. Actually, the idea started many, too many years ago on a trip to Arizona with the hubster and then drooling Thing 1 (back when she couldn't be too mean cuz she needed someone to wipe her butt for her) but that is not my point. On the trip, I watched the sun set with hubster and, yes, oh yes, it was gorgeous - purples, reds, blues and darkness. But, what I remember most of all was a bright sunny afternoon wherein the sky was so blue that it seemed fake, splattered here and there with a careless, non-threatening cloud, and the dark brown and red rock cliffs behind it all. Wow, I thought, that is an awesome marriage of colors. So, when I decided to take my fiber addiction to a 'professional' level, I started working on my own colorways. 'Big sky' was born of some russet alpaca, white merino, and blue cotswold. It looks okay but the brown was a bit too much for the look I was going for.

Then, I tried making a few batts which worked out much better except for the fact that I live on a farm and have to use my arms AFTER I card a bunch of batts which gets kinda complicated. Still, I liked the distribution of color a bit better. See, the brown and russet is a lesser color, not meant to dominate. How many songs do you hear about red dirt (EmmyLou being the exception because she can sing about fishing worms and make you want to have some)? No, it's all about the sky, ya'll.

After that, I knew I was on to something. So, I dyed up a bunch of wool and sent it out to be processed into roving. Don't get me wrong, the roving was beautiful - but not Big Sky. Yours truly cooks, spins, and does most everything by the seat of her pants so my lack of a 'recipe' to balance the colors really got me in the end. There was not enough white. Ignore the 'magenta' dot at the top of the skein. This particular skein of yarn was caught 'getting fresh' with the rainbow stuff I've been hoarding under it in my yarn basket. Geez, you can't even steal your own yarn these days without being caught!

Alas, I had an epiphany, or apostrophe, or moment of real thought! So, I dyed some roving and spun it up. Here, my friends, is the look I was reaching for all along. So, why did it take me months to blog about it? Have I ever told you about my uncanny ability to be second in line for everything? Seriously. A few weeks ago, I started a shawl in the 'ripple' stitch. Wow, I prided myself, this is gonna be so great. A few days later, a whole slew of 'ripple' patterns appeared on the elann free pattern site. Deflated, I put the naughty shawl away in my basket and pouted. Likewise, when I found the perfect palette for this scene, I read the Wendy blog (as I often do - meaning every dang time she posts) and she was introducing a new socks that rock colourway called 'Lucy'. I'm not saying these two colorways are the same, or that a handspun yarn and hand-dyed yarn don't differ enough for me to toot my own horn. I'm just sayin' - someone brighter, faster, and better looking than I am obviously thought about these colors, too - and maybe before I did. Hence, I am the person you should consult for a 'breaking edge' idea that will be virtually useless in about 3 days. Yep, that's me. That said, I take my perfect and beautiful yarn and squeeze it and pet it and generally admire myself for making it - and I dyed another 2 lbs of it to spin up for the shows.