Playtime

Most often when I sit down at the torch I have a plan in mind, sometimes even on paper. But the best things happen when I begin without a preconceived "to do" list. I've found this go-with-the-flow style works best when my work surface of gigantic clay tiles is covered in a drift of glass rods. I just start with a playful attitude of "what if" and the only rule is to try colors and styles together that I've never done before. The new beads I invent aren't always keepers but I have some favorites I love that I'll share a few pictures of. Click to enlarge.

Color Experiments

Dyeing always brings out the mad chef in me- a dab of this a bit more of that! No following recipes- it's way more fun and this time brought happy surprises. I had a gift of a sock blank to use as my canvas. If youhaven't tried one before,(I hadn't) they are ingenious. It's a machine stranded double knit long rectangle. There's enough yarn for a large pair of socks. So when it's unraveled it will make two perfectly matching socks. The smart thing to do is to get enormously long circular needles and knit the 2 socks at once. The directions boggled me, I'll have to get someone to actually show me how that's done, so my husband helped me unravel it into 2 balls. I am knitting one at a time and finding that it's creating a sort of blurred faux fair isle look. I used Jacquard acid dyes set with vinegar, rolled the blank in plastic and steamed it for 30 min. As I squirted on the dyes I had No Idea how it would turn out- just random fun! Can't wait to try this again. Because you're dyeing a knitted fabric it takes the color in soft uneven depths of shade- very pretty.