Some new Creations...

I recently got the book 'Clones Lace' by Máire Treanor in which is a basic beginner's guide to making Clones style Irish Crochet Lace.  It's a fantastic book, filled with the history of the craft as well as some instruction on how to make it.
Learning how to make the Clones knot, was an interesting technique, and I "unvented" a rosary while I was at it :)

I admit, I was extremely disappointed when I discovered that I was not the first person to do it- but my crocheted rosary is completely crochet, unlike the others I saw out there!  It is pretty and rather delicate looking- very much the product of the lace technique I used!
It is so delicate in fact, that it was virtually impossible to get a good photo of it!!

I also finally finished my bonnet.  It was still too big, but my daughter is pleased to own it now. 

Her thoughts were that it was pretty- and lacy- and she wanted it.  She also wanted the rosary!

 I need to iron it some, but otherwise it looks great- (and so pretty on her hair!!)

Colour, Colour, Everywhere...

I learned something new recently. Well I learn some new things almost daily, but this was something I should have known, but didn't.
I learned that colour theory, also applies to dyeing yarns.

Not such a huge leap is it? But it apparently was to my brain :)

I had decided to try my hand at dyeing some of the yarn I was spinning. I had started with a white fleece. Actually it was rather dirty, so not precisely white but close (once I had washed it).

I carded it and spun some on my wheels. It can get rather boring you know- all that white.

So I took the skeins into the kitchen to dye, and using the stuff I normally colour my icing with, I created a handpainted yarn with red and yellow dyes. It was lovely- where the dyes merged, it turned orange, where they were separate was this lovely gradation from red through orange to yellow.

I later decided to try it with the roving I had already carded. This time I accidentally got the colours to mingle more than I liked, but the orange was beautiful, obviously these two primary colours were a perfect match!

It was hard to wait for this roving to dry so I could try spinning such a wonderful colour on my wheel!

Having spun it all, I needed to ply it- this gave a subtly different effect from the yarn I had pre-spun and plied before colouring...  It is a shame that the red/oranges don't photograph well because it means that it is really hard to see those differences.  I'll have to work on my camera tricks ;)

Now all I need to figure out is what to make with it!

Don't worry- I have been drawing too! I drew the orchid that started to bloom in our study. It has been a few years since it bloomed- and we had begun to worry that it would never bloom again- but here it is in all its glory!

It didn't scan well, because I have to use pinks and reds to render it- and they never seem to work well on the scanner!

One last photo- my creation on the needles for my daughter. She and my son are sadly lacking in sweaters/jumpers for our upcoming trip to England. England in October can be chilly!

So here is hers in progress... a lovely Celtic cable up the front! Don't you just love arans?