Fleece Artist AND Sleeping Dragon...

What more could you want?!?  More Sea Wool and new hand painted from Sleeping Dragon!  First off, the Sleeping Dragon is scrumptious- there are several colors that are tonal blues and greens and purples, and there are also some variegated colors that are quite lively.  16 colors in all, and a great mix too.  Below are a few of the colors I *heart*: Tequila Sun, Meadows and Spring Fling

I guess I like the variegated colors more than the tonal colors, eh?

And now for the Fleece Artist Sea Wool.  I know this sold out rather quickly last time, so I hope there's enough this time around to last a bit.  There are 19 colors total, and there are some changes in colorways from the last time.  For instance, the Popsicle (replaced blue with purple), Glacier (much more vivid), Hercules (less blue and more red, yellow and amber) and Cosmic Dawn (much more vivid- less black) look quite a bit different than last time and I like the changes a lot.  I'm quite happy with the Popsicle in particular, as it looks like the dyer replaced the blue with purple, and I think it's gorgeous this way.  I don't know if this was a fluke or a permanent change, but I LOVE it!  To really show off the changes, below are the befores and afters of the yarn- the old version on the left, the new on the right.  Do you all agree with me that these slight changes made big differences?  Shown in this order, Cosmic Dawn, Glacier, Hercules, Popsicle

I think this is a good illustration of part of the art and process of hand painting; part of the reason hand dyed yarns are so sought after is because each one really is a unique piece or art.  Even though the same person may be dyeing the yarn, and even though the colorway might have the same name, you can get quite different colors between one order and the next.  While some people might like yarn that's more uniform, I really like that hand dyed yarn is special and has a different "flavor" each time it's dyed.  How do you feel about it?  Do you like that colorways can be somewhat different?  Or would you prefer to have hand dyed yarn be more uniform (not that it can be more uniform, but in a perfect world...)?

BTW, I've been finalizing colorways for the Small Dyers Sock Yarn Club, and I'm getting really excited!  The dyers are designing some lovely and unique colors for us to knit starting in August.  And for those of you that didn't get a spot in the club this time around, there will likely be another 3-month club with another theme in late 2007.

Comments

[Janet]

I totally agree with you on the positive changes in this batch of Sea Wool. That Popsicle takes my breath away, and I didn't particularly like it last time. And I agree that what makes hand-dyed yarn so special is it's uniqueness from dye session to the next. Uniformity is more important in large items like sweaters, but socks are much more fun in serendipitous colorways. I don't even try to match color sequence in a pair. I think they're much more interesting if they're fraternal twins rather than identical twins.

[stacey]

that is what is great about hand dying - it's a little different every time!!!!

[Nancy]

I love the hand-painted yarns. I just ordered 3 skeins of the Sleeping Dragon(which I have never used before) and if the colors are even half as yummy as they look in the pictures, I will be in heaven. They are just beautiful.