jaunuary rainbows

We went up to the farm in the middle of this week to spend the evening with grandma and grandpa and to eat good food and dig around in the fiber bins.

We found a lot of things to make us happy!

Grandma and the girls have been dying fiber all year and stashing it away for me to find. (Ha ha - that's what it felt like to me, because when I opened the plastic storage tub holding all of the dyed yarn my brain exploded with color and inspiration. This happens every January when the landscape is so devoid of color and warmth that you're constantly seeking creative stimulation with your eyes and hands.)

I found it at the farm. Tubs overflowing with colorful fiber!

And it's my birthday this week, so my mom said "Take what you want."

"Okay!" So I did.

Isn't the quilt gorgeous at the top and bottom of this post? It's my sister's work. You can find more of her creations here on her blog. She has a very unique approach to color and piecing her quilt blocks together. She told me that she's been wanting to do a star quilt for years, but I guess they are difficult to piece together and she had to do a lot of tearing out and resewing to get this far. Now she's trying to decide what color to put in the background. I voted for a dark fabric.

Another person responsible for this vibrant yarn is my cousin, Ashley. She's got a knack for combining colors in the dye pot. I'm so excited that she's started blogging again here.

The mostly orange sock is my mom's work, knit from some of our hand-dyed yarn called "desert rose". I like the waves of color that are taking shape - this color way is a keeper. That's the fun part of knitting with handmade yarn. The color combinations and patterns are always a surprise.

Knitting is an adventure. 

Well, now we have to make something with all of this fiber. I'm still finishing up my striped pair of socks and the tweed baby blanket, but as soon as I have some empty needles I'm going to be casting on some of this lovely wool. You can find more of our fiber in our shop. Shearing time is also just around the corner, so we'll keep you all posted.

Happy Friday everyone!

xo Jill