Pigeon Roof Studio

Around the holidays, I ordered some yarn & fiber on Etsy (my first purchase there), and have only now gotten around to taking pictures of it. There is one thing missing, because I couldn't not spin some, but I haven't taken any pics because it's going to be a gift for my Spin to Knit SP pal.

So, I ordered all these goodies from one seller: Pigeon Roof Studio. She hand paints roving in one-shot batches of a few ounces, and she also handpaints yarn (and occasionally sells handspun). The prices are quite reasonable, and she has free shipping. She's located in Oakland, actually, so she's pretty close to me. Check her out; there's always something gorgeous.

Here are the things I bought (total cost: about $85):

Thing one (on the left): Purple with olive, brown, and white sock yarn (Schaefer Anne weight or a little heavier). You know, one thing I love about handmade socks is that they don't have to be subtle, or match your pants- pick electric pink and yellow; it's OK, thry're handmade. (In fact, I am wearing my own handmade socks which are red, purple and orange.) Handmade socks don't even have to be in colors you'd normally wear. I certainly wouldn't wear an entirely bright green outfit, but I have no qualms about green socks. I'm looking forward to knitting these up.

Thing two (on the right): 220 yards of "Celadon" (celery greens- both warm and cool shades) handspun in about the same weight as above, or a little lighter. So, not enough to make a pair of socks, but perhaps anklets or a lace shoulderette or something. There is something decadent about buying someone else's handspun because it's that perfect amount of unevenness that screams handspun, but you didn't spin it yourself, so it's almost like a gift.

Thing three: 4 oz. of pale blue-green with white, medium warm green, and touches of gold superwash. I have no idea what I'll make of this, as usual with fiber. But it's really, really pretty, and I wonder how I'll get the gold to stay it little splotches, and not blend too much (although that would look good, too). And on the other side, I do want the greens to blend into subtlety. It makes me think about that whole "boyfriend's sweater curse" and how you shouldn't give a knit item to someone who has no appreciation for the effort put into it. There should be a rule about spinning, too. Don't give handspun to someone who won't understand what you went through to make it just so.

Thing five: 3 oz. of roving in reds with some pink and brown. It's surprisingly mellow, probably because there aren't very many colors, so this yarn will end up having subtle color shifts in a way that would probably please Eunny.

Thing four: 3 oz. of roving in Autumnal colors (mainly red, with yellow, orange, brown and olive). The fiber content is that of Lamb's Pride: 85% wool, 15% mohair. This is the only roving that might have color-blend issues. I don't want it to become too muddy, and the olive and brown could really drag down the vibrancy of the colors if I do it wrong. (Sorry for the flash shot, but the daylight one was ultra blurry, and the colors are darn close here anyway. I've got to learn more about my camera.)

I leave you with a slightly blurry, but still gorgeous closeup of the superwash.