Last time we spoke, we talked about some patterns that use two colorways of sock-weight yarn that would look great together. As I mentioned, I’ve been taking a number of my traditionally variegated yarns and making new colorways using the same colors but dyeing them using my splashed and speckled method. When I told my husband about this, he called them “twin sons of different mothers” from the Dan Fogelberg album. I’m aging myself again, aren’t I? I decided to go a little more classical and call them “Pas de Deux.”

Anyway, this time I am doing the same thing but with DK yarn. I have a lovely base called Buttery Soft DK that’s made of 45% baby alpaca, 45% extra-fine merino, and 10% silk, and all these pairs use that base. This is the base I usually use for all my Lord of the Rings inspired yarn because they just go well together in my mind. FYI, this is not a superwash yarn, but it’s sooo worth it because it’s so soft.

I’ve also included links to a few patterns that I thought would work really well for this idea, including a hat, a shawl, a couple cowls (because cowls are awesome), and a crocheted t-shirt that would be great for fall. I don’t know about you, but I”m ready for fall already. But then I live in Arizona, so there’s no surprise there, right?

Here’s the first set. Galadriel’s Gift on the left is one of my favorite Splashed & Speckled colorways and is subtle enough to go with a lot of different yarn but interesting enough to be lovely on its own. Rivendell is sort of a unique creation. I had to figure out a way to make the colorway that was in my head, and it involved combining variegating dye techniques with splashed and speckled techniques in a way I’ve never seen anyone else do before.

 

 

This next one would work well where you need a nearly solid color for contrast. On the left is Irish Moss, and on the right is Mirkwood, which is actually the “twin” of Lothlorien.

 

Both of these next colorways are brand new. I named the one on the left Epitome because it is the epitome of Purple Lamb with all the lovely different shades of purple. The one on the right, Impatiens, is a very tonal dark lilac.

 

The next one shows Lothlorien, one of my most popular colorways for a long while now, with its “twin,” Mirkwood. If you are a Lord of the Rings fan too, you’ll know that Mirkwood is a much creepier forest, but the two are related. It’s a bit surprising to realize that the two contain all the same colors, isn’t it?

 

This next one would make a lovely pastel cowl or baby blanket. It could even work for a baby whose gender isn’t known yet, which is of course the bane of all of us when we’re knitting, crocheting, or weaving for the babies of pregnant friends, isn’t it?

 

This one was a big surprise for me. The one on the right, Bouquet, is another colorway I have been making for several years. When I decided to make its splashed-and-speckled twin, I was surprised by how dark it turned out, but I actually really like it. These two together would be really intriguing and fun to work with.

 

This time I put Rivendell with Impatiens. The dark lilac in Impatiens is one of the accent colors in Rivendell, and the jewel tones in both would be quite stunning.

 

Here’s one last set. It’s a soft pastel pairing with enough intrigue to avoid being “just” pastel. Highland Heather skirts the edge between tonal and splashed & speckled while Galadriel’s Gift has lots of different lovely colors but with gentle transitions. In addition to the pattern ideas below, I’m thinking these would be great together for long striped fingerless gloves.

As you can see, a lot more than just two colorways go well together. Right now my oldest daughter is making the DK version of a Free Your Fade shawl using Lothlorien, Mirkwood, and Galadriel’s Gift. She’s working on the Lothlorien section right now. Here’s a picture of her work in progress:

It isn’t very far along yet, but isn’t it lovely?

Did I mention a coupon code? Oh, yes I did. I’m offering 20% off my one-of-a-kind items–both yarn and fiber–through the end of the month. Follow this link to go straight to the items and see if there’s anything you can’t live without. You’ll see the discount applied when you go to check out. The code itself is OOAK20, and it’s good through the end of July. These are items I can’t make again, so don’t hesitate if you see something you love.

In other news, I’ve had several inquiries from yarn stores recently about offering my yarn in their stores. I’ve been thinking about taking this step for awhile, but the inquiries have inspired me to move forward. I’ve had my head in my computer getting everything set up to do that. I hope to start with just a few stores and grow at a manageable rate because maintaining a quick turn-around time and high-quality yarn and fiber for all of you is very important to me.

Last but not least, here are the pattern links I promised to go with the Pas de Deux yarn pairings:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/strolling-on-cloud-9 – This is a knit big cowl pattern called Strolling on Cloud 9 by Suzanne Nielsen. It looks gorgeous and fascinating and calls for two “splattered” colorways.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sambuka – This is a fabulous looking infinity scarf by Svetlana Volkova. It’s reversible, and the stitch patterns look so neat! This might look best with one tonal or mostly tonal yarn combined with one variegated or splashed and speckled yarn.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winging-it-shawl – The interplay between the colors in this shawl by Iris Schreier look like a lot of fun. She uses short rows to achieve the look.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/striato – This hat by the famous Woolly Wormhead would be a great opportunity to play with different color combinations. It comes with a beanie variation and a slouchy hat variation. I’m a slouchy hat fan myself.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/divide-tee – Last but not least is this fabulous looking crochet pattern by Nicola Hallman. This makes me want to learn to crochet even more than I already do! It would be perfect for fall and comes with patterns for size 8 to size 20.

Happy fiber artistry!

P.S. I’d like to do a blog post soon comparing the different brands of rigid heddle looms. If you weave on a rigid heddle loom, I’d love to hear from you regarding what you have and what you like about it as well as what you wish was a little bit different.