I’ve been thinking a lot about AI lately, and I think it has invaded our lives far too much. I know lots of people are super excited about all the possibilities, but I think the downsides mostly outweigh the benefits so far. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-tech, and I can’t say I never use AI. However, it “lies” and “hallucinates” in order to be more agreeable, and it is sucking up water and electricity like there’s no tomorrow. Instead of taking over dull and repetitive tasks like we all hoped it would, it tries to take on truly human tasks like writing, actively encouraging students to cheat. I even had a friend who put something she had written through an AI detector to make sure it wouldn’t be flagged when she submitted it, but it flagged it anyway. The only way she could get it to stop being flagged was to purposefully make grammatical mistakes! How crazy is that?

I wish it could just fold laundry. Then I’d be a fan.

Anyway, while thinking about AI and the whole digital universe we spend so much time in (myself included), I decided to create a new colorway called Touch Grass. Touch Grass is a phrase Gen Z uses to talk about the need to unplug and get in touch with the natural world. Those young people have some wisdom!

I figure the fiber arts are a fantastic way to “touch grass” all the time, don’t you agree?

Here’s Touch Grass on Squoosh DK:

Just like anything in nature, there is actually a lot of color variation when you look closely at grass, so I used seven different shades of green to make this colorway:

Here’s a knit sample I made so you can see how it works up:

You can find Touch Grass ready to ship on Squoosh DK here and dyed to order on all the bases here.

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Show and Tell Next Week

I’d like to do a Show and Tell newsletter next week to share the beautiful things you have been making. Do you have a WIP or FO to share? If so, please email me a photo or two along with any relevant pattern information. Any fiber art counts, and please don’t think you have to be an expert to share what you’ve been working on!

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Fresh from the Dye Pots

In addition to the new Touch Grass colorway, I have lots of other fresh-dyed colorways. This time instead of just showing you the new colorways, I thought I’d include a project idea for each one. Sound good?

I have Sunflower on several yarn bases, including So Silky Fingering shown here:

Lena Mathisson used this colorway in her beautiful Sunflower of Hope shawl design:

I dyed up Turquoise and Amethyst on Sock Perfection:

I also dyed Beautiful Galaxy. Here it is on Sock Perfection:

I used Turquoise and Amethyst along with Beautiful Galaxy to make the sample for my Knitting by the Pool Ponchette pattern:

I dyed Monet, Purple Delight, and Eggplant on Buttery Soft DK. Here they are together:

I don’t have an example of what these have been used for, but I think they would look great together for the DK-weight version of my Angel Wings Ponchette.

The last one I’ll show you is Texas Bluebonnet, which I dyed on Sock Perfection and So Silky Fingering. Here it is on Sock Perfection:

I think this would look great as a lacy knit shawl like Deborah Bowanko’s gorgeous XLECS crescent shawl or a beautiful crocheted shawl like Donna Farrell’s Primrose Lace Summer Shawl.

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Field of Flowers Ponchette

I’m almost done with my Field of Flowers Ponchette design. I am actually working on the picot bind-off. As soon as that’s done, I’ll do all the blocking, measuring, photographing, and a final check on the pattern.

I’m hoping to have it published in time for next Friday’s newsletter. It has the same unique shape as the Angel Wings Ponchette and the same assigned pooling stitch as the Field of Flowers Crescent Shawl. It also has some fun stitch combinations and–as I mentioned above–a lovely picot bind-off.

It uses 2 skeins of fingering-weight yarn–one skein of an assigned pooling colorway and another skein of a matching semi-solid. I am using Wisteria and Lilac on Sock Perfection for the sample. Here’s the same sneak peak I showed you a few weeks back:

I hope to be able to show you the whole thing next week. I’m excited to share it with you.

I hope you have a great weekend and find time to enjoy the fiber arts!