IxCHeL Fibres, Yarns & Art: Art inspired colour ways

Almost Halloween!! Yes, I’m excited..although there’s absolutely no trick or treating going on where I live in the middle of nowhere and I basically have my Halloween candles, figurines and other decorations flying around the rest of the year anyway…coz you know I’m witchy weird that way..lol

What else has been going on here? Well, I got distracted…SURPRISE! and found myself in desperate need to knit something halloweeny and the @tellybeanknits designs were just the ticket ! Her #boneyardsweetheartshat is awesome and comes in either DK or fingering weight pattern versions so yeah, I had to.

Next up is her MKAL. Now, I don’t know about you but I am not very good at participating at MKALS. I think it’s the pressure or fear of falling behind…which I probably will do with everything I need to work on to keep the IxCHeL shop stocked. I could of course do “me” and totally immerse myself into an MKAL and focus so much on it that I finish the first clue in a few hours and then it’s nail biting time for the next clue to land in a weeks time… so, You see? MKALS don’t work with my personality…lol. It’s either ALL or nothing…until of course I get distracted by a new shiny or fluffy thing and the. I’m all steam ahead to get on to that adventure…. How many adventures or WIPS can you have going at the same time? Are there any WIPS that you started a decade ago and you have no idea where the pattern is anymore? Yeah…sounds familiar eh?

And another one….glow in the dark 😉

I was very proud of myself getting ahead in the game and getting fibres ready ahead of time before updates but the weather and before the November club dyeing got in the way of my “efficiency”…! Btw, I will post teaser label photos of the November club over the weekend! AND, tonight I am happy to announce that I have opened up sign ups for the first quarter of 2024! I had a lot of people ask me when the new club sign ups would be open..we’ll actually, after the show and tell of the October club fibres and yarns, a lot of people asked me if there were still spots open for this year. I had to unfortunately tell them all that every spot was filled. I really hate telling people no. I like enabling so saying “no, sorry” goes against very part of my being…lol In short: I have opened up the club sign ups for 2024 now.

Just in case you were wondering why I have a quarterly club: seeing I’m preparing all the blends and special fibres, I unfortunately can only blend, dye and produce so much…I prepare and organise ahead of time so I need to know the exact quantities I can get my hands on , the time it takes to prepare everything and work from that. It all takes time.

Tonights update is a very special blend I concocted and cooked up literally about ten years ago, because I am totally weird and though why not try and spin cactus…agave to be exact? I mean we drink it..well I do…tequila, mescal..margarita cocktails..why not spin it?!
You can read all about it on my blog I wrote in 2016 ( you can read all my old blogs from way back in the early 2000s on www.Ixchelbunny.blogspot.com ).

The thing is, I wanted this blend to be not only special and linked to the time I lived in a Mexico and was totally infatuated(and still am) with Frida Kahlo, but also mix it with my love for Navajo churro sheep which I grew up with and loved spinning. The blend combines a lovely wool with a strong plant fibre. The agave fibres are an excellent plant alternative for nylon: it gives strength and softness over time by wearing. It is a fabulous blend for spinning and for sock knitting. I have to say that I have heard a person say she picked the bast fibres out of the blend because she thought they would be too harsh..please don’t! Don’t be fooled by the agave plant fibres. They may seem more coarse than the wool you are spinning but they will soften up with wear and washing! It is like hemp or flax only softer!

To read all about agave and spinning it and the history behind the viva Frida blend please go here: https://ixchelbunny.blogspot.com/2016/09/wings-to-fly.html

Dyeing these special tops I was particularly inspired by my muse:Frida Kahlo. One painting especially resonates with me : “What the water gave me “ and it became a colourway….

What the water gave me colourway inspiration frida kahlo

also the way Frida dressed was amazing…the colours she combines together were an inspiration for Friday’s dresses or “teh cactus flower” colourway you see here. It took a great deal of mixing and blending pigments to create that old timey sage green look but I think I pulled it off 😉

Frida Kahlo with hand dyed tops in the same colour as her dress

Here are some other colourways with their inspiration taken directly from Friday’s paintings and one I dyed to reflect a beautiful painting by Alison Munti Riley : 7 sisters dreaming.