:-D Hi, Janel!

Felicity has weighed in, and I’ll let you know something about my compromises in this regard. When I design colors for a garment, I’ll go to the yarn shop with the biggest selection of colors and sit on the floor, putting skeins next to each other and doing my best to visualize what might work for the idea I have in mind. Then I select a skein of each candidate to take home and swatch—and if I’m waffling between some options, I’ll get those alternatives and try them out at home. This isn’t an infinitely acquisitive process, because over time I’ve gotten better at choosing the first (or second) time. When you’re working with *learning* color, it doesn’t matter a whole heap what yarn you’re using. You can learn a lot regardless. (If you’re designing a garment, of course it does). And I have a few less expensive ways to dabble with color ideas. One involves using either wool embroidery yarn (I’m thinking Paternayan) or cotton embroidery thread (DMC has a great color range). You can get a heap of colors pretty fast and relatively inexpensively, and work with them either in knitting (easier with the wool) or cross-stitch or needlepoint, if you have or can noodle at acquiring those skills. One thing I might consider doing here is getting the J&S shade card and then matching colors to DMC cottons in the range I’m considering using for a project, then doing preliminary “swatches” in cross-stitch, then getting J&S colors to do “real” swatching. DMC cottons are often on sale at the craft outlets. Paternayan pricing varies, depending on where you buy it, but still can be a good option. The things to watch out for here are the subtle shifts that will happen in the change from one fiber type to another, and from one stitch-formation process to another. The cotton yarns will be more lustrous (will reflect more light) and there’s a slight color-perception change involved in moving to wool. Also, cross-stitches are exactly square, and knit stitches in most cases are a bit wider than they are tall (although this is less pronounced in color work than it is in some other techniques, and may only be a marginal issue in designing for Fair Isle). If you set your non-jumperweight yarn samples up right, you can end up with mug mats and other useful small items—even a tiny baglet or some such—in addition to having narrowed down your color choices for swatching for a project. Above all, have fun with color! The exercises will help you play and do that. — Deb

Rebecca, the North Atlantic Sheep Wool Conference always welcomes handcrafters, in large part because it was initiated by a handcrafter. The breeds that are the topic of the North Atlantic Native Sheep Wool confererence are all comparatively small in populations number (on a global scale this includes even the Icelandic sheep, of which there are quite a few). The economics of their survival depend to some extent on handcraft markets and support. The Australian sheep industry is predominantly industrial, so handcrafters would not be likely to be considered important (or even relevant) to include.

You’re welcome, Andrea! More to come in a future post. I especially liked, though, the understated quality of that one wider braid.

Thanks for your comment, Helene. I’m doubtful about pine cones substituting for teasels, but y’never know until you try. Both Lexie and Peggy are mature dogs, and I’d put Lexie’s hesitation down to a deliberate choice, rather than chickenness. Thanks for the idea about the calendar—if I can think of a way to do that without handing printing, inventory, or shipping, it could be fun. I do need to continue fundraising for the Shetland research. I’m not done, and some of it will involve going back again—which isn’t cheap, even with watching every penny.

Caroline, I did know that Shetland is featured at Rhinebeck this year, and I was working on some ways to get there, but so far they haven’t come into focus.

Caroline, I agree. And they’re not just any old guitars. They’re good guitars.