Shortly after I finished photography school in 1996, I traveled up to the Queen Charlotte Islands to attend my uncle’s wedding. Since I was “free” of responsibilities, I decided to extend my trip and have a longer visit with my grandparents and extended family. One evening, I was asking my grandpa about sunrise and where the best place to watch it come up would be. He looked at me and said “Well, you’d need to be up by about 4 am, as the sun’s up by about 4:30” He directed me to one of my favourite spots on the Island, which was only a 5 minute walk from their house. I left the house shortly after 4 the next morning and walked to the beach. I sat down on a log and waited, just drinking in the silence. It was so peaceful. I saw a seal pop his head out of the water and then I heard “footsteps.” It took a moment for my eyes to find them, but I was treated to a family of dear walking along the water’s edge. It was a magical moment and one I get to savour every time I visit my mom and dad’s. I gifted this canvas to my mom for her birthday one year, a little reminder of the place she called home.
When I was looking for colour inspiration for April, I happened to be sitting, talking to my mom and staring at this image. The beauty of the way the light slowly swept away the darkness really resonated with me, so I thought, perfect, that’s what I’ll do for April… A gradient from light to dark, focusing on the pinks and purples in the image! This is the 50 gram set of 100% BFL that I made to spin for the reveal. I love the ease of spinning BFL, I wish I’d known about it when I was first learning to spin.
I debated for a long time on how I would spin this yarn. Should I do a two ply and split each of the bumps into two parts, spin them in succession to two different bobbins and see how closely I could get them to match up? Should I spin them in succession to one bobbin, make a centre pull ball and create a really barberpoled, mixed up braid? Ultimately, I decided to keep it simple and spin each bump in succession and chain ply it. I’m really pleased with the results!
Since it’s so hard to see the gradient when the skein is twisted up, here it is, all laid out.
Have you spun up club yet? I’d love to see it! You can share your progress over in the Wool n Spinning Ravelry group or use the hashtags #craftyjaksboutique or #CraftyJaksclub on Instagram.
You can check out the options for Club on our Etsy page.
