Colorway Diaries : Lupine
Lupine are those tall, bright blue flowers cascading down mountain sides in late spring. This flower sets the stage for a beautiful collaboration between Crochets by Trista and High Desert Yarn. Keep reading to learn how Lupine was created, and what she’ll be used to make.
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Inspiration of a New Color
Lupines are one of my favorite flowers; they are plants of the pea family with deeply divided leaves and tall colorful tapering spikes of flowers. In the American West, they are known as a brilliant blue flower that pops up when the earth starts to warm each spring.
My first encounter with lupines was in the ponderosa forests of Grand Canyon, AZ. Lupines grabbed my attention when I was homesick. My husband and I were newly married, and I had moved away from Texas, my family and friends, to create a home in a foreign land. It was the hardest thing I had done in my life at that time. I remember seeing these blue flowers that looked oddly like bluebonnets – the state flower of Texas. Call it a good omen, or what you will, but these flowers brought me peace during a time of so much change.
Since this flower means so much to me, I wanted to honor it in a colorway! It had been on my yarn-to-dye list for a while, but I didn’t dive in until Trista asked me to create a new colorway for her crochet shawl pattern.
Love this Hand Dyed Yarn?
Save it to your favorite Pinterest Board for Inspiration.
How Lupine Developed from a Flower to a Colorway
Usually, when I start to mull over new colorways, I think about the seasons and how I can be inspired by nature. The color combinations are nearly endless, and unique, in nature. This is why I keep going back to there for inspiration. Then, I pick an idea, decide on the recipe style that best suits the inspiration, and create a style board.
However, this time I worked with Trista to create a hand dyed yarn with her unique color ideas (which were brilliant). We talked about things like color combinations, dye recipes, and yarn weight. Each aspect plays an important role into hand dyeing yarn. Then, it was my job to grab her color combinations from nature to create a few style boards.
Working with Trista was such a fantastic experience, and we were able to nail down her ideal skein. Trista chose rich and bright purples and blues with a splash of green. Nothing subdued, and everything bright. Then, I thought of a few different spring flowers that fell into the color palette.
Lupine Poured into the Pan
Lupine is a poured recipe. A poured recipe means each color is layered into the dye pan, one by one. The trick to preventing the colors from muddling together is to wait until each dye has fully absorbed. It can be a bit painstaking to nail these colors down, but worth it for the stunning color ways that come out of the pan.
The best part about dyeing Lupine is the overlap of color. You’ll notice that the edges of a color blend with its neighbor. This is intentional to create a deeper color, and better fade from one color to the next. The exception is between the blue and green. Since, the Lupine flower doesn’t blend with its stem, I didn’t want the blue to blend with the green. Resulting in a little white to light green space.
Each skein of Lupine carries the same colors, but the flow of dye changes from pan to pan. This creates a unique skein every time a pan is poured. My biggest tip when stitching with hand dyed yarn – alternate every two rows between the skeins to blend them together in your project.
What Should I Crochet with Lupine?
So glad you asked! Lupine wasn’t created just because Trista and I enjoy working together. Lupine was created specifically for Trista to design a crochet pattern, and host a crochet-a-long this summer. The Lupine Shawl is quite the lovely choice to make with this colorway. The purplely-blues pool together, and the greens pop out in unique splotches.
If you’re in love with this colorway as much as Trista, and I am, then don’t miss out on this Lupine Shawl CAL. Lupine Kits are available to purchase on Phantom Ranch Sock, and will arrive before the CAL starts on July 18, 2022.
Purchase the Lupine Kit Here
This Crochet Kit includes 2 skeins of Lupine hand dyed on the Phantom Ranch Sock base. It does not include the crochet pattern for the Lupine Shawl designed by Crochets by Trista. This crochet pattern will be available on the Crochets by Trista Blog on July 18, 2022.
Other great yarn options for this CAL – Hyacinth, Pink, Needles, or Little Jack.
The Perfect Crochet-a-long for Summer
The Lupine Shawl is a lightweight, breezy crochet project ideal for a hot + humid July. Plus, it’ll transition seamlessly into your early Autumn wardrobe. Trista has broken up this crochet-a-long into six parts. It kicks off July 1, 2022 with supply list and background information of the Lupine Shawl. Part 2 releases July 18, 2022 so there is plenty of time to purchase the crochet kit and receive it. Head to the Lupine Shawl CAL event page here to learn more.
