Samples in position for my 9-patch.
Hmmm....guess there is nothing else
to do but jump in and knit.
Here's goin' for the gusto.

My colors #1-4. Maybe I'll take a break now and go shopping. ;-}

Trying to be true to my color wheel triad, I needed a yellow orange and a red violet that I didn't have in my painted roving. I decided to blend them. The red violet was pretty close to begin with but since it was a solid color, I decided to blend in some of my painted roving to give it some color high lights and make it more "not solid", like the other yarns.

If you're buying a painted roving or painting your own, you may want to think about staple length and color repeats. If your color repeat is shorter than your fiber length, it will be difficult to get enough fibers to spin a relatively pure color in a repeat. If you want a variety of color or a heathered color, the shorter color repeats are fine. Some one jump in and comment on this section. I have a feeling I didn't explain it adequately. Here's a picture that might help.

My painted roving. The first two colors I spun turned out to be complementary colors.

The get-together last night brought forth some great ideas and some puzzling questions about how to proceed. So, until our next spin-in, here are the guidelines for the Su Doku project.

• Be sure you have signed up for your 9-patch. We need two more people to complete the puzzle.
• You may use anything from your own stash.
• Yarn should be spun approximately DK weight (final yarn that you knit with should be approximately 10-12 wpi)
• Each small square in the 9-patch should measure 3 inches square when it is completed. The 9-patch will be 9 inches square.
• Use stockinette stitch except that 2 squares should incorporate a textured (knit-purl) stitch.
• Knit squares using the intarsia method (rather than separate squares sewn together).
• Each number is assigned a color. Squares 1-3 will be the 3 colors you have chosen from your stash. #1 should be in the red to violet family, #2 should be in the blue to green family and #3 should be in the yellow to orange family. #4 should be a complementary color to either #1, #2 or #3. #5-7 should use white, gray or black to blend with any of the first 4 colors (ie white + #2, #4 blended with white, gray and black, any combination you can think of, which can also include a plying technique instead of blending fibers before spinning). #8-9 should be 2 combinations of 2 of any of the first 4 colors blended or plied together.
• If you have a great idea that doesn't fall into the above classifications, knit a separate square to lay on top of your 9 patch or someone else's to change the look of the 9-patch. (Hope that made sense). Just one or two extra squares, not a complete 9-patch.
• We will try to meet November 2nd, 16th, 17th, 18th or 19th. Email me with your preferences for a day.

Step 2

Now that you've selected your 9-patch on the grid, pick a painted roving (oh, c'mon...you've got to have at least ONE in your stash) or 3 different colors of dyed roving (or top). White, gray or black can't count as one of the 3 colors because we'll be using them for something else later on.
Next, pick a complementary color to one of the 3 colors you've chosen. A complementary color is the color directly across the color wheel (ie red and green). Then check to see if you have a little gray, white and/or black roving for your palette.

Su Doku Grid - Sign Up For Your 9-Patch

Here is the current Su Doku grid we are going use as our spinning base. Each participant (individual/team) can let me know which 9-patch on the grid they would like to use as their base.

If you would like me to make you a member of the blog, email me. Mary

A Color Wheel For You To Contemplate

(....but you already knew that....). Start percolating those ideas for our Su Doku Color Study