The Creation of War Dogs the Yarn

It was just a passing reference in one of the episodes of one of the GFL Book podcasts. I think it was The All-Pro but I could be mistaken. Anyway, it was a passing reference to the team colors, and how the fans wore them, of the D'Kow War Dogs. Their team colors are orange, purple, and lime green. And the description was that they were the most obnoxious colors in all of the Galactic Football League (or words to that effect).

When I heard this I had to stop the playback and listen again to make sure I'd heard him correctly. That is, after I got done waving off the raised-eyebrow-looks I got from my coworkers because I had laughed (or possibly snorted) out loud. I mean, orange and purple and lime green are obnoxious? Really? Sounds kinda sedate compared to some of the color combinations I've been known to do. Yep, that was the right combo...orange, purple, and lime green. Sounded kinda like a dare of sorts to me.

How could I NOT create War Dogs after that kind of experience listening to a podcast? I rarely back up and listen to something twice...I think I listened to that description at least three times. And laughed harder each time. So, War Dogs was actually one of the first colorways I jotted down for this year, and the one I saved for last. I knew immediatly how I was going to dye it to get the biggest possible spiraling stripes of each color. And I knew it would make me smile. So, I saved the best for last.

I love the ways that Scott includes so many color descriptions in his stories. Especially when it's related to the GFL teams, their colors, fans, and venues. You can find a picture of the team logo here and all of Scott's books and things here.

Here's the official logo of the D'Kow War Dogs. It was created by James Schmill as part of a contest by Dark Overlord Media

The Creation of Ama the Yarn

Ama is a character created by Paul Elard Cooley who first appeared in Lovers as the mother of Drimesh (The podcast version is here). Now, her story is the final story of the soon to be released Garaaga's Children: Ancients. 

I love this character: her determination to be different than her mother, her belief in love, her strength, and how she struggles to balance who she is as a person with who she is as one of Garaaga's Children.

The colors of Ama are the blue for the lapis that helps protect her love, green for another creature she encounters, black that is also for another creature as well as her mother, and crimson for Garaaga...and blood...

The Creation of Demoness

I have had the distinct pleasure of editing the first two books of the Vengeance Cycle by Jhadda (Rogue) Addams. The first, It Never Ends, is available now; and the second, Devil's Gambit, is due to be released in the near future.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Jhada face-to-face at Balticon last year and am looking forward to spending time with her again this year.

This series of books raises interesting questions about judgement and vengeance. What would you do or give to get out of a horrible situation? Who gets to pass judgement? What happens when the victimizer becomes the victim? What is the nature of the soul or the afterlife? This is fantasy (vampires, werewolves, gargoyles, a selkie, other assorted demons, and some voodoo too) mixed with some horror and erotica. They are stories of hunting and being hunted; of romance and redemption.

I don't want to give away any spoilers as to why this yarn is the colors it is...

Suffice it to say she (the yarn that is) is indigo and black with a streak of white...

The Creation of Walk the Fire the Yarn

Walk the Fire is unique in so many ways. First, it's not just a project that's already been done, it's a future project as well. It is a shared world anthology that has already been written, edited, published, and podcast. And yet, it's also a KickStarter project for a second volume. It is a shared world with a simple premise...a world created by author, podcaster, and voice actor John Mierau. He has invited other writers to join him in creating stories for this world.

Walk the Fire is flame red, orange, and purple with stripes spiraling into the future and past as the Ferrymen take us with them through the flames...

Note: this yarn is redder than the pictures convey.

The Creation of Literary Gold in Yarn Form

Dave Robison is the creator of The RoundTable Podcast where along with co-host Brion Humphrey and a guest host they workshop a story idea with a budding author in an attempt to turn that potential story into literary gold.  They are alchemists of the modern age.

This podcast is actually two in one.  Dave and Brion first sit down with the guest host for 20 ish minutes and talk about that author's background, their books and projects, how they got to where they are, and how they work. These episodes are my favorites. Mostly because I only listen to podcasts when I'm at work and these are easier to follow then the back and forth of the workshopping episodes.

With either type of episode, I've found that I can only listen to one or two at a time because they provide SO many ideas and insights into my own creativity. I end up with a train of post-it notes of things I need to remember, need to think about, need to explore, and need to do every time I listen.

Listening to Dave and Brion and the amazing collection of awesome people who have been their guest hosts and workshop writers has made me believe in the power of my own creativity. They've made me take myself more seriously as an artist regardless of what I'm working on (poems, prose, or even yarn). 

I had the pleasure of meeting Dave for the first time at Balticon last year. He is an enthusiastic supporter of all creatives, a terrific voice talent and actor, and simply one of the nicest individuals on the planet.

Sadly, Dave will not be able to make it to Balticon this year as originally planned. An explanation of that and the podcast being on an indefinite hiatus is here. My heart goes out to him and his family. I wish him and his family health, healing, and happiness.  He will be greatly missed this year and I look forward to seeing him next year.

The Creation of Veronica the Yarn

Each year as I get ready to dye the Balticon Colorways, I look at the notes I've made during the year on stories, podcasts, and websites that have made an impression on me during the year, and think about who will be at Balticon this year. I try to find a new angle or technique each year either in the way I dye the yarn itself using different patterns for applying the dye, or what types of things I use for inspiration. In the past, I've used primarily podcasts, a few books that weren't podcast, and some websites. 

This year, when I thought about who would be there, and who was making contributions to the community that weren't necessarily in the form of just a podcast or website, Veronica Giguere came immediately to mind. She has been involved in the Secret World Chronicle podcast from the beginning, first as "just" the voice actor to eventually stepping up as a writer as well. She has not only a phenominal voice, but more importantly, a fearlessness about creating a full spectrum of voices to bring characters to life.

She has been narrating audiobooks as well (15+ and counting). Audiobooks are a great way to "read" books when you don't have time to sit down and read by listening as you do other chores or on your daily commute.  There are links to her projects HERE. Please take a moment to check out her work. 

She is smart, talented, funny, and sexy. She is bubblegum pink, hot fuchsia, and purple.  The purple is actually a combination of not just purple, but turquoise added to the pinks...one of my favorite ways to create a unique purple that depends on the pink itself and how much it is twisted by the color that I prefer to think of as sass... seems so appropriate for the purple of Veronica. 

Ordering and Pricing Info for the Balticon 2013 Yarns

NOTE: Ordering for these yarns is closed through this site.  Any remaining skeins can be found at my Etsy Shop while supplies last.

As in past years, I will be offering discounts for buying more than one colorway...the more you buy, the more you save. 

Because these are Limited Editions and in very small quantities there is a limit to one (1) of each colorway for the first week that these are on sale.  After than, if you would like to order more of a particular colorway (and it hasn't sold out already), you are absolutely welcome to do so.  Prices for additional skeins will be $22 each.

These colorways will go on sale Sunday, May 5, 2013, at 8:00 am Eastern.

To order, send an email to DyedBrightHere (at) gmail (dot) com. 

I will then send you an invoice through PayPal.  This invoice is your order confirmation.  If a colorway that you want has already been sold out, I will instead reply directly to your email to see how you would like to proceed at that point.

Orders are first come, first served according to the time stamp of your email.

Prices are:

$24 for 1 colorway

$46 for 2 colorways 

(save $2)

$67 for 3 colorways 

(save $5)

$88 for 4 colorways 

(save $8)

$110 for 5 colorways 

(save $10)

$120 for the complete set of Balticon 2013 colorways 

(save $24...like getting a skein for free)

Shipping anywhere in the US will be $3 for 1-3 skeins and $5 for 4 or more skeins

International shipping will be $10 per order regardless of number of skeins

If you will be attending Balticon and would like to save on postage, just let me know in your email and I will deliver them to you there.

Veronica: 4 skeins available

Demoness: 5 skeins available

Walk the Fire: 5 skeins available

Literary Gold: 5 skeins available

Ama: 4 skeins available

War Dogs: 5 skeins available

A word (or two) about the Balticon Colorways

(cue melodramatic music)

I don't want to bore you all with any long sob stories.  So I'll try to keep it short and tear free...

The short version is that while I still love creating hand dyed yarn, I don't have the space, time, or to be honest, the desire to do it much at all anymore.  My Etsy shop has been closed (for all intents and purposes since I pulled all the stock) for a year now.  I still have a few skeins taking up space here that I should list and get rid of...if only to free up the space and make a few dollars.

That said, Balticon is so very special to me.  And, the Balticon Colorways even more so because they represent my two creative loves (yarn and words) colliding and resulting in something unique.  Balticon is my one special weekend each year. It's a chance to see friends from all over the country, be surrounded by creative people who understand not just me but the challenges I face creatively, and to spend a long weekend focusing just on creativity. 

I started dying these colorways as a way to pull together my love of the stories and podcasts that are created by those friends I see at Balticon each year with my love of yarn and color.  I experience life in color...feelings are colors, characters are colors, words and stories evoke colors. I love translating things I read or listen to into colorways. To take one piece of art and use it as inspiration for a raw material that someone else will then turn into their own piece of art is a beautiful cycle.

I have since turned these yarns that are created in honor of the people and stories that make up Balticon into the way I pay for the privilege of attending each year. So, they serve a purpose besides just being pretty.  The proceeds from the sales of the Balticon Colorways is how I can afford to attend. The only way I can afford to attend.

So, I would like to say, in advance, to anyone who purchases these yarns, a sincere and heartfelt thank you. I hope they bring you hours of knitting enjoyment followed by years of joy as you use whatever you create. They are truly a labor of love.

Peacock Colorway Available,

--May 1, 2013--Update: Just 4 skeins remaining!

It's that time of year again!  Balticon is almost here...time to dye the Limited Edition Balticon Colorways for this year.

But first, I had this colorway that I've been dyeing to create (see what I did there?).  And amid starting to work on the Balticon colors I decided it was time...because when you are up against a deadline is always the best time to do an extra project at the same time. Right?

In case you can't tell from the colorways I've produced in the past, my favorite colors are pink, purple, red, and turquoise.  So, I'm not really sure where the idea to do a peacock inspired colorway came from, but it's been burning a hole in my brain for a while now.  If you follow me on Pinterest you'll see a number of peacock images that I used for inspiration.

I wanted to have the rich, deep blue of the body and head combined with the colors of the tail.  At first, I was going to design the skein so that it was more than half deep blue and then put the tail colors all together. But, doing that would have meant that it striped every other row dark blue with the other colors sort of spiraling in the rows in between. And, I may end up doing another version of these colors like that sometime in the future, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted this first time out.

What I really wanted was spirals of the rich blue alternating with the tail colors.  I used a sapphire blue, teal, turquoise, yellow-green, and a steel blue-grey.

What I got was the following:

Due to the interest I've had in this colorway since before I even started skeining the yarn, I made a double batch.  That means I have a dozen skeins available on a first come, first serve basis.

Pricing is as follows:

1 skein $24

2 skeins $46 (save $2)

3 skeins $67 (save $5)

4 skeins $88 (save $8)

5 skeins $110 (save $10)

6 skeins $120 (save $24)

Shipping is $3 for 1-3 skeins anywhere in the US, $5 for 4+ skeins anywhere in the US, and $10 for international shipping for any number of skeins.

If you will be at Balticon and can wait to take delivery until then, no shipping charge.

To order this colorway, just send an email to DyedBrightHere (at) gmail (dot) com from the email address you would like me to invoice through PayPal.