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Ikat sock yarn

Oh, look at this!

ikat sock yarn

There are alternating wide and narrow stripes of white, and a really neat variegated purple color.

ikat sock yarn

I really, really like this, can you tell? It will look very different when skeined, and I’m looking forward to that too. And when knitted?

The garden is once again full of color.

summer garden

The lilies are gorgeous,

lily closeup

and there are some summer roses.

rose

I don’t have any summer annuals. My sister-in-law gave me seeds, but I’m saving them for next year.

But this is the best:

strange tree

The story is that this tree was smuggled back from Sri Lanka by the woman who owned the house. It has small pink flowers beloved of bees, and feathery leaves. It isn’t fond of Pennsylvania winters, but manages to hang on each year. It’s in a sheltered spot next to the house, but there are always many dead branches to trim each spring.

I would love to know what it is – does anyone recognize this tree?

4 responses to “Ikat sock yarn”

  1. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    Pretty pretty purple!

  2. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    Hi again!
    When I got home it occurred to me to wonder how you “organized” the purple yarn–did you wind it on a warping board?

  3. Laurel Avatar

    I can’t be entirely sure without seeing more/bigger pictures, but your mystery tree looks like it could be a Tamarisk. They are really popular here out west, where they grow in abundance by the rivers. They aren’t a native species though and were brought in from asian countries.

  4. Phiala Avatar
    Phiala

    The answers are:
    The purple yarn was wound on my brand new warping board – the first project!
    Tamarisk is a good thought, but it isn’t – while the flowers are a similar color, they are a different size and shape, the foliage is different, and the tree shape is different. I lived in New Mexico for a while, and saw plenty of them while there.

Welcome!

I’ve been doing stuff with string for quite some time, and describing it to others online since 1996 or so at Phiala’s String Page.

I also do some science and write some fiction.

I’m Phiala most places on the internet.