Vote for an Indie Dyer in Martha Stewart’s Contest

You may have seen information on Facebook or elsewhere online about Martha Stewart’s American Made Awards. This is a quest by Martha and the editors of her magazines to find 10 rising stars of small business, many of whom naturally are in the handmade marketplace.

Part of the award is the Audience Choice, a popularity contest that will net the winner $10,000 for her or his business, a spot in Martha Stewart Living magazine and a place of honor at the awards ceremony. You can check out all the finalists and vote for anyone you like, but you should know there’s an indie dyer on the list, Jill Draper of Jill Draper Makes Stuff.

She dyes yarn in the Hudson Valley and some of her wool is sourced from local sheep. She also sells knitting patterns. Her work is beautiful and well worth the support of this contest! Yo can vote daily between now and September 24; an e-mail address is required.

[Photo by Jill Draper.]

Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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