Speckles!

Speckles (And Blogs!)

Speckles aren’t a walk in the park! There are so many ways to apply them, and so many ways that they can be overwhelming, or distracting, or pool in weird ways, or just be plain… wrong.

Particularly on gradient yarn. I started dyeing gradients, in a way, because I was sick of seeing gorgeous yarns in the skein that turned into clown barf when I caked them. I wanted the same glorious selection of colours I saw in the skein, with each colour getting it’s time to shine. Poorly applied speckles can really take away from that.

After a longish dry spell on the speckle front (for gradients anyways) I have finally refined my technique to a point where I’m happy! They enhance the gradient, rather than detract from it. They give me an additional visual vocabulary for expression of my photos, and they add fun and interest for the maker :)

I've got 2 new colours, 2 revamps, and 2 oldies coming your way :)

Waterfall 2024

Let's start with one of the oldest Blue Brick heritage colours; Waterfall. Waterfall was shot in an icy day in the 2013 polar vortex when Niagara Falls froze over. It's a colour that can look good on anyone who enjoys a nuanced neutral. It's been revamped for 2024 to add charcoal, Gray-brown and light teal speckles, to bring it more inline with the original inspiration image. Below I've posted one of the other images from that chilly day!

The Falls were formed when melting glaciers formed massive fresh-water lakes (the Great Lakes) one of which (Lake Erie) ran downhill toward another (Lake Ontario). The rushing waters carved out a river in their descent and at one point passed over a steep cliff like formation (the Niagara escarpment). From the original falls going over the Niagara Escarpment, the water began to wear its way back up the river. The path that it left is known today as the Niagara Gorge (a deeply-cut and very scenic river path). The falls themselves are about 12,000 years old. Source.

The word Niagara comes from the word "onguiaahra" which means "a thundering noise". Source. That day the famous landmark was unusually empty owing to the polar vortex temperatures which plunged the area to around -45ºC (That strange place where celcius and Fahrenheit say more-or-less the same thing).

I always wanted to call it Niagara instead of Waterfall; after all, a waterfall can be so many things in so many moods, but it got confusing with the Niagara base ;) I hope you enjoy the return of this iconic colour! Here are some samples made with *past* versions of Waterfall. They're all a little different, but the new images at the top of this page) will be the most accurate reflection of what the color looks like now.

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