The Blues of Land and Sea - A Hand-Spun Experiment

Bright summer blue sky through Eucalyptus limbs.

The first day of autumn has arrived, yet the sky remains a brilliant, uninterrupted blue. This morning, as I walked through the forest, the sunlight glistened through eucalyptus leaves, dappling the forest floor in shifting patterns of gold and shadow. The air carried the first hints of seasonal change—cooler mornings, the scent of dry leaves—but the sky was still summer’s blue, deep and endless.

Chelsea Beach walk, late summer afternoon with a fresh onshore breeze.

Recently, I spent a late summer afternoon at Chelsea Beach with my family. The day was warm, but the wind carried the promise of autumn. The bay was restless, the water choppy and textured, constantly shifting between deep navy, bright cerulean, and glimmers of turquoise as the waves caught the light. Despite summer’s lingering warmth, we all wore jackets against the breeze, watching the sea roll and churn in its endless variations of blue.

That moment—standing by the water, watching the sky and sea mirror each other in movement and tone—sparked the idea for my next spinning project. I want to capture the beauty of blue in yarn, to translate the shifting, natural gradients of sky and ocean into fiber.

Using my new hackle, I’ll blend wool dyed in deep, layered blues—first with natural indigo, later with commercial dyes. Some fibres will be dyed to the darkest, richest blue possible, others to a soft, airy sky blue, and perhaps even a few hints of blue-green, inspired by the play of light on water. The fibres will then be spun into fine, luminous yarn—one version worsted and smooth, the other incorporating subtle inclusions for a slightly tweedy, woven texture.

This project is both an experiment and an exploration. I want to see how different dyeing methods shape the final yarn, how blending subtle variations can evoke the complexity of natural blues, and how texture—whether perfectly smooth or gently irregular—changes the way the colours shift in fabric.

For now, I’ll start with the indigo version, working through the full process before turning to commercial dyes for comparison. This journey of colour, fiber, and form is one I’m excited to begin, and I look forward to sharing the results as they emerge.

Would love to hear—what’s your favourite shade of blue? Do you find inspiration in the sky, the sea, or somewhere unexpected?