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Colour of the Month Theme for 2025 - Creativity

April 2025 -  Spindle Tree

Our April Colour of the Month comes from a walk our dyer Megan took in Toronto one fine day! I'll let Megan tell you about it in her own words!

"I was on a walk through a park in Toronto and was stopped by this fascinating tree. Thoughts raced through my head as I processed what I was seeing. The tree had these bizarre spots of vivid colour that looked like flowers from a distance, but were very odd and really it looked like a fake tree covered in gummy bears! As I got closer I realized that what I saw were cute little flowers that had split open with berries poking out."

The experience of the walk, and the tree that was so unusual stayed with Megan, and since April is a month of spring bursting forward where we live it was impossible to resist the memory of this beautiful tree!
 We did some research to find out what this beautiful tree is, and it turns out it is called a Spindle Tree. The Spindle Tree has a fascinating history that makes it a perfect inspiration for a yarn colour way. The Spindle Tree is so named because historically its smooth straight wood was used for making spindles for spinning wool, back before the days of spinning wheels. There are examples of spindles from archaeological digs that are made with spindle wood, and it would have been a wonderful labor saving material as it would make balancing an item that rotates much more easy to do.

It is very common for spinning related imagery to appear historically because the craft of spinning (and later knitting and crochet) was associated with virtue, hard work, and traditional values. The tree itself was valued for its wood and when something went wrong with the tree this was dire indeed, and so it found its way into legend and myth!. The tree appears in Greek mythology, where it is is thought to be the creation of Euonyme, the mother of the Furies, because its fruits are poisonous, and the juice from the berries was often used to poison the tips of arrows. In the Middle Ages, an early flowering of the Spindle Tree was believed to signify an outbreak of the plague. Overall the Spindle Tree is a fascinating and evocative plant and with its history makes for a beautiful and intriguing inspiration!

Socknado - 80% SW Fine Merino / 20%Nylon 

350 meters / 385 yards per 100 gram / 3.5 oz skein
Gauge:  27 - 32 sts / 4 inches (10 cm)  US 1.5 - 3 or 2.5 - 3.25 mm

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