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If only I could pick up a little something from every single dyer at Stitches. Ah...what a dream! But given the limited space I have in my house because of my ocean deep stash, that's just not prudent.
But I did manage to pick up yarn from four dyers whose yarns I have not yet tried. Two are gradients, one set came as a kit, and one is qiviut.
That's right. I said it.
Qiviut is now in my stash. (Insert girlish rock concert squealing here)
But first...the gradients... Fresh from the Cauldron
Fresh from the Cauldron owner and designer Jen Mumme has been hand dyeing natural animal fiber yarns since 2008. Kettle dyed. Hand dyed. Hand painted. Self-striping. Variegated yarns. Gradients. Semi-solids.
Hum-a-na-hum-a-na-hum.
Holy wow...amazing color and softness in holy CRAZY WOW gradients and stripes! I kept picking up colors and putting them back. And picking up more and putting them back. If I could have justified spending my entire budget in the Fresh from the Cauldron booth, I would have. Between everything that was in a skein and worked up as a sample, I was hooked.
I chose this skein of Light Fingering in the Radioactive colorway. There was a gorgeous sample of it knitted in the Calandra pattern by Tammy Bailey. Now...I've not yet knitted lace. I attempted once and the chart and I had issues. It was being stubborn. But this is just so pretty that I'm willing to give it another shot. I spoke with Tammy a bit about it and I think that I can do it. The next decision will be, do I start it green and go to the deep red or go red to green? Hmmm...
White Birch Fiber Arts
Lisa of White Birch Fiber Arts is another color genius! Gradients and self-striping yarns adorned her booth with so much happiness. While her self-striping yarns were tempting, the gradients were calling my name.
Whispering to me from the third shelf from the top was this cake of fingering weight 50/50 BFL and silk with its dark purple-ish gray graduating in color to the smokey light brick red. It said to me, "Aimée...you need to crochet with me...you know what to make and who to give it to...take me home with you..."
I swear. It happened JUST like that. I mean...would you have been able to ignore it? Yummy soft BFL and silk? And yes, I do know exactly what to make with this. I just can't tell you because it's a gift :)
PS: For those who may not know, BFL stands for Bluefaced Leicester, a type of wool that comes from longwool sheep of the same name. It's crazy soft and lovely! And the sheep are cute. If you like to read about sheep breeds and types of wool, check out the British Wool website (yes...I know my nerd is showing).
PPS: I'm totally putting her Nothing Says Screw You Like a Rainbow self-striping sock yarn on my wish list. There are rainbows on it which I love but the blue sections look like there are clouds in the sky. And, of course, the name had me at hello.
Destination Yarn
I know what you're saying. Isn't every skein of yarn a most fabulous yarn journey? Well, yes, but when a yarn combines great color and travel adventure, I'm totally on board!
Dyer and designer Jeanne Stevenson of Destination Yarn loves to travel and enjoys matching her colorways to the colors that pop in travel photos. Her yarns seriously look like they've been spun right out of her inspiration pictures! With us deep into the 2016 Summer Olympics, you must check out her selection of Rio Olympic inspired yarns. Simply amazing!
I walked away with her Chasing Rainbows kit on her Souvenir DK weight yarn in the colors Orchid Mania and Coal Mine (the two skeins are twisted together in the pictures). Jeanne's Chasing Rainbows pattern is a fun striped shawl with wedge shaping that alternates two colors. With a little bit of purled texture to it, I know this will be a fun pattern to knit!
Jacques Cartier
Tucked in the corner of The Buffalo Wool Co. booth were shelves stocked with little balls of luxury. These tiny cakes seemed easy to overlook until you touched them.
And then, you realize, what you hold in your hand is a little bit of one of the most luxurious yarns you may ever hold. It's qiviut (kiv-EE-ute), the fine undercoat of the muskox that is eight times warmer than wool yet very light and spun into strands of fine lace yarn just waiting to be turned into something elegant and lovely.
And now it lives in my house stored in a place of honor among my stash. No, I'm not kidding. I have it in its own covered yarn bowl where it is out of harm's way until I am able to work with it. It's a 50/50 blend of qiviut and silk, very soft and very drapey. Before I took the leap, I decided that I first should decide what such a lovely yarn is destined to become. I landed on the Starwirbel cowl by Vashti Braha.
I have several things projects ahead of it but I suspect that I will find a special time to use this, maybe with a snifter of brandy. Oh who am I kidding? It will be whiskey. But good whiskey.
I'm not yet certain which of these fine yarns and projects I will tackle first. On second thought, I will probably tackle the White Birch project first because it's meant to be a gift.
Which one of these would you love to add to your wish list? It was so much fun meeting these new dyers and bring their lovelies home with me.