Welcome to the flock….

Remember those three new yarns I mentioned that we were going to add to the website a few weeks ago? Well we have tested them every way we know how to test a yarn or fiber and have found them to be as awesome as we thought and hoped them to be.  We already have designs brewing in a them.

One of them might even be in the Winter Twist Collective issue.

Okay, so where to start? How about with the addition of our new BFL yarn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think of this yarn as a more of a refined version of our rusticly woolen spun BFL Sport. I love Blue Faced Leicester! I like the staple length and the luster. As a dyer it is a dream to work with, it takes the dye all shiny and vibrant. So why not add in a little silk to soften things up a bit, put a semi-worsted spin on it, then add a single making a lovely round 3 ply yarn. No reason really.

I think the mill really got it right on this one. We are so please to add Silky BFK Sport to our Blue Faced Leicester flock of yarns! Thank you Jim!!! Yes….you were right.
Those of you who normally do not like long wool yarns because they might be a little bit itchy will be thrilled with out Silky BFL. It’s all in the spin!  I t is a dream to knit with all silky soft loft. Those stitches just bloom right into place.

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Next we have the seriously lofty and  delicious Gaea Fingering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been wanting to add in a fingering weight version of our Gaea for awhile now. So when I was presented with a stellar reason to this summer ( thank you Kate!) I gladly waltzed right through that door. Gaea Fingering is a 2ply version of our beloved Gaea which is made from 21.5 micron Certified Organic Merino from Argentina.  It’s combed in Germany and spun in the U.S., both mills certified organic.

I know we are all about the local right now and I agree but there is also something to be said for the global working together approach. I like that about these yarns.

It has a beautiful hand, all soft and airy with the superfine merino bounce we all love.

I see a wide range of applications for Gaea Fingering from lace to sweaters!  Since we are still waiting on our Marine Silk Fingering order from the mill I’m considering using the Gaea for  this….

photo credit Joseph Feller

Carol Feller’s Diamante Center-Out Shawl for her new Short Row Knits book.  ( I want to knit everything in this book!) It won’t have the drape that the Marine Silk does but I think I might be okay with that!

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Okay now onto something brand spanking new – Cloud Nine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to go wrong with the addition of cashmere. It’s possible. I’ve seen and felt it, but it is hard.  I have been dreaming of a well rounded cashmere blend yarn that would stretch over a few knit applications and I believe Cloud Nine is just that yarn. It’s that lovely blend of super soft cashmere, fine superwash merino and nylon, that we have all come to know and love and… it’s a 4 ply sport weight. Cloud Nine has stunning stitch definition and just enough bounce! Perfect for anything close to the skin so you can feel the softness and warmth. I want a Cloud Nine hat as soon as I can decide what colorway to dye it in maybe a cowl, and after that…a sweater.

Yes, a sweater! Joy of joys!

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So I was all prepped for this bog post with my swatches and they were even blocked. I know…  look at me. I grab them this morning to take their swatchy pictures and then I noticed I no longer had a Gaea Fingering swatch. I looked and looked and all the while Bruce the kitten is sitting on a kitchen chair with that smug cat attitude laced with guilt.  I figure that only she knows where that swatch is, and the shape it is in. After an unproductive stare down with her I sit myself down to knit another. About halfway in I am called to the barn for some sort of yarn emergency. When I return I met with my half done new swatch on the floor half unraveled and in the clutches of the aforementioned spawn of evil, Bruce the kitten.

It’s been a bit of a week here so I really just wanted to cry and then, I remembered it’s knitting and I love to knit. So I made a cup of my favorite tea and sat myself down to finish my sad little swatch. Up side is that Gaea holds up to kitten play pretty well!  It did give me a chuckle when I realized if I did not meet my swatching, blog posting deadline I could just put a note in the space where the swatch would be that basically said the kitten ate my homework (swatch).

Oh Bruce! (Otherwise known as the swatch monster.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cute yes, but super evil!