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Inspiration Monday: Olson

For those of you knee-deep in holiday knitting angst, take heart … there’s great Selfish Sweater Knitting on the horizon. Just a few more weeks ’til the new year and your well-earned respite from gift making!julie-hoover-olson-600-2_small2

Anyone who hangs out to knit with me knows of my unabashed and unashamed love for Julie Hoover’s designs — always so classic and timeless, with that edge of interest that keeps you from feeling plain. She’s done quite a few great garments over the years for her own label, as well as collaborating with other companies now and again.

Olson is her latest, and of course it didn’t take five seconds for it to land in my pattern library: look at that drape! The easy, throw-it-on-over-anything shape … and that shoulder seam detail! I can’t even.

Knitters are in love with boxy, oversized sweaters right now, and it’s no wonder — they are the most forgiving of garments (handy at this time of year, when the sideboard groans with treats and celebrations fill every weekend with food-laden gatherings). No need to worry whether the cardigan will button over your food baby when it’s got such a broad, swingy profile through the hips.

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(When I get this knit up, I’ll have to spend more time leaning up against walls, thinking. It’s that kind of sweater.)

Julie’s sample, shown in the photos here, was worked up in a DK weight alpaca-silk blend, knitted quite open; so this is a great chance to explain the alchemy of yarn substitution. At first glance, you might look at the knitted gauge of 18 sts = 4″/10cm and assume she’d used a worsted-weight yarn (which usually has a gauge range of 18-20sts/4″). The soft swoop of the fabric in the photos tells a different story, however — this is clearly a drapier, more fluid fabric. For successful yarn substitution, it’s important to also look at the ‘ball-band gauge’ of the yarn used: in this case, it’s a DK (11wpi). (Nice of Ravelry to put that information right front and center on the pattern page!)

Fortunately for me, I had the chance to indulge in some instant gratification: my mighty Blue Moon stash offered up two great candidates for this drapey beauty! Interestingly enough, neither of them are blends — they are both single-fiber superheroes. Cake DK is a springy, sweet and plump merino beauty, and BFL Sport is a fuzzy, halo-y taste of the joys of Bluefaced Leicester.

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(‘Hang on, Karen,’ you say — ‘BFL Sport? I thought you said we needed DK!’) Technically, yes — the pattern calls for a 11 wpi yarn, but given the right fiber content and bounce and spring, you could work with a slightly finer yarn and get good results. I definitely felt like the BFL was swatchworthy. (You know, for science!)

And here are my happy swatches, after blocking and resting for a few days: Cake DK at top, in colorway “Spicy Plum,” and BFL Sport below in “Champlum.” (Total coincidence that I had these yarns in sympathetic colors to Julie’s pictured sample — inspiring, however!)

I wish I could have you all here next to me to feel these swatches — they are both so gloriously plump and fluffy, lightweight yet bouncy… they make me want to cast on right.this.second! The fiber subtleties come out when you have them next to each other like this: the Cake’s merino yields a smooth, soft fabric that just glides across your skin if you rub your face in it (oh, c’mon — you totally would!). I love the bounce and spin of the three plies, and the stitch picture is so tidy and happy! (I’m a sucker for a good merino. Tina knows this.)

The BFL Sport was a bit of a wild card, I’ll admit — I kinda swatched it on a self-made dare, because I have an SQ of it in Champlum and I would just loooove to have a sweater that color in my wardrobe. Could it work? Could it indeed! Despite the fact that it’s 12wpi (one more wrap per inch than the specified yarn weight), it’s holding up beautifully at the pattern gauge. It has a light, fluffy, slightly-fuzzy airiness to it that’s just enchanting. Not as regular and smooth as the merino, but slightly woolly in a way that still manages to be soft, soft, soft.

Interestingly enough, I needed to go up to a US8/5mm to get gauge for this pattern; but that’s not uncommon for me with Julie’s patterns (I suspect she’s a loose knitter, because she often calls for a needle size on her patterns that’s much smaller than what I end up using). Reason #6,432 to swatch, swatch, swatch! And because both of these yarns have quite a bit of bounce and snap-back, I’d recommend waiting a few days after your swatches have dried from their initial blocking to take a second, rested, measurement. Yarns bounce back! (And you wouldn’t want a sweater  you’d knitted to come out too small or too short after its first washing, would you?)

So lucky me — I’ll have my SQ of BFL Sport waiting under the tree for me on December 25, ready for a me-gifted cast-on party! What about you? What colorway will you choose for your cozy-over-pyjamas-or-your-party-dress Olson? 1320–1745 yards is what you’ll need, which translates into 2 or 3 skeins of either scrumptious yarn: a veritable bargain, considering either is just $35 per generous skein!

Happy sweater dreams, y’all. Hope all your holiday wishes will come true in the next few weeks!

A little thank you and some fun!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday! it was small quiet and lovely here! Peaceful and fun, one of my favorite combo’s right now. Lot’s of puppy time with Siena who is growing by leaps and bounds and is probably one of the most affectionate dogs I have been around.  She loves to snuggle and loves laps which is going to be interesting soon since she’s a golden retriever and it looks like she is going to be a big one.  Look at those paws!

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Okay so we have a few exciting things I need to share with you besides puppy photos.

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Today is Black Friday and for a few years now I have been wanting to put our Ravens and Fledges on special for this day. Since you know… they are colors washed in black ( ravens ) and grey ( fledges ).

I thought it was not possible to discount colorways on our ancient beast of a website but it turns out it is! So thanks to a little push from Maggie  today ( Black Friday ) all of our Raven and Fledge colorways are discounted 10% in all bases!!

The code you need for this 10% discount is : BLACKFRIDAY17

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If you need a little tempting here is our Valkyrie Fledge one of my very favorite colorways knit in Plushy, one of my favorite yarns. (The pattern Maggie is knitting is The Age of Brass and Steam by Orange Flower Yarn. ) All of the Raven colorways look great in pretty much all of our bases but I think they are especially wonderful for our garment yarns and make stunning sweaters!!

Which is great since one of the other specials is a new yarn. I kid you not!

Super Targhee is seriously sexy blend of super-wash Targhee ( 80%) and Tussah Silk (20%) in a round and lofty DK weight, 4 ply yarn.

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Super Targhee is a small run so when this lot is gone, it is gone!  We have about 400 pounds of it so it will go quick. I’m a big fan and those of you who have been wanting us to have a super wash garment yarn here is it is, if only for a short time.  Maggie has been swatching it and and we dyed up some in Heckley Speckley and she says she definitely is going to needs a few sweaters worth it is that lovely.

Our supplier has gifted us with quite the deal on this beauty and we are passing that along to you, our lovely knitters!

450 yd skeins for 26.00 a skein. Most DK yarns are come in 250 or so yd skeins and run that price or higher.  So quite the deal indeed!

In a land where I have knitting time I would knit all my family hats for  Christmas out of the Super Targhee wonder of a yarn. (Insert uproarious laughter here) We’ll see how that goes!

Here it is knit in a shaded solid with cables…

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…and then below is Maggies Heckley Speckley swatch. It’s hard to tell in pictures but that Tussah Silk really shimmers when it catches the light so I htink darker colorways will be stunning like maybe a raven. (see that)

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The other special we are running from today, the Friday that is Raven Black, until Cyber Monday is some Blue Moon Golden Ticket fun! I like this because no matter what you order you win! How it works is this: every order that is placed this from now until the end of Cyber Monday will get a golden ticket included in your package when we ship your yarn. The tickets will be fun and will have discounts on them running from 10% to 40%. Who know which one you will get which is exciting. A surprise! There will be a code on your ticket for that discount so you will need to keep it so you have it when you order next. The discount is good for a one time use on yarns anytime in the next 6 months.

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If you are looking for some quick, super fun and creative patterns for the holidays and all of this lovely yarn our buddy Shannon Squire is part of Ravelry’s Gift-A-Long

A whole lot of colorful woolly knit goodness to be had!

A few notes:

We are shipping out this week both the sock club and the school of yarn so if you have an address change please do let us know soon!!

We have shipped out the Rockin’ Whorl Club and the pdf’s will be coming on Monday! I love this color soooooo much!

When you order if you are ordering for holiday knitting if you cold let us know in the comments section of your order that would be great!

Last but not least THANK YOU!! You are the best and we are truly blessed to have you all in our lives!

Okay I am off to tag and ship and deliver yarn. I will leave you with this shot of Siena and one of her fav places to be, my feet.

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Just another day in Hueville.

You know it’s time to pull your head out of the dye pot and post a few pics or words on social media when your knitters start emailing to make sure you are ok.

I am fine! I promise.  Well… to be honest I am seriously tired and my body is not real thrilled with me at this moment but all is well.  Just super busy dyeing everyone’s yarn so you and our LYS’s can have it as soon as we can dye and dry it!

Which means my friends this post will be super short so I can head back out to the dye barn to rinse out yesterdays dye-fest and light the posts and get going with another day in Hueville.

Some fun color things:

Look at all of this Heckley Speckley goodness!

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I love how the dye plays out on the different bases. There are three bases here. Plushy, Super Sparkle and La Luna Lace. La Luna Lace is not superwashed treated like the other two and you can so see that difference here.

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Speckles hold more true on superwash treated yarns because they set almost as soon as they hit the yarn because of that nylon polymer coating.

You can try for the same effect on nonsuperwash yarns with heat and more acid but it still dissipates a bit. I appreciate the difference.

 

You can see it here even more distinctly. The La Luna is most definitely more muted. Now some of that is the silk but most of it is that superwash also gives a super saturated color effect!! I believe this colorway is Sunnydale.

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Speaking of super color…

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We’ve been dye testing neons this week for some upcoming colors and fun!

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That’s Maggie our dye test queen! We always test new batches of dye when they come in the door as we do with new lots of yarn to make sure they are what we ordered and they match the last batch or lot. Maggie loves this job which is all kinds of awesome because I most definitely do not!

We are working on all kinds of new colors and color themes and next years sock club and special colors for our LYS’s.

So if you have something you’d like to see us do or  color thoughts you’d like to share please do! Either here in the comments or you can email us at info@bluemoonfiberarts.com

As we were putting a yarn shipment away this week I noticed we have quite the stock of Marine Silk Lace. At this point in the year we are trying to keep stocks low for inventory so…we are putting it on SPECIAL for 29.00 a skein which is about 20% of it’s usual 35.00. It truly is a lovely lace weight yarn so if you need a treat this is a good one! Such a soft, light and lofty yarn with the perfect amount of drape! oh…it also takes the dye in a dreamy muted way that shows the layers of a color.

Here it is in our Fir-Ever-Green colorway.

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School of Yarn

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The week after Thanksgiving we will be shipping out our last Targhee lesson of our first semester. That went fast and has been all kinds of fun. I hope you all are enjoying it as much as we are working on it. Truly a labor of love!! The only thing I feel sad about was that I have been so busy with the running and dyeing of things i have not had much of a chance to check in on our rav group. Luckily our swatch mistress and all around knit guru Karen has filled that role in a grand and graceful Karen way!

If you have been wishing you had purchased it or waiting to see what the fuss was all bout well now is you last chance to purchase semester #1 November 31st is the last day you will be able to purchase it.

Also on December 1st the second semester will from it’s current introductory pricing of $200.00 to $220.00

One of other things we have been working on is the closing of this year’s Rockin’ Sock Club and the planning of next years!!!!

It’s always sad for me to see a sock year end and I think this year I have found a way to process it for all of us so do check out the dyer’s notes!!

We will be shipping out the week after Thanksgiving. Yay!!! So much shipping!

I sent out an email yesterday to the club because we have most of our designers for the year on board. I will tell you that I am so very happy that we get to work with such talented designers.

Designers who are as serious about sock knitting as we are, like: Ann Budd, Hunter Hammersen, ErinB, Meaghan Schmaltz and our very own Karen Alfke just to name drop  a few.  There are a few more and a cloaked in mystery extra special surprise designer!!

Almost all of the patterns will be new and exclusive for a 3 month period so that worked really well!! Thanks for all of your feedback on making this change.

Wait until you see January’s colors. Oh my goodness!!!

Okay well it is now 7:30 and I hear the yarn calling my name. You all hear that too right??

Oh…almost forgot.

We will be closed Thanksgiving Day and the day after.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Knitting!!

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inspiration monday: festivus minus the frenzy

Here in the United States, turkeys everywhere are getting pretty nervous. Next week we sit down for our Thanksgiving (being a bit tardier than Our Cousins to the North on the gratitude front), and after that it’s just one big landslide down into The Holidays.

If you weren’t Little Miss/Mister Organized this year, here are some thoughts for what to put on your needles ASAP so you can give thoughtful, handmade gifts this year without losing your everluvvin’ MIND.

HATS!

Hats are a godsend to the gifting knitter: the sizing isn’t crazy-critical, it’s a fun way to use a bit of yarn to make a statement, and unlike sleeves and socks, they are a ONE-and-DONE gift. And let’s face it – no matter where you live, a hat can come in handy this time of year (even if only occasionally, for an hour – like for our friends in Florida and L.A.).

Hat patterns also span the spectrum of mindless (great for parties and gatherings of relatives) to entertainingly complex (for plane flights or distraction from those same relatives). Here are two of my ‘go-to’ patterns for myself and my knitworthy loved ones.

photo © Churchmouse Yarns & Teas

photo © Churchmouse Yarns & Teas

One of my favorite, most-used patterns is Churchmouse Yarns & Teas’ Boyfriend Watch Cap. It has a pleasing thick gauge which knits up quickly and provides reassuring warmth while being stylishly unisex. And even better, it’s your excuse to use pleasing, plump PLUSHY!

Since each skein offers a generous 330 yards, if you get two skeins, you’ll have enough to make three Boyfriend Watch Caps. Two different colorways could give you one solid cap in each color, plus a striped or colorblocked third. Go crazy!

I’ve always been mad in love with ‘Manly Yes, But I Like It Too‘ – those browns and greys are welcome in so many wardrobes.

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And maybe zing things up with a skein of ‘Scumble Bumble’…? The simple construction of the hat would let Tina’s colorways be the star of the show.

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If you’re looking for a hat that gives back to you as well (in the form of entertaining knitting with cool texture), look no further than L’Arbre by Cirilia Rose.

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photo © Jared Flood

This was part of a 2015 Hatalong hosted over on Karen T’s wonderful Fringe Association blog. The pattern is from the fantastic and inspiring book Magpies, Homebodies, and Nomads, but the Fringe blog kindly still hosts a link to try this pattern for free (which will only whet your appetite for the full book – you have been warned!).

I loved everything about this hat – the pattern was easy to follow, the texture interesting and motivating (and distracting!) to knit … and it’s one of my go-to hats to wear. You know how good it feels when you put a hat on and it just *fits*? This hat does it for me. (I’ve got a 21″, fairly standard-adult head; but if you were knitting this for someone with a bigger head, you could just add more depth to the hat.) The ‘Little Tree’ pattern is just 4 rounds tall, so it’s easy to add a repeat or two or three for additional depth.

Bonus: if you have a super-knitworthy person in mind, there are mitts to go with the hat!

I’m toying with the idea of knitting a second one for me, with mitts to go with. Perhaps I’ll put a skein of CAKE Worsted in my stocking – I’ll have to check with Tina to see if she thinks I’ve been naughty or nice this year.

This is one design where it’s worth sticking with Shaded Solids, to let the pattern play stand out. Oh, but the Raven Clan… they would be so beautiful here! Or the Spirits…! You may have to indulge in a few. You have folks to knit for, right? Perfect excuse.

Place your order for some Plushy or CAKE now, and you’ll get a lovely package in the mail from Blue Moon just in time to pop these on your needles, knit them up lickety-split, wrap ’em up and put them under the tree!

inspiration monday: heckle me, speckley!

This is a love song to a colorway… specifically, Heckley Speckley.

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(I’ll be over here if you just want to stare at it for a while. Can’t blame ya.)

I mean, really. That olive-y subtone; those blues-going-to-purples on the end there? The rust-ish speckles? Happy yellow? This colorway has Got.It.All.Goin’.On.

So of course it’s caught the eye of some talented knitters and designers out there… including most recently Miss Joji herself!

Tina’s already mentioned Tracie the pattern (and her huge affection for Tracie the person) – so can I just wax rhapsodic about the notion of Heckley Speckley as one of the colors in here?

Joji’s chosen to wash this gorgeous shawl in grey tones, playing on the more subdued elements in Heckley Speckley, but I can just as easily imagine this shawl with a rich blue as the other color, or a deep grey, or even a scummy green!

One skein each of Heckley Speckley and your choice of secondary shaded solid in Socks that Rock® Lightweight, and you’re off to the races with weeks’ worth of glorious knitting fun! (If you’re feeling particularly unselfish, you could plan to knit this as a special gift for a friend – got someone with a special birthday coming up in the early part of next year? Shawls are a great choice, since they are one-size-drapes-beautifully-on-all!)

Or let’s say you’ve got a busy set of weeks coming up, with lots of travel and family time, and you can’t dedicate a lot of concentration time to a shawl pattern. What if you just want some “in-law knitting?” The kind where you just knit around and around, no thought required. The kind that allows you to be attentive enough to your Uncle Vernon and his story about the neighbor’s old Ford Pickup truck and the mule (for the hundredth time). The kind that lets you nod and then laugh in all the right places…

Alexandra’s Airplane Scarf is just the ticket for these family-heavy coming weeks. Developed for easy knitting on long airplane flights, it’s a simple-yet-stunning tube of a scarf that lets the yarn really sing. I knitted one last year in SilkMo in Heckley Speckley and it was my stand-out accessory all through the colder winter months! This fluffy bit of loveliness went with pretty much every single coat I own – and everywhere I went, I had to whip it off because people wanted to see all the colors!

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I love how the mohair blurs the colors in Heckley Speckley – it’s a more muted version that still sings.

Best of all, right now Tina’s offering SilkMo with double the yardage! For a limited time, instead of getting the usual-size skein, Tina and the Barn Girls will dye a double-sized 1452 yd / 8 oz skein for you!  Considering that you can knit yourself an ‘Alexandra’s’ for around 800 yards, that means if you divide the skein in half, you get to cast on and knit and knit and knit and knit, round and round without a care in the world, until you have just enough yarn left to bind off. (The pattern lets you know how much that is, too. So considerate, those Churchmouse folks.) Then you’ll have one to give away (generous you) AND one to keep for yourself – all for just US$32!

Eight hundred yards of glorious, color-filled knitting pleasure await, whether you’re into stitch patterns or soothing, plain knitting. Either way, it’s a great excuse to add some Heckley Speckley into your knitting life RIGHT NOW!

All the fun things!!

I have so many exciting things to share with you I am not quite sure where to start.

I know how about here?!

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We’re going to Stitches West!  We’ve decided we miss seeing all of you and the fun one can have at shows so we’ve decided to add in few throughout the year and we are starting with our dear friends at Stitches!! I am so excited to be a sponsor and the work with Benjamin and his wonderful team again. Thank you Ben for welcoming us back into the Stitches family! We are in the process of planning what to bring with us so if there is something you would like to see please do let us know.  we have three booths to fill. You can leave a note in the comments here or send us an email info@bluemoonfiberarts.com

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Recognize this? It’s our Fair Isling on Blue Moon pattern booklet. We are finally sending it off to our friends at Brown Printing here in Portland for a reprint. We are also formatting it for PDF downloads. You all have been asking for awhile and we happy to be in a place where we can make this happen.

We’ve put it up for PRESALE.  I expect it all to be ready in 3 to 4 weeks. We are offering two purchasing options.  The printed booklet and PDF and then just the PDF. It’ll will be nice to be able to offer these fun patterns again! Thank you for your continued interest.

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ROCKIN’ SOCK CLUB  2018!! 

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Roll on… roll on … for the Sock Knitting Magical Mystery Tour!

Can you believe it? It’s our 13th year of rockin’ the sock knitting. I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for 13 years. We have decided to celebrate with as super  a magical year we can imagine. We’ve made some changes that are new and are going to add back in some fun things we used to do as a community that I miss.

We are making it live for sale early next week!! As usual you can purchase gift certificates for the holidays, also  this year you can sign-up for 2018 in November before the holidays, instead of waiting until January.  See… shaking things up a bit! You can read all about the details on the Rockin’ Sock Club homepage and blog.

So many goings on! And…if all of this was not enough excitement I woke up to this midweek and was over the moon with joy!

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Did you see? Joji designed a shawl for each of the  grocerygirls!  Evidently Tracie asked her to design one for Jodi and then Joji surprised Tracie with one of her own and in our yarn no less. Well one of the yarns is ours. Socks that Rock Lightweight in my fav Heckley Speckley.  As I told Joji both shawls are quite lovely and I bought both patterns so I could knit them both. I am so touched and honored that our yarn is part of this knit~friendship~ lovefest!  One of the things about about being a dyer that just never gets old is seeing what you do being used in such creative and loving ways. I love it when I encounter a knitter or someone who is loved by a knitter who is where something knit from my yarn. I feel part of the big knit circle of life!

If you check the header you will see more patterns pics and a few color pairings in case you have to add this to your knit queue.

Knit friends are by far the best!

We shipped out School of Yarn this week and emailed the PDF’s.  Please let me know if you did not get the PDF email.

We are going to do another color change soon so if there are colorways up that you want now is the time!

I hope everyone had a good week!

Have a lovely weekend.

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Jodi and Tracie by Joji Locatelli

TRACIE!   color pairings here!!

Joji designed a shawl for each of the  grocerygirls!

Tracie asked Joji to design one for Jodi and then Joji surprised Tracie with one of her own and in our yarn no less.

Well…one of the yarns is ours. Socks that Rock Lightweight in the colorway of my heart Heckley Speckley.

As I told Joji both shawls are quite lovely and I bought both patterns so I could knit them both. I am so touched and honored that our yarn is part of this knit~friendship~ lovefest!

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Photo credits: Joji Locatelli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joji asked me to put a few pairings together so here they are! There are so many possible pairings so if none of these make your heart sing please let us know and we will help you find a pairing that will. info@bluemoonfiberarts.com

If you want the a pairing like the one Joji gave Tracie then Heckley Speckely and Everyday Grey are your duo! If you want a darker grey to go with Heckley Speckley then try Deep Unrelenting Grey.

We did not its these up in order to give you choices! So you can order them as singles in the Socks that Rock Lightweight base which is what Joji used.

As much as I love Heckley Speckley and I really do! I think I am going to need to give the Total Eclipse of the Sun and Deep Unrelenting Grey a try. I’m a bit obsessed with it.

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