Strange yarns

Good morning, and happy Monday!!!

I thought this morning I'd share something strange I came across while reading the Lion Brand email newsletter: stainless steel yarn.

Yes, you read that correctly (although you may want to do as I did, and click through the link above to confirm that your eyes are properly interpreting the letters above). This yarn is 75% wool and 25% STAINLESS STEEL.

I wonder how soft that is? Is there any real drape to steel? Does it relax/soften more with washing? Or with insertion into a VERY HOT FURNACE??? LOL

Actually, it got me to wondering about other strange materials used for yarns. Here are some I've found (each with a few brand examples), some stranger than others:

possum (there were several, I just picked one)
milk (tell me, do your projects curdle if not refrigerated?)
newspaper (this one you can spin yourself, although it looks very time-consuming)
pre- & post-consumer recycled yarn (this yarn made from waste poly-fibers and post-consumer plastic bottles isn't available, as far as I can tell, for us hand-knitters, but is interesting nonetheless)

What odd yarns have you seen/heard about? Anyone know anything about "concrete" yarn? I swear I saw it in passing one day, but I can't find information on it anywhere.

A closer peek at the newest part of my stash

Continuing with the tour of my yarn purchases at Stitches East, we have some yarn purchased in bulk:

Debbie Bliss, to me, is always a good choice. Each and every one of her fibers feels soooo soft, and the colors are strong and the yarn doesn't pill or split. So, when I found a booth selling bags of her yarn at wholesale prices, I dove right in (literally, as they were all in a little "corral" type thing on the ground!). Came up with two: Cashmerino superchunky in forest green, and Soho in a unique green/pink/black variegated. The cashmerino is for my Mom to use --- she found a neat shrug pattern and is itching to try it.


In the same booth I also came across Laines Du Nord Cocotte (80% wool) in a really pretty green/turquoise. It was the color of this yarn that stopped and called to me. I've never knit with it before, and I'm not even sure yet what it is destined to become, but I brought it home with me nonetheless. :)


And finally, another daring new yarn purchase: SWTC's Gianna (50% soysilk; 50% wool) in a vibrant RED. By snagging the 4-skein bag, I also landed a free pattern for hat and mittens to make with the Gianna. Course I may not get the chance, as my Mom really took a liking to this yarn as well....

100% Texas Wool

So it says on the label for Solana, this gorgeous 100% wool worsted weight yarn I bought from Brooks Farm. I love this colorway (thanks, YarnMama, for finding it!). This yarn is so soft, but as we stood in the booth fondling the yarns, I just couldn't seem to find the one that spoke to me. All the colors were pretty, but the one perfect one in which I could find inspiration..... It was elusive, but YarnMama (who has a great eye for color!) pointed out this one, which was half-hidden toward the bottom of the rack. Perfect!



Shepherd's Wool (by Stonehedge Fiber Mill) was another YarnMama find. The people in the booth weren't very welcoming (didn't even say hello), but their yarns were very well priced! YarnMama braved the chilly ambiance purchased anyway. When we were looking at our new stash on Saturday night, I realized that I was a silly, silly girl not to snap some of this soft wool up! So I went back on Sunday, and this time the people in the booth were pleasant. Perhaps they were very tired on Saturday by the time YarnMama and I reached them! Anywho, my color choices were Misty Blue and Milk Chocolate. They are destined to become a striped shawl, based on what I learned in my "Shaping Shawls: Triangles and Trapezoids" class.

It's over...... :(

I waited so long for it, and it's over. Stitches East, that is.

It's been a whirlwind 4 days. I'm exhausted. But I learned soo much, and I bought so much yummy yarn! I am desperately itching to cast on some new projects with my new yarn, and practice all the stuff I learned! It's my main to-do for the week, yes it is. Fellow Newark Knitters, expect to see some new yarn on Tuesday night!

Here's a quick "taste" of my weekend, in bad cell phone pictures: :)

the entrance to "mecca"--- a beautiful 5 huge aisles full of fiber and fiber-related goodies!!
YarnMama's & my yarn purchases, spread out in our room

all of YarnMama's lovely yarn (and sock blockers!)

my lovely yarn purchases (minus what I bought on Sunday!)

the Baltimore Basilica

I'm a bit too tired to blog in detail now, but I promise more info on the classes, etc later... maybe in small daily doses. :)

W.W.K.I.P. Day was a (FUN!) success!

First, thank you all who participated in our first-ever W.W.K.I.P. Day event here in Newark, DE, and thank you to Stitches with Style, our LYS (local yarn store) who sponsored the event. It was a resounding success! Somewhere around 50 people were in attendance, both at Stitches with Style, and at McGlynn's Pub.

When I arrived at Stitches with Style around 10:30, I discovered 15 or so knitters already there, comfortably knitting around the table and on the couch. There was yarn shopping going on as well (nearly impossible to avoid, no?). Linda (the owner of Stitches) had sweet little blue tote bags printed especially for the occasion, and had stuffed them with lots of little goodies.

We moved to McGlynn's around 11:30 for the official start (and the knitting in public). The smell of popcorn greeted us at the door, and followed us to our section -- 5 tables full of knitters! There were 6 of us knitting at our table, and someone (a knitter) who simply happened to be out to lunch came over to our table to ooh and aah over our projects.

The surprise came when after lunch, many knitters moved back over to Stitches to continue knitting! Once you get started, it can be hard to stop! As a matter of fact, I got so caught up in knitting and talking to other knitters, that I forgot all about my camera and taking pictures.

I finally caved in and bought two skeins of Skacel Sofa yarn in soft pink with yellow eyelash. It's a super-thick chenille; very soft and warm. I think I'm going to try to make an open, airy wrap for myself for the winter since I'm always cold. I'll keep you posted.

What can be better than a day full of wool and sheep and knitting friends?

Yes, I had all three yesterday, and it was wonderful! Three knitting friends from the Newark Knitters Group (YarnMama, reluctantMANGO, and RangerSarah), and I traveled together to the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD for the 34th annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It was my first time there, but reMANGO and RangerSarah were very able guides through the hub-bub.

We started at 6:30am, and were rewarded with a decent parking place not too far from the entrance. Close enough, at least, that we could return to the car halfway through the day, to get our lunches and drop off our purchases to that point.

It seemed there was no where on the premises that the sound of sheep bleating didn't reach your ears. And they were all so cute: big ones, little ones, shorn and fluffy ones. I also saw my first alpacas (they remind me of llamas, but more sheep-sized) and llamas, which I find adorable. We took a break in the middle of morning shopping to catch a sheep dog demonstration, which turned out to be truly amazing. The dogs know exactly what to do to keep the sheep where the herder/master wants them, and do it with finesse.

(baby sheep, alpacas, and llama, top to bottom)

We all made some great purchases, as you can see in our "stash photo" at the end of the day! I personally picked up several sock yarns (I WILL make socks!!! I simply must learn. The super-soft, pink/white handpainted sock yarn from Shelridge Farm will be a good enticement.), some uniquely-colored green/black yarn with sparkles to make a scarf, and some candy-cane striped yarn to make a sleeveless top.

Yarn Tasting

Yum! Yarn!

That's what Stitches with Style, a great yarn shop by my house in Newark, DE, called their event this past Sunday -- "Yarn Tasting." And it was a perfectly delicious event!

We "yarn tasted" early, before the store was officially open, so it was just a private group of 10 or so knitters and lots of YARN! Sheryl (the owner) and her staff had selected several new summer-weight yarns for us to try. Each skein was in its own plastic baggie, along with a pair of knitting needles in the recommended gauge, and a slip of paper instructing us how many stitches to cast on and what pattern to knit.

For my first test, I picked Needful Yarns Geranium. Very interesting yarn: a bit rough to the touch (it's about half linen), gorgeous coloring, an inconsistent texture (it was at points very fine, and then suddenly very fat). Although I liked the swatch when I was finished, I ultimately decided that Geranium is too difficult to knit with and not really worth the trouble.

I moved on to Jo Sharp DK Cotton. 100% cotton, this yarn felt nice, and knit up evenly and consistently. Toward the end of the swatch I worked, I began having trouble with the yarn splitting, but I blame that on myself -- I was itching to get my hands on still another different yarn! However, before I move to report on that one, I must say that this 100% cotton was a joy to work with; I have, prior to Jo Sharp, only experienced 100% cottons that felt kinda rough and stiff. I would have no objections to making a garment out of this cotton yarn.

Now, my third yarn was 100% bamboo. Very, very interesting! I am embarrassed to say that I can't recall the name of the yarn, so if anyone reading happens to have been there, please help! But I was so impressed with this yarn! I doubt I would have ever considered buying bamboo yarn if I hadn't had this chance to "taste" it. It had a silky sheen, slid on and off the needles easily (but not TOO easily!), didn't split, and looked great knitted up! The skein Sheryl had chosen for us to "taste" was a gorgeous rainbow variegated yarn. YUM!! My favorite of the day, for sure!

Not to be ignored in all the yarn "tasting" were the desserts that Sheryl and her staff baked for us. Yes, baked! Chocolate cream filled cupcakes, coffee cake, puff pastries, berry tart, fresh fruit salad (no, that wasn't baked).... the back room was full of goodies that we all enjoyed after enjoying all the new yarns of summer.

It was a GREAT event; I can't wait for the next one!!

Ah, the smell of new yarn!

Ok, not really the smell (although I do know knitters who shop for wool by the way it smells!)... but bringing home a bag of new yarn is like bringing home a pair of new shoes. :)

This afternoon I headed to a nearby yarn store, Stitches with Style, to buy some skeins of beige/pink yarn. A friend asked me to make a hat to match a scarf she really likes. It's a very hard to match color --- alone it looks beige with gold thread through it, but against her coat, it looks like pale lavendar or dusty rose. I found a few possibilities. Now I have to put them up against the scarf to double-check. And if they don't match, I'm sure I'll find something else to create using them!!

But, as usual, it was impossible to escape the yarn store without more than just the sample skeins. I found several really good finds hidden in a sale bin under a rack of other yarns. Just hiding out there, waiting for me. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with them.... most of them, in various colors, are wool or part wool. I may just wait until August to start knitting them up. We'll see.

As exciting as today's shopping was, I had some sad news to balance out the euphoria of yarn buying. I often order yarn from a company called Smiley's Yarns, which functions almost exclusively online. They carry a variety of yarns, at ridiculously wonderful prices. Their stock always changes, though, so I buy when I see. But anyway, I'm off topic again. My sad news: I opened my most recent box of purchases from Smiley's, only to discover that one sleeve of yarn (three skeins in a plastic bag) was slit, probably when the larger case of that color was opened, and two of the three balls were slit as well. So instead of pretty ribbon yarn, I have pretty ribbon confetti.

Sadly, their website proclaims NO REFUNDS EVER, but I can't imagine they'd want a repeat customer to be stuck with damaged goods. So I wrote them an email, and am hoping for the best! Cross your fingers; I'll keep you posted.