Yesterday, I did the rounds of my usual yarn shop haunts....
Starting with Romni Wools to hunt up yarn for a mosaic stitch "Welsh Blanket" - a wedding gift, for the couple who've asked Darling Daughter to be in their August wedding party.
This is what I bought...
...and I feel pretty sure its going to look great - having help selecting the colours from designer Kiomy Burgin who is no stranger to fantastic colourwork (and works at Romni!) and, importantly, being of the same age range as the Brides-to-Be, could advise on something more "Millennial" than "Boomer".
We considered yarns from the DK, Worsted and Aran sections, as she explained the variances in yarns mean that, for example, lighter, loftier Arans can work with a beefy DK etc. depending on the technique used to combine them.
As we crouched over a basket, contemplating options I asked her whether yarn dominance exerts itself or could be used to affect the look of mosaic knitting and therefore balance mixed yarns of different sizes but before she had time to answer, none other than colour work and mosaic designer Barbara Gregory, a former member of the Romni team, seemed to materialize behind her with a bright "hello there" and an explanation that, because there is only one colour being carried across any single row in mosaic knitting, yarn dominance is absent from it.
The two of them then talked a bit about pairing yarns and referenced the difference between actual weight and what I think they called "label weight". In other words, two seasoned yarn experts discussing the fact you shouldn't rely exclusively on the information on a yarn label when deciding on the suitability of a yarn for a particular application. There's a sobering thought eh?
All the more reason to seek good advice on yarn when you're considering something you've never done/worked with before.
All the more reason for me to then feel good about what I would buy because I couldn't have asked for better, more informed advice. I had a little knitting "dream team" right there helping me!
After that, obviously confident with my 20 balls of DK, I headed off from Romni to visit Eweknit. It is the most beautiful yarn store ever but I wasn't looking for yarn there, rather yesterday, I forced myself to focus on their selection of fabrics.
Darling Daughter's Bride's maid muslin is now complete so I'm going to "dip my toe" in the home sewing pond a bit deeper and sew up a simple top to go with a linen cardi called Jessamine, the yarn for which I picked up at my next destination - Knit-O-Matic - where Quince and Co. Kestral just arrived this week.
I've planned a linen something-or-other several spring times in the past but I've always left buying the yarn too late and run up against insufficient stock by the time I was ready to make a purchase.
Not this year though! I left Knit-O-Matic with ten skeins of this crisp, chainnette, tape-like, 100% organic linen yarn. I love how it goes with one of the cotton prints I bought at Eweknit.
Yup, a successful outing indeed. Thanks for dropping by - have a great weekend!
Starting with Romni Wools to hunt up yarn for a mosaic stitch "Welsh Blanket" - a wedding gift, for the couple who've asked Darling Daughter to be in their August wedding party.
This is what I bought...
...and I feel pretty sure its going to look great - having help selecting the colours from designer Kiomy Burgin who is no stranger to fantastic colourwork (and works at Romni!) and, importantly, being of the same age range as the Brides-to-Be, could advise on something more "Millennial" than "Boomer".
We considered yarns from the DK, Worsted and Aran sections, as she explained the variances in yarns mean that, for example, lighter, loftier Arans can work with a beefy DK etc. depending on the technique used to combine them.
As we crouched over a basket, contemplating options I asked her whether yarn dominance exerts itself or could be used to affect the look of mosaic knitting and therefore balance mixed yarns of different sizes but before she had time to answer, none other than colour work and mosaic designer Barbara Gregory, a former member of the Romni team, seemed to materialize behind her with a bright "hello there" and an explanation that, because there is only one colour being carried across any single row in mosaic knitting, yarn dominance is absent from it.
The two of them then talked a bit about pairing yarns and referenced the difference between actual weight and what I think they called "label weight". In other words, two seasoned yarn experts discussing the fact you shouldn't rely exclusively on the information on a yarn label when deciding on the suitability of a yarn for a particular application. There's a sobering thought eh?
All the more reason to seek good advice on yarn when you're considering something you've never done/worked with before.
All the more reason for me to then feel good about what I would buy because I couldn't have asked for better, more informed advice. I had a little knitting "dream team" right there helping me!
After that, obviously confident with my 20 balls of DK, I headed off from Romni to visit Eweknit. It is the most beautiful yarn store ever but I wasn't looking for yarn there, rather yesterday, I forced myself to focus on their selection of fabrics.
Darling Daughter's Bride's maid muslin is now complete so I'm going to "dip my toe" in the home sewing pond a bit deeper and sew up a simple top to go with a linen cardi called Jessamine, the yarn for which I picked up at my next destination - Knit-O-Matic - where Quince and Co. Kestral just arrived this week.
I've planned a linen something-or-other several spring times in the past but I've always left buying the yarn too late and run up against insufficient stock by the time I was ready to make a purchase.
Not this year though! I left Knit-O-Matic with ten skeins of this crisp, chainnette, tape-like, 100% organic linen yarn. I love how it goes with one of the cotton prints I bought at Eweknit.
Yup, a successful outing indeed. Thanks for dropping by - have a great weekend!
3 comments:
Your yarn crawl looks fabulous!
Looking forward to seeing the final results.
I am enjoying working with linen these days. You may want to look into a sewn-overlap as you go join for those balls of chainette - I find it a huge pain to darn in the slippery ends successfully later. The sewn join does make that section a bit thicker so may not suit all purposes.
Maybe Techknitter has the answer
http://techknitting.blogspot.ca/2007/07/part-1-of-working-in-ends-with-sewing.html
http://techknitting.blogspot.ca/2007/07/part-2-of-working-in-ends-with-sewing.html
LisaRR
Wow. Did you have a great day. A knitters 'high' for sure. All your purchases look great and you have lots of fun projects to look forward to this spring.
PS - Just looked up the cardi pattern. I really like it. Open front. Bit of detail. And the colour will look great on you.
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