wool, wool, wool
when working at webs, i often get asked what my favorite yarns in the store are, and people seem surprised when i rattle off a list of 100% wool, non-superwash yarns, like british sheep breeds, northampton, and peruvia quick (i do have a few hand-dyed faves too, but i tend to use those exclusively for designs and not for my everyday sweaters, because the superwashing makes drapier fabric).
i love wool. it's my very favorite fiber. i like it scratchy or not, dyed or natural, i even like when there's that little bit of vegetable matter spun into the fibers.
i only really have a small pile of handknit sweaters. many of the ones i've knit have been for yarn companies or publications, and sadly, i don't get to keep them most of the time. but, i've recently begun concentrating on a few self-published sweater designs, and since i get to keep them ( yay! ), i've stocked up on some of the wooliest yarns i could find.
many people have already noticed my fondness for st-denis nordique. i currently have 2 sweaters and a vest on the needles in this yarn, and i just bought enough for another cardigan. i love it's spring, its stitch definition and its durability. when i make myself a sweater, i want it to last forever, you know?
right now, i've got a wooly work in progress in quince and co lark.
i have a finished hoodie with a pattern in progress in puffin.
a sweater's worth each of osprey and chickadee are waiting in the wings.
and now, there's shelter too. i recently swatched a few colors of it and suddenly i had a new leafy hat.
this one is a fitted style, but i'm writing a pattern that will have a beret style too, so i'm knitting that up now.
oh boy, i love this new direction the yarn world is taking. i feel like there are so many yarns i truly love to knit with out right now. now, just to find the time.
i'm also doing something that's rare for me. i'm carrying around a project that was not designed by me. it's cecily's idlewood pattern, in some lovely beaverslide that she bought for me. i cannot wait to wear this!
and... i'm now realizing that i'm in a yellow and teal color rut again, as i just finished a sample for my acorns pattern in madelinetosh vintage in "forestry". the yarn i used in the pattern was tosh worsted, which is now called tosh dk, and the name change has caused a lot of confusion for people substituting yarns because tosh dk is more of a light worsted. so, i'm re-doing the layout of the pattern and changing it to call for berroco vintage and tosh vintage instead. still confusing, i guess, but whatevs. ;)
