Yarn – Page 4

A Humble Yarn

Published on April 18, 2014June 23, 2025 by Jen11 Comments

This week, while at my LYS I fell in love with a new yarn. As I held it I instantly knew it’s potential. It comes in lovely 50g skeins, so I could really squish and caress, and yes, this stuff is amazing. Why didn’t I see it before? Because I was like a schoolgirl, with a schoolgirl crush on elite British wools, I guess that I had my eyes closed.

jenjoycedesign©cascade-220-fingering2 — Colors left to right : Natural, Doeskin, Charcoal, and Jet.

I bought four skeins for barely more than $20, and brought them home in their cheery little orange paper bag. It felt wonderful. I showed it to Jeff , who is my scratchiness barometer (that is, he is an extreme case of FOSW ~~ fear of scratchy wool) and he was impressed with it ! So in recent days I have been thinking about my new find. I have decided that as a developing designer, it is important that I am ‘yarn conscienscious’, yet not yarn elitist. Well, in most cases. That is, in most cases I will design something entirely for itself, using a yarn that I feel compliments the design, and also that I feel is easily accessible, and easily affordable. ((Though , still, there are those special design occasions to showcase beautiful specialty & heritage yarns, for which I am very happy to be elitist . . . lol )).

jenjoycedesign©natural-cascade — Color : Natural

A challenge indeed. One of the reasons I have liked Jamiesons Of Shetland Spindrift, a 2ply fingering yarn, is because it is not expensive, but very affordable, considering it’s imported from the actual Shetland Isles. However, I have learned by observation, that not everyone has easy access to this British wool , even though it is growing in popularity as the boundless community of the internet brings us knitters together globally.

jenjoycedesign©Cascade-doeskin — Color : Doeskin Heather

I am talking about a very popular yarn which I never noticed because I was maybe being a bit of a yarn snob. Yet at the same time, I developed this closet tendency to buy inexpensive yarn on-line. Strange indeed. Though I adore the ease of my on-line purchases , I do happen to live up in the backwoods, and it’s not always cost-effective to drive to the next county to purchase exactly what I want. I have had a yarn epiphany regarding this LYS exclusive . . .

jenjoycedesign©Cascade-charcoal — Color : Charcoal

I’m talking about Cascade 220 yarn folks, in fingering weight. 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. 50g skeins = 273 yards / 250 meters. 2 ply. About $5 per skein. What I have here is four neutral undyed colors in Jet, Charcoal, Doeskin, and Natural.

jenjoycedesign©Cascade-jet — Cascade 220 fingering : Jet

Striking resemblance to the yarns with which I created my Vineyard Rows Highland Bonnet .

My Vineyard Rows bonnet (tam) however, will remain a Jamiesons Spindrift novelty , as it is inspired so much by Scottish Highlands that I believe the Scottish wool is completely perfect, but I will list the Cascade 220 fingering as an alternate yarn on it’s pattern pages.

You can guess that the next up & coming thing I am working on , will be a Vineyard Rows design, and in the yarn which is beautiful yet humble and very likely at your own LYS. I still have a crush on Virtual Yarns Hebridean and Jamiesons Of Shetland, but perhaps I’ll broaden my more local horizons , this side of The Pond. I tell you, Peru really has it going on these days when it comes to yarn !

Over-Dyed

Published on April 13, 2014April 27, 2025 by Jen8 Comments

My latest yarn play. I dyed a ton of yarn ( details in previous post ) with a mind to knit them into an autumney-equinoxey sort of thing, but now I think not. I’m calling this colorway ‘curry blend’, or maybe ‘marigolds’ . Anyway, I think it fitting for my recent post-pattern-writing crash, to continue to chill out with a clean slate for a while. Just knit socks, socks, and more socks, and not have anything big brewing beyond re-writing Penny Candy Socks pattern for the remainder of Spring. Oh, just look at these cheerful balls of yarn perched , happily waiting for whatever comes. I am very pleased with the dye this time !

Yarn-scape

Published on April 10, 2014March 11, 2019 by Jen14 Comments

I’m up to something again. Here, winding off skeins of Shibui & Madelinetosh sock yarns. I’m drowning myself in skinny yarn. I did mention something about knitting socks with it however, a few posts back . . .

Which I am doing.

My nieces are coming in a few days, and I am going to rewrite my original Penny Candy Socks pattern completely different ~~ very soon~~ so , I’m madly knitting the above pair (in Malabrigo Sock) for another fun photo session with them !

Then there’s this madness , heaps of skinny Knit Picks Stroll sock yarn (which by the way, like Shibui and Malabrigo, is from Peru) and very fine Lana Grossa (from Italy) . . . over-dyed and drying still . . .

I nearly spent a mint on some fancy hand-dyed superwash Malabrigo Arroyo (I sooo wanted to) , which is a sport weight, for I am erupting with ideas already for Autumnal Equinox sweaters, but decided instead to over-dye a mess o’ sock yarn I had on hand which was bound for nowhere. Was 4 balls of light blue Stroll — now cayenne red, 4 balls of light grey Stroll –now mustard yellow, 1 ball of hot pink Lana Grossa, — now deep garnet. All now a very lovely array of Autumn tones, achieved with Dharma Trading acid dyes in colors “cayenne” , “mustard” , & “maroon” .

I had spent hours going color crazy at the kitchen last night ~ while cooking dinner (a habit I always seem to get into ). Today all is calm, and quiet, winding off like a busy bee hive, immersed in this lovely yarn-scape.

Una Cosettina

Published on February 24, 2014September 10, 2024 by Jen15 Comments

Una Cosettina, or ‘ A Little Something’ is the name of these half-mitts, designed especially for Oropa 1ply yarn, which is made with wool from sheep which have roamed the foothills of Alps of Northern Italy for perhaps a thousand years. Who knows for sure? But, there is an age-old mill in Biella which uses much the same processing methods as of long ago, and which make the wool from these Old-World sheep into yarn. Oropa 1ply is a rustic heritage yarn as rugged as the mountain terrain it comes from. Truly Oropa yarn is nothing less than a timeless treasure. I talk a lot about the yarn, and Biella’s place in Italy’s wool industry in Posted From Italy, Yarn Whisperer, and some about elements of design process in my previous post.

I wrote a pattern which incorporates the following; my own edging that I will simply call ‘eyelet edging’, a cast-on and bind-off’, elements of i-cord, rib, and lace all in one. Shown in Pearl Grey & Natural Oropa 1ply, sturdy & feminine, these half-mitts will keep your hands warm, while letting the spring breezes through from it’s open lace-work. Inspired by womens riding gloves of olden days perhaps, slightly bell-shaped , stylish, and ready to make a spectacular conversation piece when people ask about them.

jenjoycedesign©Lacey Little Somethings half-mitts — Modeling both sizes ~ smaller size to left, larger size at top.

The photos show both sizes, and two slightly different cast-on eyelet edgings at the beginning of cuff, the end result in pattern, is slightly again different, combining both ( just a matter of changing one round of rib, into knit stitch). In the weeks ahead this very same pattern is undergoing translation into Italian, and it will then become available to purchase in kit form with the very same Oropa 1ply yarn as you see in photo. As soon as I have any information to the kit being ready, I will post in celebration of a job done collaboratively , having a sense of place from both Northern California, and Northern Italy.

Thank you Bonnie, for asking me if I would like to design una cosettina (a little something) for The Wool Box, because I most certainly and thoroughly enjoyed it ! May only ever the warm & soft breezes of spring blow through your lace ~~ Ciao.

Meanwhile I will have this pattern available along with my other designs, which you will find on Ravelry HERE

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Now, for a little more information about The Wool Box !

You may read a little bit about Some info on The Wool Box and then check out the English translated websites that Volunteer English-speaking Ambassador to The Wool Box , Bonnie, as created on Ravelry HERE and on Facebook HERE.

You can read more about “The New History of Italian Wool” from Bonnie’s blog called “Wool In Italy” . . . on her post HERE .

If you would like to contact The Wool Box directly (in Italy), below are links Bonnie has provided me:

The Wool Box Shop: www.thewoolbox.it
Informazioni: info@thewoolbox.it
Customer Service: customer-service@thewoolbox.com

A Little Something of Lace

Published on February 18, 2014March 11, 2014 by Jen11 Comments

I’ve been working steadily on a project , “A Little Something” , for The Wool Box. I talk in my previous posts Posted From Italy and Yarn Whisperer about Northern Italy’s “The Wool Box” , of Biella’s heritage wool mill and yarns, and of specifically Oropa 1-ply with which I am working in a design. I’ve changed course a couple of times, with piles of little half-lace mitts strewn about my loft room, I have worked and reworked, and now I’ve pretty much nailed it.

In the process of experimentation, I’ve come up with a lovely eyelet-icord-rib hybrid edging for the Little Something I’m designing. I pretty much thought it up for myself, and I don’t know what to call it (I’ll come up with something soon). Love how the single ply’s frisky & playful personality punctuates the edge ! This is after washing and blocking too. So crisp, Oropa 1-ply is anything but tame . . .

That said, I have discovered there is a ‘tender underbelly’ of Oropa 1-ply. Being a 1-ply, it does not have the support of another strand keeping it together as much, so when one picks up the end to knit, one must do so delicately, as the end does lose a bit of twist and becomes easily broken (but that’s a no-brainer with any single ply wool). I compensate by taking up a good 12 inches before knitting from an end. Did I mention that this sensitive side of Oropa is just really… well… ‘kitteny’. . . is that a word?

Better said I suppose, as noting it’s shyer downy quality.

Upon examining the fluff at one of the unraveled ends I noticed a small percentage of strong & slippery longer hairs and proportionally a lot more of shorter downy wool. Definitely Old World wool.

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On another note, I haven’t been able to knit much today (yet) as I was at a sort of Lady’s Social for the day, held over at my neighbor’s, here in the woods. I actually made a lovely creme brulee from a big fat perfect Meyer lemon growing from our tiny tree in a pot.

I packed the three brulees (there were three of us) into a little basket , covered them, threw my knitting bag over my shoulder, kissed Emma good-bye for a while and headed out into the woods (sadly) without her, for what was actually a short five-minute walk through back-country. I felt just like a fairytale character, like Red Ridinghood or Goldilocks.

Meyer Lemon creme brulee to-go, with carmelized sugar and all, delivered back-door style.

In my opinion, beauty is in the small things, novelties as this. Little pots of golden tastiness !

The recipe, for those interested, with just three ingredients, it’s incredibly easy and fast to make . . .

Meyer Lemon Creme Brulee:

1 very large and ripe Meyer lemon , 1 pint of heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup organic sugar

Finely zest lemon and squeeze juice from it.

In small saucepan slowly heat pint of cream, while stirring, until it begins to boil. Keep at ‘barely boiling’ for a couple of minutes, while stirring, then take off heat.

Add lemon zest , stir, and then slowly stir in the lemon juice.

Fill about 5 or 6 ramekin cups and let cool. Refrigerate for at keast 4 hours. Rest assured, it *does* set up !

About 20-30 minutes before serving, sprinkle a teaspoon or two of sugar on top of each brulee, and with a hand held torch ( or under broiler flame) carmelize sugar until bubbles and darkens to a deep gold ~~~ while creating a crisp layer on top.

Eat & Enjoy !