Thanks for all the lovely comments on the
quilt my Fiasco made, your kind words made him very happy. :) I hope you all had a lovely weekend. My parents were visiting so mine was really nice! It's awesome finally living in an apartment that is large enough to have visitors. We did quite a bit of shopping and now that my mom is
big on crocheting, that shopping involved yarn! The highlight was when we went to
Slater Mill to visit the market for the knitting weekend event they were hosting. It was basically a mini fiber festival with just a handful of vendors held within an historic cotton mill.
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| Colorful rope |
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| Rope spinning contraption |
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| Loom |
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| Big ol' bale of cotton |
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| Cotton carding |
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| Lots of bobbins! |
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| Spun cotton |
North Light Fibers is a yarn company on Block Island, an actual island off the coast of Rhode Island (not an actual island). They sell handwoven garments as well as luxury yarn and spinning fiber. My mom generously purchased me a tiny bit of brown, fluffy gold:
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| This stuff is unbelievably soft! |
While crazy expensive, I've been wanting to work with
quiviut fiber for a very long time. Softer and warmer than cashmere, it comes from the undercoat of the muskox and has an incredibly short staple length. This is only a tiny bit but I am going to blend it with some merino/silk and try to spin it finely to stretch it a bit. It is going to be glorious!
Since it was my birthday weekend, I also splurged on a little bit of pretty, pretty yarn:
These yarns are both made from Blue Faced Leicester wool. The top skein is a 3-ply DK weight and the bottom is a 2-ply fingering weight dyed in a gorgeous dark teal to bright blue gradient (check out her website, she'll dye to order!). I've been wanting to work with a gradient dyed skein for a while and I have yet to knit with such thin BFL wool so I'm really excited to give this one a try. In fact, I think I might need to cast on right away. This little gem is going to become a Harmony Shawl, I just need to decide whether to start the shawl with the bright part and end with the dark or vice versa... I think I know which I'm going to do but how would you knit this skein?
I like both the bright and dark ends of the gradient! I think I would go dark to light, because I think the lighter would look nicer along the bottom edge
ReplyDeleteThat gradient yarn is simply gorgeous, it just pops. I can not wait to see your gorgeous yarn spun from that fiber. I have never felt quiviut fiber before but is sounds so dreamy! I am glad your birthday week has been going to amazing!
ReplyDeleteWith that pattern, I would probably knit with the dark part starting, so the ends would be bright. I am so happy you had a great birthday and a fun fiber adventure, the quiviut fiber just sounds lovely and I can't wait to see what you do with it.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like one of the most awesome trips ever! I tried to spin cotton once (my mom grows it every year) but it was difficult, I think I need a lighter spindle. I've never heard of that Indie dyer before, that is a world I really need to get into.
ReplyDeleteWOW! What a fun trip!! I need to add that mill to my 'Must Visit in New England' list. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until you spin the qiviut!! What a treat!!
And if I was knitting a shawl with that yarn, I'd probably start with the brighter end, because I'd like a more vibrant color near my face when I'd be wearing it. . :)