Like many knitters, I’m on a yarn diet. It’s not that I have a huge stash, but it manages to grow faster than I can knit it. And I don’t really have room for a huge stash.
Usually, I’m good about sticking to the yarn diet. I’m strong. I can walk past pretty yarn without flinching (much).
Yet reading Clara Parkes’ The Knitter’s Book of Wool got me hankering for breed-specific yarns. And what do you know, our local farmer’s market often has a stall or two selling local yarn.
The stall with the yarn in Kool-Aid colors? No, thanks. Ah, but the new stall, the one I swear I hadn’t seen before... look! Skeins in a slew of lovely natural colors. And labeled by breed!
With Clara’s voice in my head urging me on, I walked away with two skeins:
The skein on the left is Coopworth; on the right, lambswool from Coopworth/Romney lambs.
The best part? The labels name the animals that produced the fiber, and even include photos:
The skein on the left is all Anna. On the right, a blend of Berta, Bonnie, and Beau.
I had a nice chat with the vendor, who told me all about the lambs’ parentage, and how the yarn was spun at a local mill willing to handle small lots. I had no idea the mill existed – but I think I can be excused, since the mill has only been in operation for just over a year. Besides, I’m not a spinner.
What will I do with the yarn? I’m not sure yet. I’m tempted to make fingerless mittens in stranded colorwork, but I’m kind of hard on my mittens and I’m not sure the loosely-spun two plies would stand up to the abuse. Maybe a hat, then, lined with something softer. Hmm... what do I have in my stash?
Tagged: stash enhancement.
Coopworth and Romney are both sturdy fibers that would likely do just fine being made into mittens as long as you get your gauge right (which, of course, you would). The loose twist in singles and plying most likely wouldn't be a problem. Just guessing, based on some knowledge of breed-specific yarns and from looking at your photos--but pretty educated guessing.
» Deborah Robson
Deb, if you say so, then I'll have to revisit the mitten option. Thanks much!
» JC
Welcome to my menu of bookmarked blogs, JC! I expect great things of you, for that is your norm. Congratulations on choosing a simpler, truer life and dedicating yourself to your own books. The world has lost a meticulous and wonderfully clarifying tech editor, but we will receive in return your future immensely useful knitting books. P.S. I am tempted to include a booboo in these comments for you to correct.
» Cat Bordhi
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cat! Now I just have to get my butt in gear and earn it...
» JC
I am colossally proud to have led you astray! This is like seeing my personal trainer eat a triple-decker hot-fudge sundae. Also, I'm with Deb: I think Anna, Berta, Bonnie, and Beau could serve you quite well as stranded-colorwork mitts. Let's see now, you'd cast on 51 stitches, place 62 on a holder for the thumb, cast on 8 to bridge the gap, work three left-leaning increases, add some yarn-overs, and bind-off when, um...
» Clara
Mittens it is, then. But, Clara, is that pattern from your latest book? If so, I think it might need some editing...
» JC
Nonsense. I ran it through spellcheck...
» Clara