Dear Kay,
Oh, this is excellent.
Ambah O’Brien‘s Annisa wrap has got me in a bad way—three yarns, a lot of easy knitting, and that great double decrease running right across the whole thing, just enough to bend the stripes and be sort of thrilling in that low-stakes way that knitting often is.
The gray and the pale blue yarns are both by Kelsey Stephens of Primrose Yarn Co., Helix 2-ply Fingering. It was great to meet her at Stitches South in April—her yarns are often wild and woolly, so these are pretty toned down for her.
The gray is called Dark Cavern.
The blue is Whizz Bang.
I admire them both! I have been a hesitant passenger on the speckle bandwagon, but I’m having a swell time now, speckling like there’s no tomorrow. I think this Annisa pattern is a great way to channel a lot of color splats into a coherent knitted thing.
The third color isn’t really a color. It’s a sigh.
This is Fleur de Fiber‘s Crescent yarn, a superwash merino in a special color made for Nashville’s beloved Haus of Yarn.
I bought this in what was surely the most unusual retail location possible: the basement of the Opryland Hotel, in the Haus of Yarn’s Yarn Bus which was parked on the show floor at Stitches South. AWESOME. Thanks, Meg, Kelley and the gang for parking in such a convenient location.
The colorway is one of several named for Nashville landmarks. This is called Parthenon. Nashville has the world’s only full-scale replica of the old, broken-down Greek Parthenon. Hubbo and I celebrated our rehearsal dinner inside the fake Parthenon. I am happy to buy yarn made in tribute to our fake Parthenon.
This yarn is the most restrained hand-dyed yarn I have ever seen. I admire Angela Combest’s light, light touch with the pale blue. When I bought this, I had no idea what I’d do with it. But I was very curious to see how such a faint bit of color would look when knitted up.
It looks wonderful. Rumor has it that Angela is taking a break from dyeing yarn. I hope it’s not for long—anybody who would lay such a pale single color on a skein of yarn needs to keep doing this.
As for the other patterns I talked about the other day—Almost Ovals and ZickZack—I am itching to make those as well. You get a great pattern in your head, it’s hard to shake it off.
Love,
Ann
So far, it looks great! Can’t wait to see it done and blocked.
Annisa is the shawl (thanks to your earlier post) I was considering, having to (temporarily) abandon ZickZack for. This post confirms it.
Comment
Can I be honest here? Yes, of course. I am afraid that if I buy any speckled yarn at all and don’t knit it up straight away, that it will be stashed until it is the fiber equivalent of MC Hammer Pants– a strange relic of a different time. I don’t want to seem unfashionable one day, years from now, when I am on some fixed income yarn diet, knitting from deep stash at Whole Foods Knit Night with my dated yarn.
What do the other knitters say about trends of long ago? I have no idea.
I don’t think speckles will age badly like fun fur or railroad track novelty yarns. There always will be applications for it. If it feels too much for a single-yarn garment, there’s always the option to stripe it with a neutral the way Ann is. And a lot of trends do look around. Some of the Hedgehog Fibres wild speckles appeal to me because I was in middle school during the late-1980s neon craze. I knitted an Anna Dalvi shawlette last year out of an insane black, white, neon green, and nearly neon fuchsia hand paint sock yarn from KnittyAndColor, and everyone my age who sees it loves it.
I agree that speckled yarn will “age well”. Think tweed – it is ageless. I want to know more about this Yarn Bus- when does it get to Oregon?
I think we all have a couple of pairs of MC Hammer pants in our stash. Mine is chenille! And think of all the fun fur out there. Hoping that people will be kind at the Whoke Foods knit nites of the future.
Love. Love. Love. You all seriously need a love button on the blog. Love the colors you are using and love the pattern. And now, I have an idea of what to do with that speckled yarn I bought a while back.
I love all these patterns that help us stash bust all our single fingering weight skeins! All the Ambah O’Brien patterns seem to do this effectively while keeping the knitting enjoyable. I’m currently obsessed with the Torquata pattern-garter sections framing simple gradient lace panels. Can’t.stop.knitting. Wanna get to the next color.
I’m in love with the yarn choices you made and the pattern! sigh.
Oh, thank you! I loved working with Haus of Yarn. Since I am moving to Northampton, MA (I closed on my house Monday!), perhaps the abundance of yarn and fiber in the area will call me back once the dust settles.
Northampton is such a fun place — every time I’ve been, I have felt so welcome. Lots of encouraging, creative things going on in that Valley. Good luck with your move !
Wow! I never would have put those three colors together, but they look spectacular. Very nice!
Oh, my! I too have been slow to jump on the speckled yarn bandwagon, although I have certainly squished several skeins of it. Based on your experience, I see a leap in my future….
I’m headed to Stitches Midwest in just a few weeks. . . I know how easy it is to be overcome by all those fabulous yarn fumes and to have a bunch of yarn you love but have no earthly idea how to use follow you home. I bought a Zick Zack kit last year, and I’m trying to get it knocked out before we leave for Stitches this year. It is very Missoni-ish, but boring as all get out to knit. I’m just hoping I don’t run out of yarn—I’m about half way through the first set of skeins, and it’s already looking a little iffy.
Love it! And I am dying to try some speckled yarn. I also love Nashville’s Parthenon and the park next door. So much to love about your fair city…
“Speckled” yarn will always be a classic…like tweed…so fear not! I love the color play going on here…but I have to ask…do you ever sleep? You and Kay are like human knitting machines…what is your secret? My production is pathetic compared to yours!
Lovely color combination! I just don’t have an eye for that. I tend to stick to solids and self-striping (especially for socks) because I seem to have a serious disability with coming up with amazing color mixes. Currently hypnotized by my first honey cowl. Kay was not kidding…so addictive! Will have to check out this shawl once this cowl love affair is over. Can’t wait to see your shawl finished.
Couldn’t agree more about Kelsey Stephen’s yarns. Not to mention she is cute as a button , very helpful and extremely talented. Bought her Titan and Firefly colorways recently to knit Laura Aylor’s Lightning Bug shawl. Will have to check out what’s on etsy right now as she had a sample of Jujuy by Joji Locatelli in her booth that was to die for.