Yarns to Love
From Santa Fe, a New Yarn
Dear lovers of good design and great yarns,
We’ve got something very special to share with you.
First things first. If you’re looking for combinations of Amor Esperanza’s Amores Raíz yarn, please scroll down.
Meet Amor
We met Amor Esperanza Valdez several years ago at a Stitches South show in Nashville. If memory serves, Ann found Amor’s extraordinary Crave yarns first, and physically dragged Kay into the booth to see, touch, and sniff them (as you do). Amor stood there smiling, as if she’d seen this reaction before.
Amor is fastidious about every aspect of designing a yarn, and it shows. So when she proposed a collaboration with MDK, we said yes even faster than that time we bought all that cashmere.
With Amor at the helm, we knew we’d have an exquisite yarn, an intriguing knit, and a gorgeous FO at the end of the journey.
The Yarn
Here’s how Amor describes her new yarn:
Raíz, which means “root” in my native Spanish, is a 100 percent superwash extrafine merino. It is a singles spun base that yields a lofty and impressively squishy skein of 435 yards of fingering-weight loveliness. I named this base Raíz because since the beginning of my dyer’s journey I have been drawn to: 1) merino, 2) singles spun, and 3) fingering weight yarns. This combination of characteristics yields a color that is quite different from plied yarns, in that the colors seem to wrap, rather than sink, deeply around the yarn core, creating beautiful layers and depth. Every new colorplay on this base tickles me to my fiber-loving core.
The custom color palette that I created for MDK revolves around harmonious contrasts. Because the colors emerged in tandem with a shawl design which uses three colors, I was moved to create a palette that would offer triplet color matchings that are at once surprising and yet clearly have charisma. I was also enchanted by the resonance of pastels as pops of color against a strong backdrop of deep, rich colorways. In the stitched landscape of the Superscript Shawl design, the pastel is sharp not soft, poignant rather than nondescript. And from these twelve colors, a knitter will find so many playful possibilities.
The Design
The colors here: Sherlock, Linger, and Sequoia.
Amor tells about the pattern:
The Superscript Shawl is at heart a colorblock piece. You’re knitting with one color at a time to create solid blocks of color. The rising notes of this shawl are created upon—rather than within—the primary stitches. Using applied i-cord (in surprising places) and very simple surface crochet, you will create an embossed map that traces and foregrounds the angles of the design. The result of the surface texture and color contrast is deliciously graphic. In a word: stunning.
Amor’s pattern for the Superscript Shawl is available now on Ravelry, right here. The Superscript Shawl calls for 3 skeins of Raíz (1 skein in each of 3 colors).
The pattern includes directions for two versions of the Superscript Shawl (one larger, one smaller), plus a companion cowl pattern that can be made with the yarn left over from either version of the shawls.
A Knitalong? Yes!
Of course there will be a knitalong! On September 16, we’ll launch an early-fall Superscript Shawl knitalong. As part of the fun of learning the clever techniques involved, which were new to us, Amor will be making snazzy videos to support the pattern. (Follow along with #MDKsuperscriptalong.)
So in addition to the camaraderie, fun, and general hullabaloo of a great knitalong, we’ll also get virtual visits to Amor’s beautiful studio in Santa Fe.
We hope a bunch of you will join us on this adventure.
You’ll be supporting an independent dyer and designer who is at the top of her game. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to work with Amor on this special collaboration, and we see great times ahead for us all.
Love,
Ann and Kay
P.S. Hey there again. Are you having a hard time picking three colors? We have the same problem—it’s so difficult to choose! We asked Amor to put together some triplets. Her choices are a great place to start with this most delicious dillydallying.
ALLITERATION, MORNING FOG, CONSTELLATION
ALLITERATION, SEQUOIA, POIGNANT
POETRY, POIGNANT, BOTANY
BOTANY, SEQUOIA, SPICES
BOTANY, ALLITERATION, SPICES
CONSTELLATION, MORNING FOG, SPICES
SHERLOCK, LINGER, SEQUOIA
LINGER, POETRY, POIGNANT
CONSTELLATION, MEADOW, SHERLOCK
POETRY, SEQUOIA, LINGER
LINGER, CONSTELLATION, POETRY
CONSTELLATION, MEADOW, POIGNANT
SEQUOIA, SPICES, SHERLOCK
POETRY, SPICES, LINGER
CHARISMA, BOTANY, SPICES
ALLITERATION, CHARISMA, SHERLOCK
These are beautiful! The names are too!
I absolutely love Amor as a person and as a dyer. I met her at my first VKL, my first big knitting event. I didn’t know much about yarn back then, and I was nevous going into booths, but as soon as I entered hers, I felt comfortable and welcome. She put me at ease. It makes me so happy that she is part of the MDK family.
Oh, like the MDK ladies and you, I met Amor at Stitches West some years ago and was enchanted by her spirit and her yarns. I made a point to go to her store the next time I was in Santa Fe and came home with some Crave of my very own. What a wonderful tribute to have people love you at first meeting…and it just goes with her name!
Wow!
Two words: Gorge, us.
Lovely yarn and lovely shawl! Now to decide on colors….. Be sure to remind us when time gets near!
Wow! Another finger-twitching, heart thumping yarn and knit along announcement!
Definitely drool worthy!!!!
Done! This will be my knitting project when go to Sicily on Sept 17th. Can’t wait!
Incredible color range!
Last summer I knit Cecelia Campochiaro’s Corrugated Wrap from your Field Guide No. 5: Sequences in Caravan. You are right: women approach me and automatically put out their hands to caress the wonderful yarn. It is so soft and luxurious. The fiber is doubly pleasurable in both the knitting and the wearing.
Beautiful yarn! Couldn’t resist . Waiting for the pattern and knit along despite e the fact that I have not run out of projects Is it gluttony?
Well If It Is gluttony, at least humans cannot gain an ounce because of it!!! I like to think of It as Never being without something to do and share that Is totally Worthwhile!!! Even though my backroom Is Bursting!!! While forever (silently) chanting this prayer… Good Lord Above Please allow me to stay and finish what Looks to be unfinishable. (Maybe for my yarns sake, I should be looking for an heir!!!)
I am not a shawl person, but I do like cowls and these yarns are very tempting. Any chance of putting together a cowl package with smaller skeins? Anyone want to sell me their leftovers after making a shawl?
I’ve been to Amor’s shop in Santa Fe. Her yarns are truly lushious. I couldn’t resist!
Alliteration, Linger, and Sherlock….. what a beautiful combination that would be! I do not need more yarn OR another KAL!
Ohh, I am intrigued by the Color palette and design elements of this collaboration!
First, I would appreciate a frontal view of the piece before determining how the design drapes from the opposing view.
Secondly, while I adore and appreciate Amor’s color combos on a lovely base fiber, my desire for my perfect “trio” is rarely offered by IDYs:
•tonal charcoal,
•dusty pink &
•subtle black.
My journey online seeking the illusive shade of pink has proven to be complicated… not a rose, nor a pastel, that “perfect” pink shade variation continues to allure me as I search for its unique shade in the autumn years of my life.
Yes, pink is a color that seems to look appropriate against young girls’ skin tones which becomes increasingly complex to flatter as someone ages.
One only needs to look at any makeup display to appreciate the strides the makeup industry has taken to offer a spectrum of pink to the increasingly selective consumers that know what they want if its made available to them once they see it.
My decision to return to Maryland Sheep and Wool in May 2019 was to see-color and feel-fiber in person in hope my trio with pink would be available. Artisans were devoid of the color palette my minds-eye was seeking.
I am back home in Florida now processing a fleece, (currently in the carding phase) while I should be spinning based upon Tour de “Fleece” is underway!
If Amor is open to collaboration with an ole gal seeking a vision that she would love to witness as a reality, feel free to share my post.
Otherwise, I will continue to seek my ever illusive Color palette, which to-date I have been unable to Find available.
Sincerely, Judy
Tonal charcoal, dusty pink, and subtle black – I am IN!
Beautiful Colors
I used Caravan to make Isabell Kraemer’s Santa Fe shrug – it’s a really gorgeous yarn. You can see it here https://www.ravelry.com/projects/knitingagain/santa-fe
Gosh, too hard to choose! I may close my eyes and point–there is no going wrong with these gorgeous colors!
Beautiful
Do you know when the pattern will be available? I just checked on Ravelry and it’s not posted yet.
I, too, am looking for the pattern. Just received notification that my yarn is en route and I can’t wait to begin!
Hi, Gretta and Erica! The pattern is live: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/superscript-shawl Happy Knitting!
Beautiful colours & wool I wish we got this in South Africa where I live