Summer Yarns

KnittingYarn

May 22

Written By

Happy Sunday!

There is really nothing better for me than spring early Sunday mornings when the windows are wide open, birds are starting to sing and the sun is slowly waking up while I am still in my pajamas playing with the yarn. I am head and toes into our fall mini pattern collection with Moeke, but once in awhile I take a break and play with new fiber, textures and shapes. I did a revision of my stash on Friday afternoon and organised everything properly. I took every single skein out and sorted all of them. It took forever, because I would stop often just to touch yarn and become driven away into the realm of future project fantasies. I don't have any "just for fun" projects on my needles and I desperately need one. While sorting out my stash, I found Rowan skeins that are 1.5 years old. How could I forget about them?!Savannah, 94% cotton/6% silk. It is not a usual blend though. The thread itself is basically a cotton ribbon wrapped with silk thin thread. How amazing is that?! The ribbon is of different width throughout the skein which creates a very unusual texture.Unfortunately the yarn is discontinued, such a shame! I would love to get more in other colors. Mine is called Arizona, a beautiful shade of brown.Looking at the swatch, I realized that simple stockinette is just enough for this rich texture. And it will be perfect for a project I had in mind for ages. I would love to finally knit a sweater using Contiguous method by Susie Myers. I had it in queue for ages and I actually knitted something using it in the "pre-blog" era, but I would love to come back to it again. Contiguous method is a way of knitting a set-in sleeve together with the body from the top. I will experiment with it and let you know how it works out.The second re-found treasure brought so many memories. I got the yarn 2 years ago when visiting my family in Russia. I was ecstatic to find Italian cotton/linen blend - BBB filati LINO - in the LYS. While on vacation I made a garter stitch loose summer sweater that I absolutely loved, but didn't have a chance to wear - a couple of weeks after I came back home we were hit by a huge hurricane that tore our house apart and the sweater along with it.It hurts my eyes to look at it even right now... Anyway, I was happy to find leftovers from the sweater. I think I had more skeins left than I used for a sweater :) It should be enough for a light summer sleeveless top with a little bit of texture. I am not sure yet if I use a pattern or just experiment as I go. I would really recommend this yarn for summer garments - it is loosely spun which makes it springy and not stiff at all! As far as I know, it is mostly sold in Europe; I am not sure if you can get it in the States, but if you find it - go for it. I used it in different shade for my Soho Dress, it's still in perfect condition.Summer yarns are always so refreshing to work with! It always feels great to switch between the fibers - a great boost for creativity!