Thursday, December 28, 2006

Drumroll Please!

Before I give you the exciting news that warrants the drumroll, let me first take a moment to answer Nicole's question posed in her Comments a few posts ago. Nicole asked: "In the photo of all the yarn in the ziplock bags, what is the gorgeous yarn in the top left corner? The orange one? Yowsa!" The yarn is my Sportweight Superwash Merino Wool in October. You may be familiar with the October colorway on Fearless Fibers Mohair/Wool. Note that the colors are quite different on superwash merino. I probably should have named them differently to avoid confusion.



And now, on to the "Drumroll Please" news!!

For some time now I've been yearning to add a full worsted weight classic merino wool yarn to my line. The only other worsted weight I carry is Mohair/Wool and I really wanted to fill the gap with a nice merino. This turned out to be more difficult than it sounds. I know that I can never be all things to all yarnies and so I've taken a very specific approach to the items I carry. The theme is simple: top quality, traditional/staple fibers in a beautiful array of colors at prices that are a value to the customer. Not so difficult right? I should be able to easily add a worsted weight merino.

Well, it turned out to be a bit of chore. I sampled quite a lot of worsted weight merinos and what I found were that those that met my quality criteria were overpriced and those that were within the price range that I could live with (on YOUR behalf, of course!) did not meet my quality standards. I fretted. I shook my head a bit. I looked at another. And another. And another. I fretted some more and sighed mournfully from time to time.

Just when I had pretty much given up hope, a miracle fell from the sky into my lap! I am so excited to announce that I now have a lovely, soft, quality classic merino in a worsted weight. I cannot describe to you how much I love this yarn. It knits up at around four stitches an inch on US#9's and I can just imagine how lovely it will be for sweaters, scarves, hats ... you name it! AND .... the price is right! The yarn comes in 4-ounce skeins of approximately 140 yards each and my price to you will be $14.50 per skein. Although 140 yards sounds relatively small, remember that this is a full worsted weight and so it goes a long way. That 140 yards is a quarter pound of yarn. Of course, I haven't yet knit a sweater with it, but I approximate that six skeins will make a classic fit women's size medium sweater.

Since I have no way of knowing how this yarn will go over with customers, I'm starting small with just five colorways. Three are ready now and listed in my Etsy shop just this morning! Two more colorways are drying in my workshop and will be added in a few days. Without further ado, here are the three already listed.

First, there's Butterscotch Twist. If this colorway looks familiar to you, that's because it is the same colorway that I'm using for the "thingamajig" that I'm making and posted about previously. The thingamjig is with Alpaca/Wool, but the colorway is available only on the new Worsted Weight Classic Merino.



Next is By the Hearth. There's nothing fire-like about this colorway, but looking at it gives me that warm, comforting feeling that I get when perched on the hearth in front of a fire on a cold winter's night.



And finally, there's Lavender Romance. I'm really itching to make a sweater with this one. I love the gentle lavender tones, tinged with bluish and greenish grays. The colorway has a romantic feel without going to far and reaching the realm of the sappy or vapid.



I'd love to hear your thoughts about the new yarn and colorways, and I look forward to sharing the other two with you soon.

Next up in the additions to my line will be a new laceweight. Right now the only laceweight I carry is cashmere. Although you just can't beat cashmere, I would like to add another true laceweight to the line. It will likely be a classic merino, but I'm also considering perhaps going with an alpaca. If you're a fan of laceweights, don't get too excited yet. It's going to be a while before I'll be adding this to my line, but it will be coming in the future. I'll keep you posted!

Everyone have a smashing day!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So beautiful, Deb! I've got hats on the brain lately (ok, half the brain; sharing it with socks), and after one look at the Lavender Romance, I was thinking, "Hmm. Gee, that'd be awfully pretty as the ground color for a hat with black Fair Isle patterns." Or vice versa, LOL. Decisions, decisions.

Congrats on finding a worsted source! I foresee many happy customers. ;)

Nana Sadie said...

Gorgeous! Love the Lavender Romance!
(((hugs)))

Anonymous said...

I think I like By The Hearth the most. I love that goldish mustard browny color. I haven't seen many yarns that have it. Nice!

Anonymous said...

Wow they are all so pretty! I can see this new line going over really well.

Anonymous said...

So pretty! Love the Lavendar Romance also....(seems to be a popular one!)