— Carding, Crochet, Dyeing, Knitting, Weaving, Yarn and Fiber Club —

Houses in the Snow, Last Day for the Light in Dark Places Preorder, and Your Opinion Please

February 4, 2022

Good morning! As I write this, there is just enough snow on the ground for our children to enjoy playing in it and just enough to shut down the whole of Texas since snow is a rare delight here.

Yesterday, the children were in and out playing in the snow and then coming in to warm up with hot cocoa in front of the fireplace.

You might notice the gloves also drying in front of the fire, LOL. Fortunately, so far we have gotten to keep our electricity, so the fire is for fun and not survival like it was this time last year.

Houses in the Snow

Also yesterday, my husband was home from work because of the snow, and he was busy making art batts while I dyed the yarn for this month’s club colorway, which was inspired by Monet’s “Houses in the Snow.” It turned out to be especially fitting given the weather, and I can hardly wait to show it to you! I have to resist, though, until all the club members have received them.

Today I’ll be dyeing up the matching semi-solids for the yarn club members, and then I will start packaging them up and sending them off to their new homes next week.

Last Day for the Light in Dark Places Preorder

I did want to remind you that today is the last day to take part in the preorder for A Light in Dark Places. You can order it on your choice of yarn bases. Here it is on Squoosh DK:

Here is a hat I knit using A Light in Dark Places on Wonderful Worsted:

One of my favorite things about this colorway is that the little stripes of color go ROYGBIV and then VIBGYOR the next time.

Your Opinion Please

I may have mentioned this before, but I would like to add a non-superwash fingering-weight yarn to my yarn bases, and I’m trying to choose from among several possibilities. I would like to hear what you would prefer. I know some of you prefer non-superwash yarn to knit or crochet with, and I also really want to be sure to have something that will full for all the weavers, myself included.

The options I am looking at include…

  • Option 1 – A 2-ply yarn made of 100% organic non-superwash merino
  • Option 2 – A 2-ply yarn with 85% non-superwash merino and 15% mulberry silk
  • Option 3 – A 3-ply yarn made of 70% Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere

Which would you prefer? Or would you use any of them? If so, what would use them for?

Of note, option 3 is actually a base I carried before called Dream Sock. It is incredibly soft and lovely, but it is not inexpensive. I have not run all the prices yet, but option 1 would be the least expensive and option 3 would be the most expensive.

One thing to know is that non-superwash yarn dyes up more softly than superwash yarn. Here is a skein I dyed using the organic non-superwash merino (option 1) in my Beautiful Universe colorway:

Even though it is made of all merino, you can see how the colors are similar to Buttery Soft DK as opposed to something like Sock Perfection. The big difference is that there is more movement of the dye before it strikes with non-superwash yarn compared with superwash if that makes sense. The same is true of fiber.

Anyway, please do let me know if you would be interested in any of the three options and which one you would prefer. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Stay well, and stay warm!