Showing posts with label Shepherd Sport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shepherd Sport. Show all posts

All About Hand-Dyed Yarns!

by : Unknown


Hoards of Hand-dyes! Chris's Glacier Sweep Shawl, Monika's Avenger Cape in Craigh na Dun, Baah La Jolla Yarn, swatch of Rachel's Outlander MKAL 2015 Shawl, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Christmas at Downton, Kristen's Edith's Secret Shawl, Phydeaux Soie in Mon Amour, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Devon

















Exciting things are afoot...or a-needle, we should say: we're kicking off a celebration of hand-dyed yarns at Jimmy Beans Wool, and you're invited to the party!

Just don't be tardy.

For the party.

Yes, I just wrote that.

Along with a series of instructional articles in our next few Newsletters, we'll be taking and in-depth look at each type of hand-dyed yarn we carry and how to get the most out of it. Now that's something to celebrate!

Monika's Avenger Cape in Assemble!


And what better way to get our party started than with Lorna's Laces? It was Lorna Miser herself who inspired Laura to start her own yarn shop, so one could say that JBW wouldn't exist without Lorna's Laces. Together, we've created a series of Limited Edition yarns that celebrates everything pop culture, from our favorite TV shows to current events around the world.


Rachel's Outlander MKAL 2015 Shawl in Craigh na Dun

Though they dye solid and tonal colors, Lorna's is best known for their variegated yarns, especially the bright, saturated colorways that knit up into amazingly colorful, one-of-a-kind creations! One look at a garment and you can tell it's Lorna's - there's just no other yarn quite like it out there! You can see what I mean in the garments pictured above.

Lorna's Laces yarn gets its distinct look from the special hand-dye process: the dyers plan a colorway down to the last detail, including the sequence in which the colors will appear on the skein. Then, the hanks of yarn are painstakingly dyed section by section. The final result is a circular hank with an almost color-blocked look, but when it's wound into a ball and knit up, the colors appear in the knitted item in the same sequence they were dyed on the skein, giving that fun, variegated effect we love so much!

Autumn's Magrathea Shawl


Now, as gorgeous as these yarns are, they have their challenges - most notably, when your project varies in size or shape, the colors line up differently in each row, sometimes causing unwanted striping or "pooling", which looks like irregular "blobs" of color on your project. Some people love this effect - it is quite artistic, after all! - but sometimes it can detract from the look you're going for.










An example of pooling in the Outlander Shawl - in this case, the symmetry makes it an appealing design element!


So, how to solve it? Wouldn't you like to know! And we'll be telling you in our next post :)

Let us know your other favorite variegated hand-dyes! We love Baah Yarn, Lotus Yarns, Becoming Art, and the list goes on! What's on your list?

Happy Knitting (with Hand-Dyes!)!

Heather






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What do Scotland, Time Travel, and Knitting Have in Common? A new MKAL!

by : Jenn



We can hardly contain our excitement for the upcoming television series, based on the popular books by Diana Gabaldon, which premiers on August 9th. In fact, we couldn't help but celebrate with not one, but two Lorna's Laces limited edition colors and a Mystery Knit-along!  Our very own Rachel of Unraveled Designs and Yarn is a huge fan and jumped at the chance to host the MKAL.  She even designed the two Lorna's Laces Limited Edition colors named for the main characters!

The project will be a two color shawl that will take advantage of some gorgeous slip stitch motifs and cables so that you're only knitting with one color in each row. Overall, it's an intermediate knit, and we're always here to help you pick up a new skill or two.  Knit in sport weight wool yarn, it will be super warm and snuggly, even for the harsh Scottish highland weather! That's all the spoilers I can give so you’ll have to join in to find out more!

 If you'd like to knit along with us, you'll need:
  • The pattern, of course!  You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.  Right now, the pattern is only $3, but it will go up to $6 once the MKAL ends.  By purchasing the pattern, you'll get each clue in your Ravelry library when it is posted.  New clues will be posted each Saturday through September 13th, to coincide with the episodes. 
  • Yarn!  Specifically, you'll need 400 yards each of 2 colors of sport weight yarn, and you'll want to make sure that there is enough contrast between the two colors.  If you want to make your shawl with the Lorna's Limited Edition colors, you'll need 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in each color, Fraser and Beauchamps; that's a total of 4 skeins--they're only 50 grams each, after all!
  • A US 5 circular needle (at least 32”) or size needed to obtain gauge
  • 2 cable needles
  • yarn needle
Although you won't specifically need them for the MKAL, we are also super excited for these adorable stitch markers that Spark created especially to coordinate with the yarn.  They're still being made, and will ship as soon as possible!  To go along with the Lorna's yarn, the stitch markers come in Beauchamps and a Fraser set.

Anyone is welcome to join us--no matter what yarn you use or who your favorite character is! Check out Rachel's blog each week for tips, tricks, and possibly spoilers, and be sure to stay connected with all the chatter and the clues in our Ravelry group.  We hope to see you there!
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