when i fall….

I fall hard. It’s been a bit of a yarn-apalooza around here in the last week with quite a few skeins finding a happy new home. So I’ve got a few pictures to share all the yarn goodness (immediate disclaimer: it is so gray and cloudy here this morning, so the pictures could be truer in their representation of the yarn colors, especially the blue/purple tones. The rainy weather actually has been a welcome change, for me at least, but WOW it’s been a lot of rain – JFK airport reported a record rainfall yesterday alone…)

First up is the brand that I’ve been itching to try more than any other, and I’ve just been waiting for the right moment to come along. Not that I have any particular project(s) in mind, but when has that ever stopped me? So when The Loopy Ewe, one of my favorite online yarn stores, posted the other night that they had just taken delivery of their fall order from Swans Island, I mobilized and went a little crazy!! Swans Island is a Maine company that was originally known for their handwoven blankets (even Martha Stewart has featured their blankets in her magazine and home…) but they’ve expanded in an understandable direction to offering knitting yarn. They dye their organic yarns in two weights (fingering and worsted) and with all-natural dyes. The colors are the same for both weights, so their yarn offerings are very streamlined and cultivated. As soon as I touched the first skein, I knew it was a winner – soft, tightly plied, and perfectly squishy.

I took this photo on the window ledge, in a vain attempt to use as much natural light as possible, but you’ll notice two things: (1) This was Coco’s window ledge, so the shih tzu head that you see at the bottom of this picture is there for procedural reasons – she wasn’t sure that her ledge should be co-opted for such silly things as taking yarn pictures when she had more important tasks to be doing, like barking at the morning traffic; and (2) the skein on the far left is a very deep purple-red that I discovered is impossible to truly capture in the light today.

The four skeins pictured are the Fingering weight, with a wildly generous 525 yards per 100 grams, and the colors L to R above are beetroot, oatmeal, vintage lilac (how could I pass that one up??), and sea smoke. I had intended to just get one skein to try out for a fall design idea that I’ve been percolating on, but somehow 4 skeins came home with me. Hey, at least they all work together tonally? Maybe even some kind of massive striped project when I rearrange the colors like this?

My love affair with purple tones continues, but I’m finding myself drawn more to neutrals lately – for one thing, they’re perfect for designing, since they really allow the stitchwork to shine through. And of course, they all go so well with whatever you’re wearing. So keep your eyes peeled for one (or more!) of these to make an appearance this fall, once I’m back to designing for some self-publishable ideas….you know how much I love one-skein accessories…..

Speaking of one-skein accessory ideas, I saw some skeins in my all-time favorite yarn, Madelinetosh Pashmina, in colors that I haven’t yet used/stashed/purchased/hoarded. I always maintain that Madelinetosh’s colors can only be fully appreciated when you see them in person, and once I saw these beauties, they came home with me too. Don’t judge me!! 🙂

First up, the “Fathom” colorway – I’d never seen this in person before, and I got enough for a sweater because I love to wear these jewel tones and this colorway really is the perfect sapphire color. The color has a beautiful sheen that I wasn’t able to capture today, but think of it as a multidimensional tone, and not just a flat royal blue.

And for playing/experimenting/having fun? These three single skeins in Tart, Iris, and Candlewick:

I purchased the blood-red Tart skein without realizing that red is apparently THE color for Fall on the fashion runways, so there you go – I’m ahead of the couture curve. HA. The iris skein is the most variegated of all the skeins that I purchased, and I liked it for just that reason – a complex balance of violet and navy that is hard to detect when sandwiched between the other skeins, but perhaps more visible when photographed on its own with a little bit of lamplight:

Finally, that burnished golden skein of “Candlewick” is absolutely a purchase that I wouldn’t have made without seeing the skein in person. The colorway isn’t all that new to Madelinetosh, but having seen it online only in the past, I thought it was not for me and my skin tone at all. When I saw this deep goldenrod color, though, I had an about face and I can’t wait to come up with a cozy accessory idea for this one to wear close to my face – it’s just the perfect color for Fall, if you ask me…

Well, that’s all for now – and that’s a LOT! Maybe it’s the cooler, rainy weather, but I’m already in the mood for autumn and these skeins only make that mood stronger 🙂 Stay dry out there, all!

PS: When it rains this much, the movies are always a safe bet to keep yourself entertained. I saw “The Help” yesterday – it’s great! Thought-provoking and thoughtful without being too heavy-handed, and the costumes/sets are naturally gorgeous, too!