What's in a Color?

After a very tiring (and hot) day, I returned home from work to find this beauty waiting for me in my mailbox.

Red Label in Smoke

Yes, it's my fourth skein from the TFA Year in Colour Club, and I think this is my favorite color and yarn of all.  I'll be honest and say that I've only knit with one of my club yarns so far and I haven't even finished that project yet. : (


I guess it's kind of odd to say that this is my favorite color when this is barely a color at all.  Smoke is a silvery gray and, in some ways, it's more about light and hue than anything else.  How Tanis managed to create this dye is beyond impressive.  As always, the skein came with an original pattern, this time by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed fame.  I've been an admirer of Jared's for a long time (who hasn't, right?), and I have some Loft in my stash, but I haven't yet knit a pattern by him or BT before so I'm incredibly excited to try my hand at this gorgeous (and I mean gorgeous) shawl.

Do I dare cast on this weekend?  Oh, and did I mention that this skein of Red Label is a cashmere silk blend?  Yeah, I don't think I'm going to be able to resist.

A New Color for My Stash

So, the other evening, after a tiring day at work, I happily found this is my mailbox.

Being new to yarn clubs, I sort of forgot to expect the second installment of my TFA Year in Colour, and it was completely happy dance-making to get this one. Tanis has done it again: dyed a color that is beautiful and unique. She's named it sprout (perfect, yes?) and it captures the essence of early spring. Seriously, I can smell spring when I put this skein to my nose!

Not only am I totally in love with this new color, but the accompanying pattern is by Julie Crawford of Knitted Bliss, someone who I've admired for a long time and who inspired me to start project: stash.  Julie's blog was one of the earliest ones that I read and her style and voice has always been such fun to read. Her pattern for the TFA Year in Colour Club is a swingy scarf with fringe (I love fringe), and I'm excited to knit this. I'm sure many, if not most, of us learned how to knit by knitting a scarf. I definitely did and as my skills and interests grew, I abandoned this trusty type of project. Seeing this pattern got me thinking: wouldn't it be fun to knit a scarf again after all these years? So, thanks Tanis and Julie for reminding me that scarves can be challenging again. And I think this one will look great in my spring wardrobe!

Clubbing

Near the end of last year (I know, not really that long ago), I shared my thoughts about wool clubs.  I really value brick and mortar yarn shops -- my own LYS included -- but I also like supporting indies, too, and exploring new yarns and colors.

Truffle

I mentioned then that I had just signed up for the 2012 Year in Color Club with Tanis Fiber Arts and ever since, I've been thinking about what new yarn I would be introduced to in the new year.  Well, my gorgeous skein arrived last night (thank you, Mr. Mailman) all the way from Canada and I couldn't be happier!

This is a superwash merino in a fingering weight and the colorway is stunning.  Tanis chose the perfect name for this color, and I'm really excited to wind it up into a cake and cast on.  It came with an original pattern by Hannah Fettig of Knitbot fame, and while I've made a very loose promise not to have too many WIPs on my needles, I don't think this one can wait.

Aren't the subtle changes in tone incredible?  So, once again, my mailman is my friend -- I only hope he doesn't think he needs to do an intervention with me about my stash.

Wool Clubs

Years ago, when my children were little, we joined a local food co-op that allowed families to share in local produce and products every two weeks.  We loved it as it satisfied three things:  (1) getting fresh food delivered directly to our town; (2) being part of a community and sharing a common goal; and (3) supporting local businesses.  A responsibility that everyone shared and did once a month was to meet the delivery truck, unload the pallets, and box up each families' portion.  It only took a couple of hours once a month but we felt a great sense of community whenever it was our turn.

TFA Yarns

In the last couple of weeks, I've happily come across some wool/yarn clubs that have a similar feel to my old food co-op, and as I'm participating in Wovember, it got me thinking about how much I want to fill my stash with true wool products and support small wool businesses when I can.  I also would love to hear if you participate in any or if you've come across others than the two I'm writing about in today's post.  


The first is the TFA Year in Colour Club 2012.  I've been a huge admirer of TFA yarns for a while but haven't had the chance to knit with them as none of my LYS carry this line.  I only discovered Tanis and her company in the last six months, and while I could have joined the second half of the 2011 club, my stash really couldn't justify it so I've been waiting for her to open the 2012 club.  I love the idea of being part of this talented community of knitters and designers and knowing that I'll receive a skein of TFA yarn and a pattern every two months next year.  It's a great incentive to cast on something new, something that is a surprise.

The other wool club is at Juniper Moon Farms.  This is a site that I started following only recently, but I love reading their blog, learning about their beautiful farm and sheep, and knowing that their products are made with such care and thoughtfulness.  Besides joining their shares club (as they call it), you can also inquire about a farm stay -- you know, for those of us who dream of owning our own herd of sheepy lovelies. 


TFA is based in Montreal, Canada, one of my absolute favorite cities in the world. Juniper Moon Farms is located in Virginia, and I really love the idea of knitting with American-produced wool.  So, that's my little wool love contribution for today.  Don't forget to let me know if you, too, participate in a wool club or have discovered any that you'd like to share!