hand-dyed Tag

1 Comment

Meet Mrs. Crosby

Earlier this year, I started receiving mysterious postcards from someone named Mrs. Crosby. The first was sent from Buenos Aires, then Paris, and finally Lake Como. Truth be told, I already knew who Mrs. Crosby was before the postcards started arriving, but that didn't lessen

May 20, 2014

The Knitting Boutique: Boutique Yarn Overview

With online shopping more prevalent than ever, yarn stores are in a bit of a pickle. They need inventory that covers all the bases—yarns for sweaters, baby garb, socks, lace, etc. But they also need to be able to offer something totally unique, something a

January 2, 2014

Jill Draper Makes Stuff Empire

A few years ago, Jill Draper escaped New York City to pursue a quieter, more fiber-filled life. She chose the Hudson Valley partly because of its proximity to Rhinebeck, a charming town she'd discovered through years of attending the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. Jill

October 11, 2012

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted

Shepherd Worsted has all the elements of a perfect comfort food. It's soft and easy, comes in large servings, and always satisfies. The Shepherd label actually spans four weights: Shepherd Bulky, Shepherd Worsted (reviewed here), Shepherd Sport, and Shepherd Sock. All contain 100% superwash Merino except

June 4, 2012

Briar Rose Robusta

If you're a knitter, you already know that we do strange things when admiring a new skein of yarn. We might squeeze it, rub it against our neck, perhaps pull it to our face and give it a good sniff. When it's an especially big

May 3, 2012

1 Comment

Malabrigo Chunky

If butter could be spun into yarn, that yarn would be Malabrigo. As a company, Malabrigo actually offers several different kinds of yarn—including a perky new sock yarn, a decadent silk/Merino blend, and the chunky Merino reviewed here. But when people say "Malabrigo" they usually mean

April 30, 2009

Riihivilla Yarns

Riihivilla is a happy yarn discovery. It comes from a small family business in Finland and is available to a global market thanks to the wonders of the Internet. Riihivilla is run by Leena Riihelä and her husband. She collects fleeces from a nearby sheep farm, sorts

January 8, 2009

Dream in Color Yarns Smooshy

Dream in Color is run by friends Veronica and Nancy. The magic begins when the yarns are hand-dyed using a process Veronica calls "veil dyeing." As with most hand-dyers, Veronica guards her dye secrets very closely. But the end result is a semisolid yarn whose extreme

November 20, 2008

Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Cashmere and Silk

Most cashmere yarn is good, and some is even really good. But very, very rarely do you encounter extraordinary cashmere. This is the yarn that, when you touch it, causes time to stand still. Your fingers sink effortlessly into the skein, and you are overcome

January 10, 2008

Artyarns Silk Rhapsody

Many people reserve the term "novelty yarn" for fluffy synthetic concoctions. But Silk Rhapsody proves that you can have a novelty effect with entirely natural materials. It's no coincidence that Silk Rhapsody has risen in popularity while synthetic novelty yarns have declined. As people discover they

April 5, 2007

Hand Maiden Sea Silk

For months, knitters everywhere have waxed poetic about a new miracle yarn made from seaweed. Years of being pitched the latest "revolutionary" new products have made me a bit of a skeptic, but I finally succumbed. I had to see what Sea Silk was all

October 5, 2006

1 Comment

Foxfire Fiber Upland Wool and Alpaca

For the last 10+ years, Barbara Parry and her husband have been establishing a flock of Cormo and Border Leicester sheep at their 220-acre farm in western Massachusetts. More recently, she began documenting her daily life on the farm in her blog, Sheepgal—it's one of my daily

April 23, 2005