I've been looking at hand dyed yarn a lot on the internet recently because there's a scarf in Knitting Nature that I would like to have a go at which uses 2ply cashmere (used double as 4ply).
Naturally enough, none of my recent purchases will do for this project at all - but hey, you know how it is - you need smart work shoes, you go shopping and come home with several pairs of party shoes and/or trainers!
Elvincraft, according to her profile and a great photo montage that she sent me with my yarn, keeps sheep and goats on the Isle of Skye - she hand shears her sheep, sends the fleece off to be spun and then hand dyes it.
Exhibit A: 200 grams of Aran weight 50% shetland and 50% mohair. When this first arrived, I thought that it felt a bit crunchy but then I dug out an old skein of Rowan Magpie Aran (100% wool) to compare it with and the Elvincraft wool was a bit softer, more lustrious, a bit fluffier and very very similiar in weight and twist appearance. Lovely semi solid reds paling out slightly in places to rust. I need to find a pattern that inspires me to use it!
Photos: eBay (left); with flash (centre); without flash (right)
Exhibit B: 200 grams of light Aran weight 50% shetland and 50% mohair. A complete impulse buy after I had read its item description and again, no idea what I plan to do with it! The closest representation in both cases is the photo without the flash, perhaps more camoflage than heath-chestnut?! Yarn was softer and more lustriuous than the aran - I like them both.
Photos: eBay (left); with flash (centre); without flash (right)
Exhibit C: 150 grams (approx 1200 metres) of 4ply cashmere from The Knitting Goddess on the Isle of Man. Colours were true to its eBay photo. Originally, I wanted this yarn for the Knitting Nature scarf but couldn't resist buying both skeins. So I need to find a 1200m shrug or something......as I said, it's been a good week for yarn!
2 comments:
I look forward to seeing what you do with the yarn. The idea of showing the same yarn with different lighting is great and has just confirmed my interest in one of them. E-bay next stop!
Good luck with the blog. I will follow with interest.
I came across your blog when I was hoping to find one for elvincraft... I just bought yarn off her too and I love it! It seems you got great colours from there too. I'll have to check whether you have mentioned what you're going to knit with it...
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