I've known J, of STF for a long time - probably centuries or even millennia, because we knew the day we met that we were kindred souls. One spring day we met at Stony Mountain Fibers for a class in fiber dyeing and both of us were enchanted with the whole process. When we left, true to our individual personalities, I drove away thinking "Man! I can't wait to teach this to all my friends" and J drove away thinking "I want to start a fiber dyeing business". Well, I did teach a dozen or two friends everything I had learned and J created Spirit Trail Fiberworks. It wasn't long before she was selling at the major wool festivals, wholesaling to a few select shops across the country and retailing via her website.
In January, TheQueen, who has so way too much beyond anything reasonable tons of yarn in her stash, succumbed to the lure of J's Yarn of the Month club. I am blaming it on a visit to her place where she had a skein of yarn left over from the '10 clubs which she graciously offered me in exchange for some contract knitting I'd done. Wicked. I was lost. When the eFlyer showed up in my emailbox I succumbed. The lure of luxury, beauty and exclusivity was too much for me to resist. At the time I was knitting the last rounds of my Soho Smocked Dress and feeling invincible - as if I could match myself to Lily Chin in speed knitting or maybe tie my friend JP in productivity. I joined up.
But with the proviso that no skein will linger in my stash longer than 2 months. It must be on needles by then, no matter what else I'm making and it must all be knit up by December 31, 2011.
Now, I am not much of a one for speed knitting to a deadline. It's one reason I do so little contract knitting. Put a mandate on my knitting and I will drag my feet worse than a 3 year old at bedtime. I'll come to hate the project, pursue a different artistic outlet, start to learn a foreign language, do my taxes - anything to not have to knit something with a deadline on it. But this year I really have done a lot of productive knitting and hey - the skeins are all 400-700 yards. These are accessory sized amounts - not whole sweater's worth of yarn. Besides - I would like to see if I can really crank out a Bunch-0-Stuff this year.
I came home Friday to a mailbox full of fibery goodness.
I actually waited till Saturday before opening the package, so I could have good light for photographing everything. My house turns most stuff a little yellow. Inside I found this:
The yarn is Lyra, a light worsted weight blend of 50% alpaca, 30% merino and 20% silk. The color is a tone on tone blue that makes me think of the sea in autumn. There are approximately 525 yards of it - so I am thinking there's enough to do a deep shawl-like scarf in lace - or one heck of a gorgeous scarf with texture. Whatever it becomes, though, it must be on the needles by April 18.
So. Let the adventure begin!
In January, TheQueen, who has so way too much beyond anything reasonable tons of yarn in her stash, succumbed to the lure of J's Yarn of the Month club. I am blaming it on a visit to her place where she had a skein of yarn left over from the '10 clubs which she graciously offered me in exchange for some contract knitting I'd done. Wicked. I was lost. When the eFlyer showed up in my emailbox I succumbed. The lure of luxury, beauty and exclusivity was too much for me to resist. At the time I was knitting the last rounds of my Soho Smocked Dress and feeling invincible - as if I could match myself to Lily Chin in speed knitting or maybe tie my friend JP in productivity. I joined up.
But with the proviso that no skein will linger in my stash longer than 2 months. It must be on needles by then, no matter what else I'm making and it must all be knit up by December 31, 2011.
Now, I am not much of a one for speed knitting to a deadline. It's one reason I do so little contract knitting. Put a mandate on my knitting and I will drag my feet worse than a 3 year old at bedtime. I'll come to hate the project, pursue a different artistic outlet, start to learn a foreign language, do my taxes - anything to not have to knit something with a deadline on it. But this year I really have done a lot of productive knitting and hey - the skeins are all 400-700 yards. These are accessory sized amounts - not whole sweater's worth of yarn. Besides - I would like to see if I can really crank out a Bunch-0-Stuff this year.
I came home Friday to a mailbox full of fibery goodness.
I actually waited till Saturday before opening the package, so I could have good light for photographing everything. My house turns most stuff a little yellow. Inside I found this:
The yarn is Lyra, a light worsted weight blend of 50% alpaca, 30% merino and 20% silk. The color is a tone on tone blue that makes me think of the sea in autumn. There are approximately 525 yards of it - so I am thinking there's enough to do a deep shawl-like scarf in lace - or one heck of a gorgeous scarf with texture. Whatever it becomes, though, it must be on the needles by April 18.
So. Let the adventure begin!
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