Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The problems(?) with variegated yarns.

Recently, Little Knits posted a ton of Araucania Aysen on clearance for 81% off. Eighty One! That is almost unheard of and, most certainly, an unavoidable temptation for a silly little yarn hussy such as myself. This 81% discount applied to full bag purchases and I managed to snag up the last full bag of Aysen in color 826 and a lone skein of color 814.

Araucania Aysen in color 826
Aysen in 814
Beautiful, right? I was sad to see that some of the more exotic colors were sold out, but you can bet your sweet yarn-loving behind that I snatched up what I could. The yarn is incredible; softer than Malabrigo, with an incredible fiber content of 70% merino, 20% alpaca and 10% silk, it's hand-dyed and offers a generous 190 yards per skein.

Of course when the fine people at Little Knits unearthed more of this true gem of a yarn I had much more to snatch up...in the form of 3 (or 4?) more bags. This yarn hasn't arrived yet (my only true qualm with LK is that shipping can take quite a bit longer than places like Webs and Jimmy Beans), but this has given me plenty of time to start planning things out.

What the heck do I do with all this yarn?!

By the end of next week (I'm hoping) I will have 40+ skeins of hand-dyed yarn. I have yet to see many garments knit out of multicolored yarns (such as Noro, some Malabrigos, etc.) that tickle my fancy all that much. So what am I going to do with this stuff?

I started a thread over at the Little Knits group on Ravelry posing just this question. The ladies on yonder forum posted some great ideas. And some of them managed to walk away with more Aysen than this crazy loon did (some bought 8+ bags! Ay Carumba!). All photos are taken from Ravelry.

Imogen Cardigan

Abalone Cardigan
Tea Leaves Cardigan
Golden Wheat Cardigan (by my lady crush Veera)
Pole


These are just a few of my favorite musings, but what are some of your favorite garments (or larger projects) knit using hand-dyed and variegated yarns?
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9 comments:

  1. acommonthreadApril 13, 2011 at 4:00 PM

    whoa! what a great deal. although, i've never really gotten into the variegated yarns....but that tea leaves cardigan may make me change my mind. so beautiful.

    and good for you for such a big purchase. i've put myself on a very strict yarn purchasing regime. i either have to use up some yarn i have stashed, or finished a lingering project before i can buy more.

    can't wait to see what you make with it!

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  2. Amanda ThorntonApril 13, 2011 at 11:08 PM

    OK. the Aysen in 814 is GORGEOUS. Its like someone put a thunder storm into yarn- or am I the only one who would think that 0_o
    I just love the look of variegated yarns in the skein but like you, i never know what to do with them! here are some patterns from Raverly that i thought looked cute :)

    http://www.ravelry.com/projects/cougardiva/knit-side-to-side-cardigan

    http://www.ravelry.com/projects/roko/manu

    http://www.ravelry.com/projects/trishkebab/buttony-sweater

    http://www.ravelry.com/projects/sheepishone/manu

    i dont know the gauge of your yarn so sorry if the patterns call for something way off,haha

    out of the ones you have pictured i like the golden wheat cardi the best :)

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  3. AshleyApril 14, 2011 at 6:15 AM

    Evelyn and Flora:

    Ha! No, I love the fact that you compared the Aysen to a thunderstorm. I bought a skein of Malabrigo Rasta a few months ago because I thought it looked like a summer thunderstorm (color Soriano...I know I've posted a photo before).

    I love the buttony sweater! I forgot about that one. I think I actually bought some yarn for that one already...but I can't remember lol.

    I looove Manu, but it's written for dk weight, which may be hard to adapt. I actually bought some other yarn (again, lol) for it :) New Zealand "possum" yarn.

    That side to side cardigan may be easier to adapt...hmmm. Thank you for so many wonderful suggestions! What is your ravelry id?

    Yeah, definitely check out Veera's other designs. I'm kind of in love with everything.

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  4. AshleyApril 14, 2011 at 6:17 AM

    acommonthread: Yeah, isn't the tea leaves cardigan gorgeous?? It's been in my queue for quite awhile.

    I tried yarn dieting earlier in the year, but it really just made matters worse. EVERYTHING ended up looking good and I just couldn't stop buying. So I decided that me and yarn diets don't work, and that I should just try to exercise a more moderate yarn buying lifestyle...unless it is fabulous and 90 percent off. I decided that 81% off was close enough ;)

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  5. Amanda ThorntonApril 14, 2011 at 8:51 PM

    Ashley,
    I;m glad you like the patterns! my raverly is evelynandflora just like my blog :)

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  6. AndiApril 15, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    I'm really bad with variegated yarns because they always seem to over power the designs, but you found a great selection of patterns that let the yarn shine without being too much. I really like all of the patterns you found.

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  7. KatieApril 18, 2011 at 5:43 AM

    So which pattern will we do with our mounds of yarn??? I'm leaning toward Imogen, or Abalone. OR Golden Wheat. :)

    Do you know yet when your yarn is coming?

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  8. AshleyApril 19, 2011 at 8:09 AM

    Evelyn and Flora: Great! I added you :)

    Andi: Yeah, those are my thoughts exactly. And, with certain variegated yarns, I find that sometimes the final objects can look kind of frumpy and, I hate to say this, matronly, because they try to do too much with the pattern and they don't let the yarn do the work.

    I'm hoping these designs work out :)

    Katie: Ummmmm I'm casting on for Golden Wheat as soon as I get my yarn wound :) I cannot wait! Which color should I use?

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  9. juicyknitsApril 19, 2011 at 7:11 PM

    Whatever you decide upon, be sure to use two skeins at a time and alternate each row. That helps prevent the pooling.

    ReplyDelete

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