Merino 401 + CORRECTIONS 🤦🏼
First of all, did you see the news about next year's Kittitas County Fair Theme? Game ON! Do you have an ambitious project you've been wanting to try? It's not too early to plan ahead, and we're happy to help you make it a reality!
Now for the CORRECTIONS:
We'll be open during the Ellensburg Night Market until 8p, with a bonus Social Stitching from 6-8p, but that is on September 18th, NOT the 19th.
And then later last week, we discovered that we had not uploaded the yarn color images to the page for Berroco's Millstone Tweed, the new yarn we featured last week. I tell ya, sometimes... That has been corrected, and you can find the available shades here, and I did an Instagram Live that you can see them in as well.
…mark your calendars
Social Stitching
Every Saturday, 2-4p
Bring your current project, and spend some time with others who really vibe on yarn! (Our next bonus evening will be in conjunction with the last summer night market, from 6-8 on Wednesday, September 18th.) (Please note the date correction!)
September 22
9:45a Yarn Folk at the Have a Ball Fall Crawl
October 16
4-6p Virtual Class with Patty Lyon, Build a Better Fabric
(We are enrolling for this event starting now--secure your spot here.)
October 19
Trunk Show with Kim Dyes Yarn! Kim will be visiting in person from Virginia, and we can't wait to spend the day with her (and her gorgeous yarns)!
Temporary Schedule Change
September 11 opening at 9a (🤓 appointment!)
…new in the shop
Adding a worsted weight Merino wool with a strong palette of SOLID colors was a priority for us this fall, and we were so pleased with Berroco's introduction of Merino 401! It's a very round and bouncy yarn--working in cables or texture patterns, you could create a topographic map to represent the depth of your fabric! There are modern brights, and classic neutrals, and you can use this yarn for whimsical projects or absolutely timeless classics with equal ease. In any case, you'll love the feel of the extrafine Merino.
We have a shop sample of one of Berroco's designs for this yarn, Clerestory. You can view the entire collection both on Berroco's site here or on Ravelry here. As mentioned above, the stitch definition of Merino 401 is crisp. Try Andrea Mowry's Levi scarf, Kay Hopkins' Multonomah Falls Hat, or the DK and worsted weight designs from Stephen West's Dustland collection, like the Dustland Shawl, the Dustland Hat, or the Dustland Triangle.
…to inspire
Let's start with the caveat that the official care instructions for Merino 401 are hand wash, lay flat to dry. That's the official word.
But. I had to do a bit of testing. I originally swatched with a mini-ball I got at trade show. Hand washed it in the hotel sink, laid it flat to dry, and it looked perfect.
Unable to leave well enough alone, when I got home, I threw the swatch in the wash with a regular load of laundry. No jeans, nothing heavy, but it was probably on the "power wash" cycle of my top load machine (which has an agitator). I still laid it flat to dry. It was a bit less smooth, but not actually pilled, and not felted. Then I decided to put it in with an ugly mixed load--jeans, heavier fabrics, you name it. No special treatment other than not tossing it into the dryer with everything else. Above, you can see the results of that. A little worse for the wear, but not ruined. Plenty of stretch in both directions--I would say it's slight fulled, but it's not felted. It's also exceptionally soft.
As the last step in my journey, I decided to wash the shop model. Because there was a whole garment--my shop model for the yarn!--on the line, I washed it according to my normal method with wool garments I put in the machine--cold water, deep water cycle, hand wash, and "light soil." For this stage of my trial, I didn't put anything else in the machine, but I would have been comfortable with a few other light-weight hand knits. The photo of the model above was taken after it was machine washed, and below is a close-up of the fabric. The garment looked as good coming out of the machine as it did going in. See?
Again, the official care recommendations are to hand wash this yarn, and lay flat to dry. (And all steps in my testing were dried flat.) I wanted to push the envelope, though, because it's so soft, and the colors are so fun, that I think it would be great for gift knits. If you have recipients who really don't have room in their lives for *any* special care, we have some tougher (but still lovely) options for that scenario. But if you have giftees who are inclined to be even a little more careful, I think Merino 401 would be great, and my tests suggest that all hope would not be lost in the event of a laundry mishap.
...currently stitching
I was discussing Tillie with another shop owner friend who needed a sample for it, and we both have felt all along that it would make sweet baby things in fun, bright colors. I offered to knit along with her, so we have both started the Elmer Sweater by Pernille Larsen. It's a simple top down sweater with circular yoke increases and a split neck with a button to make it easy to put on and take off a baby with a big noggin. This project should cruise along smoothly-- the texture pattern is easy to keep track of, and gives the sweater a fun striped effect.
