March 2021

Newly-published books

Cabling is such a satisfying knitting technique. It looks impressive, but is actually pretty straight-forward to do. Traverse, edited by the team at Knit Picks, includes patterns for a range of cabled accessories, from simple to complex, all of them thoughtfully constructed, making full use of cable's design potential.

Toby Roxane Barna says her reason for writing Easy Knits For Beautiful Yarns is that she doesn't want beginners to be put off from using beautiful yarns. By "beautiful", I'm guessing she means "expensive", because I can't imagine many beginners are being put off from using beautiful cheap yarns. I'm in two minds about beginners knitting with expensive yarns though. On the one hand, I think you should knit with yarns you love, if you can afford them. On the other hand, even if a novice can afford expensive yarns, there still might be reasons to avoid them. They're often made with softer (and therefore finer) fibers, which don't cope so well with being pulled back and re-knit to fix mistakes. As the yarn's pulled around, these fine fibers can pop out from the surface of the yarn, leaving the fabric looking disheveled. An everyday acrylic or wool yarn is likely to be more robust. Another issue is that a yarn that looks beautiful in the skein might not look so beautiful in the finished piece. For example, multicolored yarns can produce unwanted pooling effects or color mixtures once knitted. This is where Toby Roxane Barna's book comes in. The patterns have been designed to bring out the beauty of the yarns and avoid these issues. So I think what I'd say is that if you're competent with knit and purl —i.e. you're not making lots of mistakes— this book might be a less risky way to start knitting with the kind of beautiful yarns that come with a hefty price tag. Of course, if you'd prefer to reduce the risk further and start with a more affordable beautiful yarn, you know where YarnSub is!

Irina Anikeeva's book Vernal made me realize how much I've been missing out when it comes to summer knitwear. Although I knit all year round, I hardly wear any knitwear during the warmer months. That's a shame because I love wearing something I've made myself. So that's half a year of happy feelings that I'm missing out on! If you'd asked me why I don't wear knitwear in the summer, I'd probably have said something like this: Knitwear makes me warmer. → In summer, warmer means sweatier. → Knitwear doesn't take kindly to being washed regularly. → I should avoid wearing knitwear in summer.

Now I've written down this line of thinking, I can see that all these assumptions can be challenged. But I never actually thought about it! Luckily when Irina Anikeeva moved to the heat of Southern California, she did think about it. The solution she came up with was to design with "open stitches, loose gauge and positive ease" to make "breathable and airy fabric". The positive ease (i.e. loose-fitting garments) not only makes the clothes feel cooler to wear, but also means there's less fabric in contact with the body, which means they pick up less sweat (and get less stinky) than tighter garments, which means less frequent washing is required. Now, why didn't I think of that?

New and discontinued yarns

New

Amano Yarns
Uma – Lace – 37% Baby Alpaca, 37% Superkid Mohair, 26% Mulberry Silk – Brushed bouclé – Solid colors

Big Twist Yarns
Textile – Bulky – 68% Cotton, 32% Nylon – Tape – Solid colors
Velour – Bulky – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Solid colors

Borgo de'Pazzi
Silk Shine – Sport – 100% Tussah Silk – Plied – Tonal colors

Dale of Norway / Dalegarn
Soft Merino – Fingering – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – S on S plied – Solid colors

Ella Rae
Starz – Fingering – 100% Metallic – Metallic chainette – Metallic colors

Fraya Yarn
Woolly – DK – 100% Alpaca – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors

Gedifra
Fior di Seta – Fingering – 100% Silk – Plied – Solid colors, Dappled colors

HiKoo
Sueño Tweed – DK – 69% Merino Superwash Wool, 16% Bamboo Viscose, 15% Viscose – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Hjertegarn
New Arezzo – Sport – 47% Bamboo Viscose, 33% Linen, 20% Cotton – Crepe – Solid colors

Isager Strik
Hør Organic – Fingering – 100% Linen – Plied – Solid colors

Jody Long
Summer Delight – DK – 90% Organic Cotton, 10% Cashmere – Plied – Solid colors

Juniper Moon Farm
Moonshine Fine – Sport – 30% Baby Alpaca, 30% Wool, 25% Nylon, 15% Silk – 2 ply – Solid colors, Multicolored
Summer Solstice – Sport – 48% Linen, 24% Cotton, 24% Viscose, 4% Polyester – Slubby tweed – Tweed colors, Self-striping (gradient transition)

Järbo Garn
Tencel Raggi – Sport – 75% Wool, 25% Tencel / Lyocell – Plied – Solid colors, Self-striping

K+C
Raffia – Bulky – 100% Rayon – Raffia – Solid colors

Katia
Concept Eliseo – Worsted – 90% Cotton, 9% Polyester, 1% Metallic – Single wrapped with thread – Solid colors with metallic thread
Concept Pluma – Aran – 85% Cotton, 15% Nylon – Fuzzy – Solid colors
Mediterranea – DK – 100% Cotton – S on S plied – Self-striping (fair-isle effect)
Sonajero – DK – 60% Cotton, 40% Acrylic – S on S plied – Dotted
Summer Comfort – DK – 78% Viscose, 22% Nylon – Chained – Solid colors

King Cole
Bramble DK – DK – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping

Knitcrate
Audine Wools Haze – Bulky – 70% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% Kid Mohair, 10% Silk – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors

Lana Grossa
About Berlin Spotty – Sport – 55% Cotton, 26% Nylon, 19% Polyester – Fiber core wrapped – Tweed colors
Alessia – DK – 76% Cotton, 24% Polyester – Fiber core wrapped – Tonal colors
Allora – Lace – 76% Cotton, 14% Merino Wool, 10% Baby Alpaca – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors
Amoroso – Worsted – 33% Superwash Wool, 32% Acrylic, 14% Cotton, 14% Silk, 7% Nylon – Chained – Self-striping (gradient transition)
Linea Pura Romanza Cotone – DK – 54% Cotton, 23% Linen, 23% Viscose – Plied – Self-striping (irregular stripes)
Per Fortuna GOTS – DK – 74% Organic Cotton, 26% Nylon – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors
Riserva GOTS – Aran – 70% Organic Cotton, 30% Nylon – filled_tube – Solid colors

Lang Yarns
Lace Lamé – Lace – 55% Superkid Mohair, 30% Silk, 8% Metallic, 7% Nylon – Brushed bouclé – Solid colors with metallic

Lion Brand
Ice Cream Roving – Heavy Worsted – 100% Acrylic – Single ply – Self-striping (gradient marl)

Marriner Yarns
Aran Fleck With Tweed – Aran – 75% Acrylic, 20% Superwash Wool, 5% Viscose – Tweedy – Tweed colors
Mercerised Cotton DK – DK – 100% Mercerized Cotton – Plied – Solid colors, Self-striping

Mirasol Yarn
Usun – DK – 92% Cotton, 8% Nylon – Chained – Solid colors

Mondial
Imagine – Bulky – 78% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% Cotton, 2% Microfiber – Single wrapped with thread – Self-striping (gradient transition)

Noro
Enka – DK – 50% Cotton, 20% Silk, 15% Nylon, 15% Wool – Single ply – Self-striping (gradient marl)
Kakigori – DK – 50% Cotton, 30% Silk, 10% Nylon, 10% Viscose – Slubby tweed – Tweed colors

Novita
Hohde – Aran – 62% Superwash Wool, 21% Nylon, 17% Reflective Polyester – Plied – Solid colors with reflective thread

Phildar
Phil Bayadère – Fingering – 56% Cotton, 35% Acrylic, 9% Nylon – S on S plied – Self-striping
Phil Green – Aran – 70% Organic Cotton, 30% Nylon – filled_tube – Solid colors

Premier Yarns
Cotton Sprout DK – DK – 100% Cotton – Plied – Solid colors
Snow Cone Light Chenille – Super Bulky – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Solid colors

Rico Design
Essentials Organic Cotton Aran – Aran – 100% Organic Cotton – S on S plied – Solid colors

Schulana
Miralux – Super Bulky – 45% Lurex, 40% Alpaca, 15% Wool – Fiber-filled net – Solid colors with metallic

Stylecraft
Naturals Organic Cotton – DK – 100% Organic Cotton – Plied – Solid colors

Discontinued

Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Marine Silk - Fingering – Fingering – 51% Silk, 29% Merino Wool, 20% Sea Cell – Plied – Solid colors, Semi-solid, Multicolored

Bremont
Jolie – Jumbo – 75% Wool, 25% Alpaca – Plied – Solid colors
London Tweed – Bulky – 50% Superfine Alpaca, 40% Highland Wool, 10% Viscose – Tweedy – Tweed colors
Lucia – Bulky – 50% Alpaca, 50% Merino Wool – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors
Natasha – Fingering – 100% Alpaca – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors, Heathers
Verona – Worsted – 50% Alpaca, 25% Linen, 25% Silk – 2 ply – Multicolored

Cleckheaton
California 8-ply – DK – 100% Wool – Single ply – Self-striping (gradient transition)

Cygnet
Helter Skelter Chunky – Bulky – 100% Acrylic – 2 ply – Multicolored marls

Fleece Artist
Wensley Loop – Super Bulky – 100% Wensleydale Wool – Bouclé – Solid colors, Tonal colors, Multicolored

Lang Yarns
Andina – Super Bulky – 100% Baby Alpaca – 2 ply – Solid colors
Cara – Lace – 68% Nylon, 32% Silk – Eyelash – Solid colors
Gamma – DK – 100% Cotton – Tape – Solid colors, Self-striping
Magic Tweed – Sport – 62% Superwash Wool, 18% Nylon, 10% Acrylic, 10% Viscose – Tweedy – Tweed colors
Mille Colori Superkid – DK – 75% Kid Mohair, 20% Nylon, 5% Wool – Brushed bouclé – Self-striping
Nelly – Worsted – 60% Cotton, 40% Acrylic – S on S plied – Solid colors, Self-striping (gradient transition)
Virginia Flamé – Super Bulky – 100% Superwash Wool – Thick and thin – Solid colors

Lion Brand
Hand Dyed Heaven – DK – 100% Nylon – Plied – Multicolored
Shawl in a Ball Metallic – Aran – 61% Cotton, 34% Acrylic, 5% Metallic – Single wrapped with thread – Semi-solid colors with metallic
Shawl in a Cake – Aran – 58% Cotton, 39% Acrylic, 3% Metallic – Single wrapped with thread – Self-striping (gradient transition) with metallic, Semi-solid colors with metallic

Noro
Kagayaki – Bulky – 40% Wool, 24% Cotton, 18% Silk, 18% Viscose – Tweedy – Self-striping (gradient transition)

Novita
Baby Merino Dream – Fingering – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Plied – Self-striping (dotted)

Premier Yarns
Premier Home Cotton Glitz – Aran – 83% Cotton, 15% Polyester, 2% Metallic – Loosely plied – Solid colors with metallic thread

Schachenmayr Original
Glanzperle – Fingering – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors

If you'd like to get in touch, please send a mail to hello@yarnsub.com (you can simply reply to this mail) or find me on Ravelry and Instagram.

See you in April!

Wendy

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