Too much yarn - is that even possible?

Over the last few days we have been bombarded with yarn. We received more Prism, Blue Heron, almost all our Gedifra and Nashua, some Karabella, more books from so many vendors. We really don't have room for it all. Lynda just smiles and tells me that we can make it fit. Well, we have half of it in cubes and the rest is on the floor, literally. The new patterns from Gedifra are probably the best collection so far. The colors of Prism are exceptional and the textures from Blue Heron and Karabella just have to be touched and then touched again. We are really excited and I hope that you will be too with what we have in store for you.

Photographs of new yarn at Dyed In The Wool

We have a few photographs to share with you. The Aslan Trends boxes have been opened and we are almost ready to put the yarn on the shelves.

There is a wonderful sock yarn that not only rivals Koigu, it surpasses it on every level, including price. They also have a great yarn that is a worsted weight that will felt (or full if you prefer) like a dream. Sorry that the yarn is still in bags but you get the idea.

The Blue Heron boxes were incredible. There really are no words to describe the rich colors and soft textures. You have to see and touch them for yourselves.

JoJoLand is really special. The Melody for socks, etc. is going to be great for Fall with colors that look like they have come from apple trees. Greens into reds, browns into greens, purples into rusts. That's only the sock yarn - you should see the lace weight.

We are also really excited to tell you that we now accept Discover Card at Dyed In The Wool.

Colors at the end of the rainbow!

I have heard it said that there is gold at the end of the rainbow and I think that it is an Irish saying. This Scotswoman opened some of the numerous boxes that arrived this past week at Dyed In The Wool and discovered a veritable rainbow in each one.

There was a box from Mountain Colors - just picture the greens, browns, golds, blues, yellows, coppers, reds, purples, oranges, lilacs, well you get the idea. Every skein I picked up was my favorite until I picked up the next skein. I was so enthralled with that box that the other boxes could wait until I saw a label from Blue Heron. Guess what? I left the box of Mountain Colors and opened the Blue Heron Box.

The textures and colors of the hand dyed yarn from Blue Heron were amazing. Soft textures with deep, rich colors. Blends of colors, tone on tone, some with gold glittering through, some with copper and others with silver. The chenilles, rayons, merino and silks, cottons, each bringing a little majic to the room. Then out of the corner of my eye was a small label from Aslan Trends. As I couldn't remember what we had ordered I..........of course..........opened the next box. I have the attention span of a gnat.

Inside the Aslan box was brilliant colors of sock yarn and also wonderful shades, some subtle and some not of yarn for felting. I saw felted bags in skein form before my eyes. The beautiful bright tones of the blended colors dazzled my eyes and I sat there staring at them, trying to decide should I start with a pair of socks right now or maybe a felted bag, or maybe a coin purse with beads. So many choices my mind was now on total overload. I had one more box sitting in the corner and the question now was should I open it or should I wait until my mind calmed down to a useable pace. The sensible side of me said wait, but then I have never listed to that particular voice and ripped open the box.

Jojoland was inside this box. More sock yarn and the fine lace in delicate colors. The sock yarn was glorious and the lace weight spoke to me and told me it was time I put away the felted yarn and spent some time working a serious lace shawl, scarf or something tiny and delicate.

All of a sudden I realized that it was time to open the shop, I hadn't inventoried what was in the boxes and Lynda hadn't been here to see so I carefully taped up the boxes and put them in the back room to open with Lynda and go through the yarn and color frenzy all over again. There are advantages to having a short memory span, you see I can enjoy this experience all over again like it was the first time but this time, hopefully tomorrow, I will have a camera handy so that you can see what we see.

I can't wait to post the pictures so you too can experience the colors at the end of the rainbow inside my boxes!

History In Several Boxes

When I was young I remember going to my Aunt's house and being shown the large drawer in the bottom of the armoire and sliding my fingers across the delicate knitted and crocheted doilies, tablecloths and the colourful embroideries. This February my Aunt passed away and I arranged to have the linens shipped over to me in Pittsburgh, there was not enough time to go through all the work so you can imaging the surprise when I opened the boxes that arrived from Scotland. I carefully sorted the large linens, the handmade needlework and the articles of clothing into different boxes. Then came the detailed examination. When I was young I couldn't fathom the beauty that I was seeing now I look at the handwork with a different eye.

The delicate stitchwork, tiny needles and finest silk all told me the tale of a very gifted needleworker. I had never known my grandmother but as I unfolded each little treasurer I knew that she had to have wonderful patience and a gentleness. When I found the photographs of her I knew I had been right her eyes told her tale.

On Monday I laid just a few of the doilies on the floor so that I could see them and touch them. While the carpet I placed them on doesn't do them justice I would like to share a few photos with you. Some are knitted, some are crocheted and some have embroidery in the center and then are picked up and either knitted or crocheted around. I can't wait to see what I pull out of the box next Monday!

Wool Winding on and on and on

We have worked with so many different swifts throughout the years. As a yarn store we get more than enough experience, we tried the squirrel cage (needed to keep replacing parts) not so good, the umberella, ok but not great and now we have tested the Windmill Winder for about 4 months. Guess what? - it's great. It stands on the floor with a cutout for your ball winder, stand back and begin winding. The balance is perfect and it can handle small skeins and large skeins at the turn of a couple of knobs and the best part is it self balances, we don't have to have each arm symetrically aligned. The one we are using now is made of oak but as it is hand made to order you can get it in variety of other woods so as to match your decor. I think this is my product of the year.

Finished Knitting Pattern for Shawl

We are really excited. We now have our newest pattern, the Fintry Bay Shawl, tested and it has come through 10 finished objects without any questions. I guess it's ready to go. We will be posting this as a free pattern with yarn purchase at our http://www.yarnwhispererandfriends.com/ online store. The first kit to be posted will be the neutrals shown here with other colors following shortly. We have a finished shawl ready to try on at our brick and mortar store Dyed In The Wool in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania whose website is http://www.ditwpa.com/

We have lots of photo's for viewing at our ditwpa site and also on http://www.flickr.com/ and search Yarn Whispers.