Knitting Fun

We hope that you’ve enjoyed looking through the collection of accessory patterns that we designed over the past decade to feature our Simply Fine yarn, in our previous blog post.  We’d like to continue the story, and share a bit more with you.

Over a decade ago, we first created Simply Fine yarn to provide a lighter weight single-ply sibling to our deliciously soft and minimally processed Green Mountain Green Yarn.  These yarns include a blend of 60% Fine Western Wool and 40% Kid Mohair,  two of the softest and most luxurious fibers we spin here at the Mill.

We offered the fingering weight yarn in the same three undyed natural shades as our Green Mountain Green: Dark, Variegated and White.  As a demand for beautiful hand-painted skeins grew, we asked our friend Melissa Johnson to hand dye our creamy white skeins.  She worked her magic in mini batches of 4-6 skeins at a time, and every skein was a work of art.

Thea Colman’s newest pattern is remarkable in several ways.  We’d like to introduce you to Wild Mountain Thyme, and tell you all about it.

The sweater is a top down tee with an elegant diamond motif featured along the yoke. Intentionally placed yarnovers add subtle detail around the colorwork, and the fit is loose and boxy. Sleeves and body are short, but the silhouette is easily modified. Notes are in the pattern to alter as desired.  By trying your garment on as you create it, you can ensure a perfect fit!

Elizabeth Doherty released her newest pullover pattern this week, Sian.  It is a top-down slipped stitch sweater that is a dream to knit and wear.

This design, and the slipped stitch texturing that is featured in it were inspired by a trip to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Each of the stitch motifs reflect a different aspect of that landscape, including the waves, walls, flocks of sheep and little stone huts of the islands.  Her pattern calls for a DK weight wooly wool that will allow that design to pop with clarity and retain comfortable elasticity.

In her new e-book, Cowls: A Colourwork Sourcebook & Patterns, Inspired by Persia, our friend, knitting designer and podcaster Mina Philipp explores her Iranian heritage, and the motifs found in… Continue reading

While the hot cider donuts at the New York Sheep & Wool Festival tend to get the lion’s share of the credit for the greatness of this event, we’d like… Continue reading