We can all be Nurtured by Julie and Jean-Francois

| Project Inspiration, Yarn

It is hard for us to recollect exactly when our partnership with Julie Asselin and her husband Jean-Francois began.  They have become such treasured members of our fiber family that it’s impossible to imagine a time before their visits.

© Julie Asselin

They have a delightful habit of bringing delicious homemade meals with them, so that we can share some food together and get caught up before we fill their van with freshly spun skeins and they head back north to the outskirts of Quebec.

© Julie Asselin

Their goofy playfulness makes them a pleasure to work with.  They are the first to remind us that the work of making yarn is fun!  That joie de vivre that makes them so beloved to us all, translates directly into the yarn that we make with their fiber.

In the fall of 2016, Julie approached us with plans for an exciting new project that we were eager to try.  Instead of dyeing skeins that we spun for her, she wanted us to create a yarn that would include fiber that she and Jean-Francois dyed ahead of time. The Rambouillet, Targhee and Merino fibers would be blended in the carding process, much like many of the Spinnery yarns that you’ve knit with for years.

© Julie Asselin

This combination of small quantities of many disparate shades of intensely dyed fiber would lead to a tweedy yarn with a subtle overall shade that has hints of color of an unusual depth and complexity.  And so, Julie’s Nurtured came into being!

© Julie Asselin

We find that the best way to appreciate this yarn is see it up close.  That is where those glints of color become readily apparent and Julie’s uncanny talent for color becomes crystal clear.  There is a magical moment at the Mill when Nurtured is in production.  We have to confess that we rarely are able to anticipate how colors as diverse as these will coalesce into something new.

© Julie Asselin

So, it’s not until after her fiber goes through the picker and our carding machine, when the pencil roving is wound; that we’re able to see the final hue that Julie anticipated when she dyed her fiber and carefully calculated the ratios of each color to one another.  It’s remarkable!  And we think that you’ll agree that these skeins are unique in their appeal.

The overall impression is wonderfully wearable color that draws your eye in to find more detail.  The 3-ply construction of Nurtured makes it strong as well as soft.  And the round shape of the yarn lends itself well to crisply defined textured stitches without a hint of ply shadow.

© Annie Lupton

You’ll find a generous list of patterns that call for Julie’s Aran weight yarn on Ravelry.  Some of us at the Spinnery have knit up several projects with this yarn, such as Thea Colman’s Lillet.  Some of Julie’s current favorites include: Boho Texture Triangle pattern by Annie Lupton (shown above), When in Rome Hat pattern by Monika Anna, and Hiémal pattern by Sarah Bleau Design.
If you’d like to purchase some of this delicious yarn, you may find it online at several wonderful local yarn stores located all over the US.  We would encourage you to support these shops that may be closed during the COVID quarantine, but are able to ship and would love to help you get some of these gorgeous skeins into your hands.

© Julie Asselin

We’ll leave you with one more photo of Julie and Jean-Francois in the hope that their smiling faces will cheer you as much as they do us.  Their love for the fiber community and their place in it shines through everything they do.
You’ll find their endearing pledge to focus on Inspiration, Community and Craftsmanship on their website.  And we encourage you to learn more about this dynamic team as you work with their yarns.  They will brighten your life as they have ours.