Seattle Yarn Carnage: Part the First

Over the last weekend, I helped drive my friend Rachael, along with her mum, her two dogs, two cats, and caged bird to Seattle. Rachael is moving to the area, and her mum and I were along to help drive her there. The dogs, cats, and bird did not help at all with the driving, and one of the cats, Evil Steven, did his very best impersonation of the little girl in The Exorcist.

It wasn't pretty.

You know, I brought along five knitting projects to work on when I wasn't driving, but since I did the lion's share of it, I actually did no knitting at all. Go figure. And now all those projects will be flying home with me at the end of the week.

Yarn Carnage, however, has already started. There are so many amazing yarn stores in the area, and I visited two of them today. My object is to buy yarns that I cannot get back at home in Boston. Things that are local, or unusual, or hand spun and/or dyed.

At Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, I was impressed by the collection of yarns (I didn't check out the teas, but my friend Laura did, and said it was a small selection but an excellent one). I asked to be shown local yarns, and a salesperson gave me a wonderful tour of the yarns, pointing out what was local and different, and things I'd not be able to find at home.

First up, from Insouciant Hair (Artisan Yarns from Carefree Animals), the yarn band says, "Insouciant Hair is dedicated to making breed-specific artisan yarns with fiber from micro-farms throughout the Pacific Northwest." There were several yarns from which to choose, and because I wanted to continue yarn carnaging, I only bought two varieties. First up, a skein of Corriedale Wool. Fingering weight, 400 yards, undyed. The band goes on to say, "Corriedale is known for its wonderful combination of softness and durability. It is a multi-purpose yarn with loft and luster that is a joy to work with."

Next up, from Insouciant Hair, two skeins of Romney Wool. Sport weight, 250 yards, this is an undyed grey. From the band, "Romney lends itself to a large array of projects Although not often worn close to the skin, Romney can be used for mittens, hats, shawls, and sweaters. It is also generally thought of as good wool for felting.

The next item up is not quite local, but not something I've found in any of the Boston stores. Jared Flood's Brooklyn Tweed yarns. The band says, "SHELTER is an artisanal, woolen-spun yarn made from the fiber of Targhee-Colubia sheep grown in the American West. The yarn -- spun in the historic mill town of Harrisville, NH -- has been meticulously crafted to suit the needs of the passionate knitter."  I don't like to order yarns on-line, so I haven't seen or worked with this before. It is a bit scratchy, but I think it will knit up beautifully. Three skeins, 140 yards each, for a baby sweater, the colour is Button Jar.

Finally, two skeins of Spincycle Yarns, from Bellingham, WA. Rachel and Kate own this company, and dye and spin the yarns. I bought some of this a few years ago, on my first trip to Seattle. I haven't knit it up yet, because I only have one skein each of two different (but not complementary) colourways. But now I have these two skeins, and I think something might come of them. While we were in the store, we spoke with a woman who owns a yarn store in central Washington, and one of the women involved in Spincycle is her niece (not sure which one, though). These are a superwash Bluefaced Leicester wool, 200 yards each. The wool is dyed before it is spun, Dyed in the Wool.

The next stop on the Yarn Carnage Tour was Amanda's Art-Yarn, in Poulsbo, WA. We didn't have a lot of time, so I took a quick look-see around, and liked what I saw. A nice collection of yarns that would make any knitter happy. Meanwhile, my friend who was touring with me noticed that there were Breyer horses on a shelf, and spoke to Amanda about them. I checked out the local yarns, and added a few to my collection.

I bought six skeins of Color Dance Yarns, in various colours (no website, but a Facebook page, which I just "liked"). On the back of the band, "Color Dance Yarns are an artisan-dyed in the Pacific Northwest."  Below are my purchases.

Marina, a superwash Merino. The photo did not capture the intensity of the purple in this yarn, and I'm looking forward to knitting it up.

Purple Haze, another superwash Merino. There are bits of green and blue along with the purple. I think it will knit up very nicely.

Nightshade, shades of purple, black, and grey. Really pretty, superwash Merino.

I love the name of this colourway, Distracted Cherry. It's a cloudy red that is really very pretty. Superwash Merino yarn, just waiting to be knit up.

This is Caribbean, a really pretty blue-green that reminds me of pictures of that sea. Superwash Merino.

Finally, Swamp Thing. Shades of mossy green, it actually reminds me of the colours I saw on a swamp tour in Louisiana I took, way back in 2004. Superwash Merino. Of course, the name of this colourway has me singing, "Swamp Thing! You make my heart sing!"

This ends this portion of the Yarn Tour Yarn Carnage of 2013. I'm sure there will be more to follow.