May 2019

Newly-published books

I was keen to read Carol J. Sulcoski's new book Yarn Substitution Made Easy, not least to see if she had ideas that might help us improve YarnSub.

It turns out that her approach is very similar to ours. I guess that's reassuring! Obviously, our situation is a bit different in that to find substitutes among thousands of yarns we've had to build computer models of the yarns and their characteristics. But the underlying considerations are essentially the same as described in Carol's book.

If you want to deepen your understanding of the thinking process behind a successful yarn substitution, so you can make better choices for your specific projects, then this book may well be helpful.

Rianne de Graaf's Colourful Wayuu Bags to Crochet ticks a lot of boxes for me. For one, I have a thing about bags. Two, I have a thing about intarsia knitting and these bags are made using tapestry crochet, which is kind of like intarsia's crochet cousin. Finally (mostly) I am seriously coveting the flamingo bag on the cover!

I would have loved to make something like Sarah Keen's Knitted Farmyard for my boys when they were younger. I don't think they'd thank me now they're teenagers, but those sheep are seriously cute.

Intarsia workshop

I'm going to be teaching my Intarsia for Everyone class at Wild & Woolly yarn shop in East London, UK, on the 19th May if you want to learn to add a splash of color to your knitting! The pattern for the Abelona Hat, shown below, is included with the class.

New and discontinued yarns

New

Adriafil
Zebrino – Aran – 53% Superwash Wool, 47% Acrylic – Single ply – Self-striping (gradient transition)

Artyarns
Cashmere Eco – DK – 100% Cashmere – Plied with a soft haze – Tonal colors, Multicolored

Bernat
Blanket Breezy – Heavy Worsted – 100% Polyester – Fleece style – Self-striping
Blanket Ombré – Super Bulky – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Gradient
Crushed Velvet – Bulky – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Multicolored

Berroco
Linen Stonewash – DK – 100% Linen Viscose – Chained – Semi-solid colors

Cygnet
Chenille Chunky – Super Bulky – 100% Polyester – Chenille – Solid colors

Juniper Moon Farm
Pollock – Sport – 55% Silk, 45% Linen Viscose – Plied – Semi-solid colors, Multicolored

Lana Grossa
Landlust Sommerseide – DK – 50% Cotton, 50% Silk – S on S plied – Semi-solid colors
Soft Cotton – Worsted – 70% Cotton, 30% Microfiber – S on S plied – Solid colors

Lion Brand
LB Collection Fifty Fifty – Super Bulky – 50% Alpaca, 50% Wool – Single ply – Solid colors

Loops & Threads
Meandering Serpentine – Worsted – 90% Acrylic, 10% Nylon – Plied – Tonal colors, Multicolored, Gradient set, Complementary colors set
Wild & Free – Jumbo – 49% Cotton, 28% Nylon, 23% Polyester – filled_tube – Solid colors

Martin's Lab
Aubrey Sport – Sport – 55% Blue Faced Leicester Superwash Wool, 45% Silk – Plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors

Mirasol Yarn
Kancha – DK – 50% Cotton, 50% Merino Wool – 2 ply – Semi-solid colors

Outlaw Yarn
Bandit DK – Worsted – 100% Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors

Rauma
Alpakka Lin – Aran – 48% Baby Alpaca, 44% Linen, 8% Wool – Brushed bouclé – Solid colors

Red Heart
Amigurumi – DK – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping (long)
Croquette – Light Fingering – 92% Cotton, 5% Polyester, 3% Metallic – Plied – Self-striping (long) with metallic thread
Hygge Fur – Bulky – 100% Nylon – Faux fur – Solid colors
Roll With It – Heavy Worsted – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Gradient marl

Rico Design
Creative Cotton Colour Coated – Worsted – 50% Acrylic, 50% Cotton – filled_tube – Multicolored
Fashion Colour Spin – Aran – 100% Cotton – Tape – Gradient
Fashion Cotton Light & Long DK – DK – 47% Cotton, 46% Acrylic, 7% Nylon – Chained – Self-striping (long transition)
Fashion Cotton Ribbon Chunky – Bulky – 100% Cotton – Tape – Solid colors
Fashion Linen Swell Aran – Aran – 80% Cotton, 20% Linen – Chained – Solid colors

Universal Yarn
Bamboo Pop Sock – Fingering – 55% Bamboo Viscose, 37% Cotton, 8% PBT (Elastic) – Plied – Solid colors, Self-striping

Urth Yarns
Monokrom Worsted – Worsted – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – S on S plied – Tonal colors

Willow and Lark
Heath – DK – 50% Superwash Wool, 39% Acrylic, 11% Viscose – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Discontinued

Araucania
Huasco Chunky – Bulky – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors, Multicolored

Bergère de France
Abakan – Bulky – 68% Nylon, 32% Polyester – Faux fur – Semi-solid colors
Baronval – DK – 60% Superwash Wool, 40% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors
Ciboulette – Light Fingering – 75% Acrylic, 25% Wool – Plied – Solid colors

Berroco
Andean Mist – Lace – 74% Alpaca, 26% Silk – Brushed bouclé – Solid colors
Bento – Aran – 80% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% Silk – Plied – Solid colors
Cotolana – Aran – 47% Cotton, 47% Wool, 6% Nylon – Chained – Solid colors
Millefiori Big – Super Bulky – 50% Acrylic, 50% Wool – Single wrapped with thread – Multicolored
Ultra Alpaca Fine – Fingering – 50% Highland Superwash Wool, 30% Nylon, 20% Alpaca – Plied with a soft haze – Heathered colors

Cheval Blanc
Amande – Fingering – 90% Cotton, 10% Cashmere – Loosely plied

Knit Picks / We Crochet
Dapple – Super Bulky – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Single ply – Dappled colors

Lana Grossa
Gomitolo Estate – Fingering – 58% Viscose, 42% Cotton – Chained – Self-striping (long)
Nizza – Worsted – 74% Cotton, 25% Polyester, 1% Metallic – Fiber core wrapped – Semi-solid colors
Pezza – Super Bulky – 70% Cotton, 30% Polyester – Rag ribbon – Multicolors
Primavera – Bulky – 100% Cotton – Tape – Self-striping
Secondo – Sport – 55% Cotton, 25% Microfiber, 20% Silk – Fiber core wrapped – Solid colors
Summer Lace – Fingering – 97% Cotton, 3% Elastic – S on S plied – Solid colors, Gradient
Wakame – DK – 75% Organic Cotton, 25% Sea Cell – S on S plied – Solid colors

Queensland Collection
Rustic Tweed – DK – 63% Wool, 27% Alpaca, 10% Acrylic – Tweedy – Tweed colors

The Fibre Co.
Knightsbridge – DK – 65% Llama, 25% Merino Wool, 10% Silk – 2 ply – Heathered 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, Instagram and Facebook.

See you in June!

Wendy

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