Under Construction
Denise >
If everything we sold was entirely hand-made starting from raw fleece, larger garments would have to be priced so high that they would be beyond the pockets of all but a very few. So I make some of the larger garments with commercially available yarns, albeit luxury low-volume products. And right now, I’m piecing together this ladies’ cardigan using a Noro yarn (Hanabatake – 55% wool, 35% silk, 10% mohair), and is spun with variable thickness and twist, so as to imitate genuine hand-spun yarn. Here’s the item in question, under construction.
Just one thing wrong with that, however : Both J and I would have to really put our minds to it, to produce a yarn as lumpy as this!
Our preference is for more muted colours than these ; but maybe that’s because we see the Uist landscape year-round. We’ve come to love the more complex colours and subtle contrasts of autumn and winter. Our customers, who principally visit Uist in late Spring and Summer, and thereby mostly see the island under clear skies and razor sharp light, see the landscape in glorious Technicolor! Frequently we’re told how the colours we work capture so well the essence of the Uist landscape and seascape.
Noro yarn can often look unappealing, but then you knit it up and the resulting fabric is really quite lovely. I would like to see you wearing this sweater, Denise! I am sure it turned out just beautiful!
Or did it sell quickly in your croft store?
D > Not sold yet – tourist season very slow to get going. Brexit!
D > Ah yes, it’s a strange thing, isn’t it : gaudy colours, the more of them there are, the less gaudy they appear. Even fluorescent colours turn to mud if there’s enough of them!
I have long thought that the landscape where we live affects our sensibilities. Your post confirms this. Beautiful work, no matter where the yarn comes from.
☺️
my mom used a very similar yarn to make some baby socks. I loved the pattern and color and kept a grandma knit sock per child as a christmas tree ornament and this is my one for my #2.