So, what’s next? Well, when I was at Stitches, I got to see Sally Melville’s Knitting Bag Jacket in person, and really liked it. It’s amazing how the styling of a garment in the book can influence the perception of the garment. It’s on the cover of her book with some 80’s reject with an orange and yellow neon belt and airbrushed stomach. Ugh! At least inside the book it’s styled a little better. But in person I could see the depth of color and the yarn. Oh my.
So after I finished Kyoto, I asked on one of my knitting listservs for recommendations of vendors who might have the sweater kitted up. I got one response and made my way over to Two Swans Yarn where I ordered the kit. While I was there I took a look around, and thought I had really found my home. My taste in knitwear is for wool and fair isle and Arans and Ganseys although I haven’t knit any yet. One of the reasons I haven’t knit any yet is because it is really hard to find anything beyond the basic wools here in SoCal. Everyone’s got Cascade 220 or Plymouth Galway (more likely to have Encore than Galway) but nothing of a smaller gauge. And I really like to feel the yarn before I knit it. This is why I was able to buy the kit online, I was able to touch the sweater at Stitches West, so I knew what I was going with.
So, I made my purchase, and tagged my order with a note that I was sent by someone on the mailing list. I got the usual automated reply that my order was being processed, followed shortly by note from the owner asking about the mailing list. We struck up quite an email conversation about traditional knitting, and it turns out she is also knitting the sweater. I had actually happened upon her blog while I was searching before I posted the query for vendors.
A lot of people like to bitch about crap on their blogs, so I thought I would put out a good word for a great vendor. I ordered the yarn on Tuesday afternoon, she emailed to let me know it shipped on Wednesday morning, and I had it by Friday. She included a personal note in the box too, which was a nice touch.
And ooooh, I love the yarn! I had ordered a couple-three balls of J&S and Jamieson’s Shetland weight a year or so ago just to see what they were like. I picked random colors from some catalog. I played with it a bit but because of my method of color selection, I was underwhelmed.
This yarn is Jamieson’s DK and it’s wonderfully spongy and the depth of color is amazing and I am loving knitting my swatch so far. I can’t wait to get going on the sweater. I also ordered the color card so I can make a better decision when I want to play in the future.
If you are looking for a place to buy traditional yarns, please check out Two Swans Yarn and let them know I sent you. You might make a new friend!