On our honeymoon this summer, my husband and I went to Wales. In the spirit of transparency, one of the main draws for me was the promise of sheep, wool, and spinning. And sheep we saw!
We also saw a lot of spinning, although it was mainly of the mechanized variety - Wales is speckled with historical textile factories. I left Will in the car more than once to dive into a world of depressing history! (the textile industry was routinely not great to women.) I would love to do a longer post later on the factories I saw.
Yarn, though, was surprisingly scarce, and the few shops I found were stocked with lots of novelty and acrylic yarns in baby colors. I have nothing against synthetic yarn, but I was hoping that the absurd density of sheep would translate into more delicious stuff! Luckily, we spent a few nights in the town of Dolgellau. The town center is a warren of old stone buildings and cobblestone streets. It's the most fairytale, semi-bizarre place I've ever been. Every building is a little old factory!
Tucked along one of those narrow, twisty streets was a little yarn shop called Knit One. And hidden in that yarn shop was the yarn I was looking for! Welsh-made, 100% wool, soft… and the most WACKY shades of neon I had ever seen. I bought two skeins.
So I've had this awesome art yarn in my stash since June, and I've been afraid to touch it! It was TOO BEAUTIFUL, too full of feelings, and also I don't have much experience with bulky yarn. But then I realized I wanted to make something special for my mom this Christmas! She elevated mom-hood to an art form this year - she was my wedding planner extraordinaire, and on top of that reached new heights in her own textile art (she's a fabric dyer and art quilter, though those words hardly articulate what she creates).
I started and frogged many, many different patterns. I knew I had to do a cowl based on my yardage, but I had trouble finding a pattern that would show off the yarn to its best advantage. The lucky combination was size 15 needles and this drop stitch cowl pattern. It was easy, fast (REALLY fast after months of nothing but sock knitting!) and I love how it turned out! The long dropped stitches were ideal for showing off the variegated weight of the yarn. It's squishy and neon and I don't want to give it away! But I will, because I love my mom!
It is a REALLY weird feeling jumping from size 1 needles to size 15. It's like having stupid toddler hands.
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