Introducing: Serenity

We're so happy to introduce Serenity!

Serenity in Hippo, Freesia, Charcoal, and Saffron

Serenity is a fingering weight yarn made 4 plies of of creamy white cashmere. We had it twisted just enough to create a yarn that will be more durable than many cashmere yarns, yet still unbelievably soft, and also plump and round so that every stitch pops.

We made this yarn with stitchers of all types in mind. We wanted it to be a dream to work with. (And trust me, it is. I stretched out my secret sample knit for as long as possible).

The stitch definition on this yarn is incredible.

Serenity knit.

Just look at those cables! 

Are you dyeing to try out this yarn? (We really can't help ourselves).

You'll see this yarn appearing in shops this month, just in time to start making luxuriously cozy treasures for fall and winter. We recommend keeping these for yourself, although a particularly knitworthy/crochetworthy/weaveworthy loved one would treasure whatever you make from Serenity for-ev-er. Maybe you should make two... ya know, just in case. ;)

Serenity in Hippo, Lapis, and Elephant.

You can find Serenity at these shops:
McKnittey.com - Online only
Amazing Threads - Maple Grove, MN
Bliss Yarns - Brentwood, TN
Knit One Purl Two - Rockford, IL
Knitting Store - Oceanside, NY
Knitting to Know Ewe - Newton, PA
Needle Tree - Greenville, SC
Spun - Ann Arbor, MI
Woolly & Co - Birmingham, IL and online
Yarn Garden - Charlotte, MI

We have more Serenity in the dye pots for Loops and Yarn Kandy, and more shops so check back for updates.

As always, you can place a special order at your local Anzula shop for any of our yarns, we will dye it just for you and send it to your LYS.

Let's dream about what we'll make. What's your favorite type of project for super special skeins? Tell me in the comments!

Meet the Yarn: Milky Way, Part 2

Milky Way

80% Milk Protein, 20% Superwash Merino
+/- 500 yd / 457 m
8.5-9 sts / in US #1

View fullsize

Milky Way in Au Natural

Jill introduced Milky Way last May. In this post, I'll investigate how it behaves with a crochet hook.

What is Milky Way? It's categorized as a light fingering weight; Anzula creates skeins that are generous, about 500 yards (114g)! The fiber composition is 80% Milk Protein, 20% Super-wash Merino and it's a multi (four)-ply yarn.

This is also the first Anzula yarn I began to work with, so it is my favourite. Ok, one of my favourites--in truth I love them all. When I first saw it I knew it begged for a crochet hook. I enjoy knitting with it, but I think this yarn really shines in crochet.

While the milk protein creates quite a bit of grab when worked up, I found this yarn can be prone to more slipping than I expected. Yes, hand winding 500 yards sounds tedious, however I now recommend it. Why? I often mistreat my working yarn and it gets tossed in a project bag and while protected, those bags often get shoved into other bags. That can very quickly create a tangled mess that I've found doesn't happen with hand-wound balls. This is, in my opinion, a feature of the yarn and once I knew to work with it I no longer ran into issues. I'll post a photo of that further down in the post. It's not pretty (or fun to untangle).

The four plies of this yarn can split, but I found I was less likely to cause this with a pointed hook than a rounder one. I can attest that you can work and rework and rework the yarn again. I have a design I've been working on for almost five years that has survived a significant amount of ripping and do-overs.

What is this yarn good for? Any project where you want beautiful drape. Should you measure hanging gauge for this yarn? This will change depending on many factors from your basic gauge and stitch pattern to the construction of your project. If you are concerned, then I urge you to measure your swatch! I plan to cover a comparison of hanging gauges for different yarns in a future post (I need to figure out how to photograph them). With the high percentage of inelastic milk protein, if you are expecting ribbing to behave, I would call in some supplemental elastic to reinforce it.

I love this yarn in a half double crochet; that's my default crochet stitch though it's also lovely in both single and double crochet. It creates beautiful drape at 5 spi in single crochet. I love how the yarn takes the dye and works into crochet stitches. How does a simple crochet stitch compare to a knit swatch? I have a certain reputation as a "tiny knitter" and couldn't resist working it up on 2mm needles creating a stockinette fabric of 9 SPI. Wow. It's lovely, and the drape is amazing at this gauge.

Knit and crochet swatches of Milky Way in simple stitches: stockinette, garter stitch, single, half-double, and double crochet.

How is this in a tried and true granny square? It pops next to garter stitch. I worried the motif would be flat and lifeless. It isn't. Do be careful when trimming yarn ends after working them in, I almost nipped the motif and the wayward ends want to be in the photos.

Milky Way granny square swatch next to garter stitch.

When I created my texture swatch I discovered a new love. Because this is a light fingering weight you can play with textured stitches that otherwise might add unwanted bulk or warmth to a project. I know this will create lovely garments and accessories.

Milky Way crochet texture swatch.

This simple lace surprised me. This is the swatch where I had some issues with split stitches and a hook switch solved my problem. While this swatch is unimaginative, upon blocking my apathy to this particular swatch grew into adoration. I think it would be great for transitional and warm weather wear. The merino adds a hint of warmth without being overbearing.

Net stitch in Anzula Milky Way.

The slight issue with my slippery yet sticky yarn? Here's a nice picture of a mistreated yarn cake. I found if I wasn't paying attention to my work area and some cat fur wound its way in, the result was super sticky stitches.

A Milky Way yarn cake that had a minor mishap.

To end on a positive note, in addition to a baby/child cardigan that I hope to finalize and publish soon, based on the work in writing this post I now have sketches for accessories in textured and laces stitches. I'll try to release them soon!

Pile of Anzula Milky Way swatches.

All Milky Way swatches were worked in the Seaside colorway.

Meet the Yarn: Cloud

Jill Wolcott
passion.fashion.knits

Cloud
80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon
+/- 575 yd / 525 m
8.5-9 sts / in US #1

View fullsize

Cloud in Nimbus.

I have chosen Cloud to redo three projects in my pattern catalog.  Things change, and although I loved the original yarn, it is time to re-make them in something that lots of people use and/or want to use.  My samples are in Black Cherry and Blush. 

Cloud is another example of an Anzula yarn where a small percentage of cashmere makes a huge difference.  This lovely heavy lace weight sells for about $34-36 skein.  The yardage is good at 575 yards (525m).  It is a simple 2-ply of 80% super wash Merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon in the unique tonal coloration we know and love in Anzula Luxury Fibers.  Cloud almost reminds me of a Suri alpaca.  It has a halo, but not a hard-to frog one (trust me, I always do some ripping!).  Want to know more about Cashmere?  Check out this blog where I took a look at Cricket.  This is a yarn that looks different after a wet blocking! 

View fullsize

I did my first swatch on US size 3(3.25mm) needles, thinking of it in terms of making a garment, and it does a nice garter and stockinette, a lovely seed stitch, and a slightly loose rib.  I then swatched in in a seed stitch, purl cable, and 3x3 rib for Snow Farm.  I love Snow Farm and its sister pattern Roundhill for their slightly girly look, in fairly tailored yarn and stitch patterns.  The texture shines in this smooth yarn with the tiniest halo to it.  I also worked it up in Remarkables.  This tiered shawlette is a favorite for mine.  Again, a somewhat flamboyant piece that remains slightly tailored in Cloud.  This is a look I really like. 

I’ve been thinking about Cloud for a while, and I’ve been looking at projects on Ravelry (1543) as well as the stashes (1919).  Cloud has been used to make everything from complex lace to rib socks.  From baby hats to color work.  It has been made into garments, hand accessories, and lots of shawls.  There are quilts of many colors, stranded color work, cables, stockinette, lots of laces and eyelets, garter stitch, brioche.  There are many familiar patterns, and others I’m glad I took the time to look at.  Lots of Perfect Fit Socks.  I loved this pair with red toes and heels.  There was double knitting, and I loved this pullover.  There are also lots and lots of Pioneer Cuffs, and this project for a man’s sweater.  One of my other favorite garments is this. There are adorable baby sweaters.  I saw a few of A Hint of Summer, but I loved this one in particular.  A few knitters have mentioned that the yarn can be a little slippery.

View fullsize

I wanted to challenge myself by making a man’s scarf in two colors with the leftovers of Blush & Black Cherry .  It is hard for me to design masculine; I’ve been observing what scarves men are wearing when I’m out walking.  I’m using a very simple stitch pattern, and I’m working on size US size 2 (2.75mm) using two longer Brittany dpns because I’m looking for some efficiency. 

View fullsize

My unblocked gauge numbers in this stitch pattern are  31 stitches and 46 rows to 4” OR 7.75 sts and 11.5 rows to 1”.  After wet and steam blocking in my stitch pattern the gauge changes to 45 stitches and 43 rows to 4” OR 11.25 sts and 10.75 rows to 1”.  Take a look at my blog on January 17 for the final outcome and the pattern. 

View fullsize

Let’s take a look at my gauge numbers from my exploration swatches to help you plan your Cloud projects!  I used a US size 3(3.25mm)

View fullsize

View fullsize

I like to know where I’m going to end up, which can be quite different from what I see when I’m knitting. isn’t always what the end result will be.  Remember this to help you when choosing stitch patterns:

• More stitches per inch when blocked = narrower piece [garter, seed, 1x1 rib above]
• Fewer stitches per inch when blocked = wider piece
• More rows per inch when blocked = shorter piece [1x1 rib above]
• Fewer rows per inch when blocked = longer piece [garter, seed above]
• There was no change in the gauge in Stockinette, although my Stockinette always looks smoother and more even after blocking.

Keep up on all things Jill Wolcott:
Contact: jill@jillwolcottknits.com
Blog:  http://www.jillwolcottknits.com/category/blog/
Twitter: @jillwolcottknit
Instagram: @jillwolcottknits
Pinterest: Jill Wolcott Knits
www.JillWolcottKnits.com