I have a bit of a crush on Brooklyn Tweed. The patterns and the yarn Shelter and now the look book Wool People is out making me fall hopelessly in lust. So much so I briefly (half a day) considered purchasing 47 skeins of shelter to knit every Brooklyn Tweed and Wool People pattern I have queued. I didn’t but I am still considering buying 28 skeins for the Autumn Leaves stole, Terra shawl, Guernsey wrap and Seraphine wrap (to start with anyway). Why, you ask considering that they are all shawly wrap type garments and you spin. Well…
The yarn itself is exquisite, woollen spun from Targhee breed of sheep, where am I going to purchase Targhee fibre in Australia? Because it’s woollen spun and not overly processed it is light and squishy and will be beautifully warm and there appears to be some degree of varying thickness and twist in the ply that I personally feel, gives the yarn some interest. This is in contrast to those rather homogenised mass produced yarns that I have in my stash such as Sublime and Zarina that I’ve lost the love for since I started spinning, they seem to vaguely resemble wool in the way that Kraft cheese slices vaguely resemble cheese (no offence and I intend to knit with these yarns still, it just won’t afford me the same delight). Also the tweedy colours are just delicious and have such warm and inviting names like, homemade jam and button jar which are my particular favourites. As for spinning the yarn myself, I feel my spinning and dyeing skills which, though they have improved would not be nearly good enough to produce enough yarn for all these patterns and I’m not going to never purchase yarn now that I can spin if the yarn is this beautiful. Lastly, Jared Flood is an independent designer who has put his money where his mouth is and gone out to produce yarn that he feels a passion for and I have to admire that (and feel a little bit envious).
As for the obsession with shawls and wraps, well, they are perfect for Melbourne’s varying weather and so much easier to wear than a jumper or a cardigan. The patterns themselves appear to be both uncomplicated but interesting and well designed. The Seraphine wrap from the Wool People look book is actually designed by Lucy Sweetland and I surprised myself by being determined to knit this despite it being knit in pieces and sewn together which is usually an immediate turn off. I can see that this is a necessary aspect of the design so I’m willing to cast aside my usual prejudices, plus I have to have it in my wardrobe!
Because I’m not a complete idiot who goes out and purchases a vast amount of yarn before she has ever tried it, no, really, I’m not! I’m planning to cast on for the Habitat hat by Brooklyn Tweed next, out of the skein pictured above to see how it knits up. He he, I’m knitting Habitat out of Shelter, which makes me giggle a bit, well you know even non-idiots can be a bit silly.
Recipe For A Yarn 