As knitters, it’s been drilled into us over and over to get enough of a single dye lot to finish your project. Even buy an extra skein to make sure that you have enough. But when it comes to kettle dyed/hand dyed yarns, you have to be even more diligent.
My mom has been complaining of cold shoulders. I saw a couple of people working on the Truly Tasha’s Shawl at the last guild meeting, and I thought, that would be just the thing for my mom. I consulted Grace about colors. I was thinking a nice red, but Grace mentioned that mom liked Iris’ Golden Braid, but said that she likes a deeper gold. Thus started the search for a good gold.
Grace went to Twist, and found some gorgeous Malabrigo Worsted. After much discussion by phone, we agreed upon Pollen. I happened to be at Uncommon Threads the following day and came across the exact same yarn and panicked. It was the color of butter creme. A very washed out version of what I envisioned by Grace’s description. More phone calls ensued. Grace assured me that it was a deep gold yellow. I had my doubts.
The package from Twist arrived on Boxing Day. I opened the box and came across the most beautiful deep gold. Whew! Grace said that even within the bag containing the same dye lot, the depth of shade varied greatly (see Pollen link to see color variations). Grace and Cathy had carefully selected only the deepest colors within the same dye lot. I am here to say, they did a fabulous job. I am on my third skein right now, and it is barely discernible where I changed skeins.
No pictures right now, but just imagine a big giant-sized diagonal garter stitched washcloth, before you start decreasing. As I said, I just started the 3rd skein. Once I’m done with this skein, I can start the lace border. Whew. I can’t wait.
On the positive side, this yarn is absolutely luscious. The pattern calls for a dense fabric. The yarn in this pattern is soft and squishy. Just the thing for cold shoulders.