New Yarn New Yarn

I really need to think of a new title for this kind of post. They're always called 'New Yarn, New Yarn' or 'NEW YARN NEW YARN NEW YARN' or some variation thereof and to be honest I think it's probably because by the time I come to write these blogs I've either spent all day putting yarn on the shelf and tidying around that (harder than you think) and then getting everything on the internet or, and this is the case today, I've had far too many patterns to get on so I spent yesterday tidying and sorting and the whole of today internetting. It's a slow process - much quicker than it was now I've found my own little shortcuts.

[This post was started on the 23rd of January. It's now the 28th of January and I've only just got round to finishing it off. That goes some way to describing how busy we've been over the last week or so. BOOM! Anyway... back on with the blog...]

So, I have three (THREE) new yarns to talk about now. I'm going to take it one at a time because I love each and every one of them and they all deserve some time and attention. I'm going to start, just 'cos I can, with the new Opium Palette. Now, we all know and love the Opium don't we? It was one of the real success stories of 2013 and one of those amazing yarns that reignites people's passion for knitting - similar, but more tasteful (imho), to the scarf yarns. When the Opium first came in, it was out of stock for MONTHS. Seriously, months, so I've put a big old disclaimer at the top of this because I suspect this will be the same. In fact, by the amount I've already sold, I think it's almost definitely going that way. Wahey! Anyway, ignore this - let's look at the colours:

Aren't they great? One thing that I love is that they've moved away from the more pastel colours. Opium is one of the yarns that opened up my eyes to pastel colours and how subtle and beautiful they can look but I
must admit I am pleased that they've brought in the Ruby and Jade - I'm much more comfortable here.

Happily, they've not tried combining the plain and the prints together in the patterns - I do think that with a yarn so textured, you need to keep patterns plainer. However, they have started introduced basic cables:

 

3179 - beautiful yes?  

 And lace:

 

4182 - I am doing this for me. No doubts. 

AND! They've released this MEGA pattern - with TEN different patterns (well, some of them are versions of the same pattern but ten different inspirations shall we say?).

 

4189 - On some of these they've held together the Opium and Opium Palette with the amazing Cosmos AND IT LOOKS DIVINE! Because I really need to get something knitted up in the Palette - given that it's such an unusual yarn and people can be scared of that - I cast on one of the lace stoles from there and I've been knitting it slowly ever since. 

I'm so pleased with it! I chose this stole because it was knitted on the same needles as the cardigan that I've got on the go (that's not in Opium and nowhere near finished so I won't talk about it here, maybe another time. In fact, if it ends up as beautiful as I think it should then definitely another time) for me and I can justify knitting for me in the shop if I'm also knitting for the shop at the same time. I desperately want to cast this on:

The jumper that is. 4183. It's got a very simple knit and purl pattern throughout it and I can see my wearing that day in and day out. I also like the fact that they've started using the Bamboo Cotton DK for the ribs - I think it neatens everything up and it's been something that a lot of people have taken and used in other patterns. I'll cast that on once the stole's finished and I'm ready to cast on a shop sample jumper/cardigan in the Cottonsoft that I'm going to talk about tomorrow. Again, justifying knitting for me by knitting for the shop too.

Anyway, you can find all of the patterns for the new Opium colours and the Opium Palette by clicking here, if you've discounted it then I urge you to give it another chance. It's a pleasure to knit once you get past the initial 'omg, thick, thin, what do I do???' and it really does look something special doesn't it? Ahhhhh.

Love Eleanor. xxxxxxxxxxxxx