Yarn review & giveaway: Blacker Yarns, Tamar

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Today I'm so excited to share a yarn that will very soon be available.

I've been a huge Blacker Yarns fan since their very beginnings. I have tried a couple of their yarns in the past including the Organic Wensleydale and also the Westcountry Tweed that I actually used as a sample for my Woodland Tales mittens submission.

This new edition of Blacker is a lustrous blend of British wool, all blended together to create the most luxurious fiber. When I first discovered the yarn, I honestly thought that there was a tiny bit of silk in there. How could the yarn be so shiny without silk? - that is what I thought when I first touched the skein and held it close to the light.

As I was swatching with the yarn, I tried to imagine what I could create with such a beautiful fibre, and the only thing that came to my mind was a shawl. It must be a shawl. A long and drapey one that would mimic the movements of the water and river which gave it its name.

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“Tamar is a lustre blend yarn with a fluid sheen, reminiscent of flowing water and the river which gives this blend its name. This luxurious lustre yarn has been worsted spun to enhance the fibre’s inherent drape and shine.
Tamar is made from historic Wensleydale, Cotwold, and Black Leicester Longwool, which are the most distinctive British breeds. Tall and elegant with long lustrous ringlets of wavy fleece, the fibre is smooth and sleek with a distinctive silky sheen.”

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Tamar is available is 15 different dyed shades and 3 natural ones in a 4ply (fingering) weight or a DK weight. Blacker was generous enough to offer one of you lucky winners a skein of Tamar 4ply in the Tresillian colorway. To enter the giveaway follow@blackeryarns on Instagram, and tell me in the comments below what you would like to create with this yarn (make sure to include an email address in your comment).The giveaway is open internationaly until Friday (25th) 2016, 11pm GMT+2. Good luck!

The giveaway is now closed, congratulations to Claire!

Swatches diary: fir cone

Im not getting tired of this golden light that is flooding my little studio these days. So I took advantage of this autumnal light the other day to snap a couple of pictures of my most recent swatches that will be featured very soon is the first issue of 6 bits storybooks: Unearth.

I don't want to speak to soon and say that I have found my favourite stitch pattern, but this fir cone stitch has something to it than I cannot get tired of.

Swatches diary: Bc garn, Semilla grosso

While I was in France, I went through the pile of yarn leftovers that fill my draws, and made some swatches of the yarns that I have used for previous projects. Then I put them carefully in my new swatches folder, with the tag in when I could find it, and a sticker to remind me which needles I knit it with, and the gauge that I obtained.

For this swatch I have used BC garn, Semilla grosso, which is a 100% organic wool. I have used this yarn to knit a owl for a friend's baby. And I must say that it's a wonder to knit it with. It showcases the stitches so perfectly, it's squishy, and it's very soft. The yarn is really versatile and would make a perfect sweater, scarf, hat or mittens. And no surprise here, but I'm already thinking about acquiring some more for future projects.

Swatches diary: Little birds stitch

I'm introducing another category for the blog. In the "Swatches diary", I will share some swatches that I had made for a pattern that I have knit or designed, some interesting stitches that I have found along the way, or some yarns that I wanted to test out and see how they would knit up. I don't have so many to share yet, as I'm pretty new to the swatching world, but I'm already working on building a small collection. When I first started knitting, I usually skipped this -oh so important step, as I thought that this step wasn't  so important.

Things have changed a little bit since then. I do swatch. And I do find pleasure in swatching. I don't only do it because "I have to', but also because I do love collectiing these little colorwful squares in my diary, look back at them from time to time, and get inspired once more by the yarn, the color or the texture.

This very first one has been knit in Peace Fleece/PYHO MИPA which is a blend of Native/Non-Native American fine wool and Texas mohair. I knit this little swatch while I was waiting for the yarn that I had ordered for my Praline cardigan to arrive. I practiced the stitch that was used in the cardigan a little bit with this yarn, which also allowed me to see how this yarn would knit up. Then I used this same yarn to knit the Laurel hat.

Do you also keep your swatches? Do you look back at them from time to time to find inspiration?