New to Stix: Garthenor Yarn

The Stix crew hasn't been this excited about a new yarn line in ages! We had to fill out a very lengthy application for consideration as a stockist. We waited with bated breath.....would we be one of the select few stockists chosen each year? After what seemed like an eternity, we opened an email from the lovely Jonny of Garthenor informing us that we had indeed passed muster. Yay!

Please help us welcome Garthenor Yarns to Stix!

Garthenor Preseli (Fingering weight; 219 yds/ 50 gm)

and

Garthenor Cairngorm (Lace-weight; 383 yds/ 50 gm)

You might be expecting a few more bells and whistles to accompany this much enthusiasm over a new yarn. It probably doesn't appear worthy of all this pearl-clutching. But once you have this yarn in your hands......Oh. My. Goodness. Cameron and I sat and passed skeins back and forth...."Did you feel this one?! It's even softer than that one!"

Aside from the "have to feel it to believe it" softness and saturated shades of these yarns, there is so much to love about the producer itself. Garthenor was the first company in the world to produce fully certified organic wool yarns in 2003. In fact, they helped develop the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standards) standards for wool yarns. These folks truly love the sheep from which their yarns are spun. All of their products are 100% mulesing-free. (You can see what the mulesing process is about here, but it's not for the faint of heart.)  In addition, they are a very climate-conscious company. You can enjoy knowing that every skein of Garthenor you purchase has a positive impact on our planet. Through planting over 26,000 trees (and counting!) in partnership with Ecologi, as well as through independently certified, fully transparent schemes held to the highest possible ethical, environmental and social standards, Garthenor offsets 3 kg of CO2 emissions for each skein of yarn they sell.

Cameron and I are both itching to cast on projects with both of these yarns. I have had the Flyway Cowl by Erica Heusser in my queue forever, but hadn't found the perfect yarn for it until now.

This cowl is knit in a tube with a provisional cast-on, and then the ends are grafted together once complete to form it into a cowl. No ends to weave in; they are all tucked away inside the tube! I plan to use Kettle, Lichen, and Gorse for my colors.

I had planned on making the Gertrude Vest from the Book Echoes (you can read about that here), but I couldn't find 10 colors I loved all together in the shades we got in our inagural order. We will be ordering more Preseli soon, so maybe that will be my next project!

Cameron will make a Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague. 

The great thing about this hat is that it is a seamless double-layered piece! you cast on at the top in one color, knit down to the brim, switch to a new color and knit another layer up to the crown. You pop the layers inside one another and, bingo! You have a reversible, cozy hat in whatever color suits your mood or matches your coat the best. 

She is thinking about Willow and Blazer

 or Tilia and Wild Heather

Which is your favorite combination?

I'm not sure if Cameron has chosen a project for Cairngorm, but I have!

The Love Story Shawl by Helene Magnusson

Simple lace and simple stripes combined with the lace-weight Caringorm will make a light, airy, quick-to-knit shawl. I've chosen these colors for mine.

Most of the shawl is worked in a single strand, but occasionally the yarn will be doubled for a marled effect. I can't wait to see how these colors play together in stripes and marls!

We've been so pleased to see the response to this yarn! We sold out of a couple Preseli shades before we had even properly unpacked them. Stop in soon to give them a squish and let us know what you think. We will be re-ordering soon, so now is your chance to request shades you'd like to see on our shelves. We can take a look at what's available and do our best to get them in our (ahem, I mean YOUR) hands.

-Tracy