Stix Journal

Was anyone else out there a little underwhelmed with the Pantone Color of the Year?

What color is that fuzz, really?

I know there is no such thing as a "bad color", but really? Give me a lovely soft aqua or an atrocious chartreuse any day and I'll be happy. Also, is it just me or does anyone else hate biting in to a peach with the fuzz on it? It's like biting a hamster or something. 

All silly complaining about the (lack of) color aside, the fuzz is a whole different story. If there is one thing we love here at Stix, it's adding fuzz to things. Our hands-down favorite fuzz is Ito Sensai mohair and silk. It's a lace-weight yarn which is lovely all on its own, but we especially adore carrying it along with other yarns for a little extra softness, a delighful fuzzy halo, or to subtly shift the color of the base yarn. In addition, the sturdy silk core of the Sensai can give some added structure to a less sturdy yarn and also help prevent the dreaded "pills" we sometimes find on the surface of our favorite knits. 

We made this little swatch a while ago to show what Sensai can do to change the color of a base yarn. The base in each square is the same color of hand-dyed yarn; we held a different color of Sensai for each square along with it. See how it changes the overall color while still letting the base yarn come through? 

Another thing we love to do is spend ridiculous amounts of time seeing how many perfect color matches we can make with Sensai and another yarn. I'm talking absurdly massive sections of our days. If it weren't so much fun it would probably be embarrassing.

27 matches in only (redacted) minutes! We have the best job ever!!

I'm pretty sure we set some kind of record with this one. I am teaching the Harris Hood class in February, so I needed to choose what yarn to use for the shop sample. I settled on Sandnes Garn Double Sunday because, yummy, and wanted to add a strand of Sensai just for extra deliciousness. There were SO MANY perfect matches with these two yarns!

These icy shades give me goosebumps!

Getting warm again.

All my favorite neutrals. I chose the cool brown combo in the upper left corner for my Harris Hood. They are Double Sunday Brown Licorice and Sensai Chestnut. I love how the silk core shimmers through the mohair.

My hood so far.....such a lovely project.

This pattern by Cheryl Mokhtari is a great way to learn how to make a knitted balaclava. I am loving the construction of it....so easy to adjust the size of it once you understand the structure. It's also the perfect thing for our Montana winters. You can wear it up over your head or draped around your neck like a cozy cowl.

 If you would like to learn to knit a balaclava, the class starts Wednesday, Feb 14th. Yes, Valentine's Day. We love these yarns and we love to teach you new things so Happy Valentine's Day to us! You can just grab the pattern on Ravelry and choose your favorite yarns to make it without supervision if you already have plans for that evening ❤️ 💘 💝. 

And if you happen to be a lover of the Pantone Color of the Year, please don't take my nonsense personally. I'm sure my color choices have inspired whiplash or nausea in some from time to time. We've got the Peach Fuzz lovers among us covered too!

 I have to admit, these are quite lovely.