Knitting with Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter
I went to Purl to check out Brooklyn Tweed's new Shelter yarn and I'm really glad I did: it's just as lovely in real life as I expected from the online previews. Although I have to say that the colors were underwhelming for me (as I also expected), I did like this plum color and so came home with two skeins. I was happy to see that Purl had them for sale at the MSRP too, that was a nice surprise!
The yarn is so light and fluffy, yet woolly, that it makes me want to squeeze the hank and pet it all the time. (Yes, knitters are weird.) The little flecks of color that make up this color are really stunning, check out this closeup:
This shot is over-exposed, the picture above is more true-to-life, but in this one you can really see all the different colors that make up the overall color. It's sort of a tweed without being VERY tweedy, if that makes any sense.
I wound a skein up the second I got home and started swatching, and decided I wanted to knit it up in a fairly loose gauge. The biggest gauge I saw Jared using was about 3.5 sts/inch on size 9 needles, so I tried a size 9 needle and decided I liked the airy fabric. The stitches have a surprisingly crisp appearance which I wasn't expecting due to the yarn's light weight, but I guess that makes sense given the way it's spun. I'm knitting my two skeins up into a cowl (yes, another one), a very simple one that's mostly stockinette with some dropped cables:
It's knitting up super quickly and I'm almost done with the first skein! After months and months knitting on nothing bigger than a size 5 needle I'd sort of forgotten how quickly something can knit up at this gauge! I can't wait to block this out to make the fabric more drapey and wear it with my black blazer . . . it's not quite cold enough here for winter accessories yet, but I'm sure it will be soon.
Bottom line on Shelter: Go try it! Jared's taste in wool and thoroughness in developing this line cannot be argued with. I do hope he adds some more funky colors next season though . . .
4 Responses
Julie
ooh, this is the first review of the yarn I’ve come across! It looks fantastic. Cant’ wait to check it out in person at a LYS!
sherry
Gorgeous pics, glad to see this knit up, I have been eyeing the latest shawl in the embers or woodsmoke, or the fossil (ya the problem is picking only one) I guess I should finish girasol first.
Very beautiful
Claire
Looks lovely—I want to stop by Purl to pet some myself. :)
Jennifer
October 22, 2010
Oooh, I love this color too!