I think it is safe to say that every fiber enthusiast has their go-to brand to work with and I am no different. Knitting Fever Inc. is such an amazing and versatile distributor of some of my favorite brands of yarn. The reason is simple. They make high-quality yarns and have something for everyone. Let me tell you about a few of my favorites:
- Debbie Bliss is known for her brand of highly successful hand-knitting yarns famous all over the world. I love that so many of her yarns are geared to be machine-washable and she has so many yarns perfect for baby and child knitting. The wide range of color options within each line is really the icing on the cake for me. The Debbie Bliss Cashmerino line is insanely popular and comes in a baby weight, baby tonal weight, and aran weight. The blend of this yarn is my choice for so many projects due to the luxurious hand and machine washability. Looking to knit something for yourself? Check out Debbie Bliss Delphi for a subtly shaded tonal dyed cotton yarn perfect for the coming spring. Winter is coming to a close but it is not too early to start knitting a bigger project for next winter. You could make a beautiful sweater with Rialto DK. This extra fine merino is just begging to be touched!
- I love the colors and textures found in the Louisa Harding brand. Wanting to knit for the warm weather ahead? Look no further than Azalea for a 100% cotton yarn in gorgeous splash dyed colors. Noema is a stunning cotton blend that is plied together with different colors to add to the visual texture. Cassia and Cassia Prints will get you prepared for your winter gift needs with its blend of extra fine superwash merino and nylon.
- Juniper Moon Farm
is at home in the rolling hills of central Virginia. Some of the finest farm yarns in the United States come from the sheep and Angora goats that live happily here. Other carefully sourced fibers from Peru, Argentina, Nepal, and Italy are brought together with the American farm raised fibers to create scrumptious yarns. I have knit some of my favorite hats from Moonshine. I love the luxurious feel of this wool, alpaca, and silk blend of yarn. It is also available in a Trios, providing you a multi color yarn to play with. Looking for a summer blend to work with? Sabine is a luscious blend of cotton, merino, and Royal Llama that will steal the show. For a pure Pima cotton, worsted weight Neve is the yarn for the job. Findley and Findley Dappled come in 800 yard balls! The blend of merino wool and silk make a delightful finished garment with a lovely drape and a slight sheen. If you don’t want to work with this lace weight yarn, you can purchase the Findley DK and Findley DK Dappled.
- Araucania Yarns are often created with natural yarns using a hand-painting technique. Huasco is made using extra fine merino wool that you have to touch to believe how soft it is. Huasco is available in both semisolid and variegated. The Boomslang Cowl Kit utilizes a skein of Huasco and is a fun and easy to knit project.
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I saved one of my absolute favorites for last…Noro. The genius of Noro yarn is, without question, the way the colors are blended and stripe. I find that I always come back to them when I am looking for something that is truly inspiring to knit with. I made the ZickZack Scarf pictured out of two different colorways of Silk Garden Sock. I also made my favorite pair of slippers from Kureyon Air using the Felted Clogs pattern by Bev Galeskas. Check out the Arenque Cowl Kit that uses Noro Ginga. As beautiful as this yarn is to look at, you are going to love the fiber content. The base fiber of cotton makes it feel light, in spite of the chunky weight. The silk fibers add a great sheen and the small amount of wool adds a little warmth.
One last bit of inspiration for the day. Here is one of my all-time, favorite projects I have ever knit in my entire life. I wanted to make something that played with all different weights and colors of yarn. As any good knitter would do, I started collecting. It began with some of the above mentioned Noro yarns and grew to include Louisa Harding, Debbie Bliss, and some stray oddballs from my stash! Then I found an informative knit stitch book and started picking out stitches to try with all the different weights of yarn.
I decided that I wanted to use only one size of needle for the whole project so I picked one that was slightly smaller than the size recommended for my chunkiest yarn. Then I got to work! Playing with the different textures and colors of yarn fulfills my creative need to knit outside the box, what a joy it was to see the striping come together! It was also a ton of fun to see how all the stitches looked, knit up in different weights and colors of yarn. This project blossomed into the amazing throw you see pictured. If I could say that I learned only one thing from this project it would be, don’t worry too much about all rules in knitting. Yes, there are some basics to follow, but how will we ever grow as a creative community if we all just do what we are told? Experiment, have fun, that is what this is all about! What will you dream up? Happy creating everybody.