Since one of my biggest goals I set in January was to knit exclusively from my stash this year and to not purchase any new yarn, I thought it would be fun to share some special skeins that are currently patiently waiting to be knit. I am so lucky to have a really beautiful stash full of yarns that I genuinely cannot wait to work with, and most often I visit my yarn cabinet only when I’m ready to take on the next project or to find yarn for a specific project, because the more I visit the more simultaneous cast-ons I tend to have!
Before this year, I really didn’t do a ton of online yarn shopping. I definitely ordered the occasional indulgence from Purl Soho, or Woolberry Fiber, or from a particularly good IG destash sale, but I would say that most of my skeins are actually ones that I purchased in-person at a festival, event, or local yarn store. This makes my stash even more special because most of the time, I have really specific memories attached to purchasing them, which I love.
I picked out this beautiful handful of yarn today because I wanted to share about my AMAZING local yarn store, Freeman’s Creative. Amelia has been running the store for just over 2.5 years here in Durham and it has been such a privilege to watch her business grow. She stocks a wide and beautiful range fabric and yarn, is incredible at bringing in teachers to teach fun and modern patterns, engaging with community through weekly craft clubs, and is generally just a super cool gal. She just transitioned all of her yarn and notions to her online store in the wake of the pandemic so if you are able, please go check her out! I think she is still working on getting all of her fabrics online as well, but rest assured, if you email in need of something specific, she will hook you up. She’s a fabric pairing genius. One of my favorite memories in Amelia’s store is walking in with a smattering of prints I wanted to turn into...something - and walking out after she pulled 15 bolts of fabric to try out with them with a plan for a full quilt. So, so fun.
Anyways, I digress. This is Illimani Santi, which I purchased at Freeman’s Creative a few months ago. I wasn’t familiar with this company before purchasing this yarn, but one squish and I was in love. It is a luxurious blend of ultra fine merino, baby alpaca, yak, and mulberry silk. Swoon. And their label doodles are so sweet.
This colorway is called “Sunset” and I actually think the color is most accurate in the first photo. It is slightly more berry-hued than pure rust which I love. The project that keeps coming back to me over and over with these skeins is some sort of half-circle shawl, with a little bit of lace, lots of garter, maybe some eyelets...something I want to just completely wrap up in as the weather cools or during these spring mornings. The squish factor is just so good. Occasionally I’ll just leave some yarn out on top of my cabinet because I can’t bear to put them away yet, and so I may be casting on with this sooner than I had originally thought. No complaints here.