New yarn, and news!

It’s been quite the year. I mean, that’s one of the biggest understatements I can imagine at this point, but I suspect that many of you understand the feeling. Between the pandemic, a series of health problems triggered by the Ravelry redesign, and an unexpectedly long stay in New Brunswick, I feel like I’ve been in suspended animation. A whole lot has happened– yet I’ve barely been outside my small town in more a year and a half.

This time-outside-of-time has given me the chance to make a lot of decisions about what I want to do in my life. The most exciting news for gobsmacked fans? I’m moving to Sackville, New Brunswick permanently, where I’ll be devoting considerably more of my time to gobsmacked. Over the next six months or so, I’ll be reintroducing monthly yarn updates, launching a new and improved email newsletter, and creating a new website. All of this means that there will be more yarn available than ever before, with a more typical online shopping experience and a more streamlined process for special requests.

It will take a while to roll out all of these changes– I have to deal with a lot of loose ends in Ontario first, including closing down that studio and bringing that equipment here to New Brunswick.

The plan is to have an update this coming week (Saturday, 17 July at 3pm EDT), then I’ll be away for the month of August to pack up and move. I’ll be back in September with regular monthly updates and a new system for my email list. The website will follow later in the year. I’ll keep you updated here and through my email list– do stay tuned!

Oh, and that new yarn? It’s pretty special!

Kerfluffle: 69% silk, 22% kid mohair, 9% nylon (349 m./ 382 yds. per 100g skein)

Introducing Kerfluffle, a super-soft, luxurious fingering-weight yarn made of silk, kid mohair, and nylon. It’s made with one thick strand plyed against a thin nearly invisible thread, a construction gives you the look of a singles yarn, with greater stability and less tangling mess. The combination of silk and this particular plying structure give it a beautiful, lustrous quality that lets the colors really glow. It’s a premium yarn– $55 Canadian for 100g– that’s worth every penny just to see it flow through your fingers and off your needles. I’ll have the first batch of Kerfluffle available in Saturday’s update. See you then!

Elizabeth (my wife) and me on our front porch in Sackville, admiring our test cakes of Kerfluffle. We’re pretty predictable in our color choices, eh?

March update

Thanks for a great update! I’ve sent all the invoices and will be shipping Monday afternoon/ Tuesday morning.

Welcome to the March update!  If you see some yarn you’d like to claim, email me at gobsmackedyarn@gmail.com.  An update can get pretty wild on my end, but I promise I’ll respond to your email to let you know if you got your choices.  I’ll send out PayPal invoices once things start to quiet down a bit (usually, about an hour after the update starts).

Reminders: Colours vary from device to device; I always include a written description of how I see the colour, but please do ask if you’re uncertain about a particular cake or set.  I’ll mail packages on Monday afternoon/ Tuesday morning. Please note that many mail services are still experiencing delays due to the pandemic; I can’t make any promises about delivery times.

Four Quarter: Top left: In the Gloaming Hour; Top right: Quiet Time; Bottom left: Taking a Breather; Bottom right: Restful

Four Quarter: Top left: Marsh Life; Top right: What I Know Is True; Bottom left: Plums for Tarts; Bottom right: What is Real

Four Quarter: Top: My Way to Tell You; Bottom left: The Gift of Grace; Bottom right: Walk This World Forever

Four Quarter: Top left: Working Through It; Top right: To the Deeper Sea; Bottom left: Not Done Yet!; Bottom right: Whyever Not?

Four Quarter: Top left: To Wait and Wonder; Top right: Living It Up; Bottom left: Arise, Spring!; Bottom right: Bestest Blurple

Four Quarter: Top left: Carried on to Meaning; Top right: The Perfect Pansy; Bottom left: Dried Flowers Forever; Bottom right: Teal Confetti

Four Quarter: Top left: Burn Down and Build Up; Top right: The Following Storm; Bottom left: Dreamscape; Bottom right: The Cat’s Tiger Lily

Four Quarter: Top left: All the Goodly Greens; Top right: Sweet Tulip Mine; Bottom left: Dreaming of Roses; Bottom right: Listening to Life

BFL Giant: Left: When the Tantramar Feels the Spring; Centre: Barn Party; Right: Blimey!

Cabra giant: Left: Lift Up the Sky; Centre: Breaking Out; Right: Oh, Blossom!

Silky Yak DK doubles (one long gradient, dyed across two 100g cakes): Top: Going Out to Sea; Bottom: Up a Favorite Tree

Silky Yak DK doubles (one long gradient, dyed across two 100g cakes): What I Remember

Merino/ silk DK doubles (one long gradient, dyed across two 100g cakes): Top: Mud and Stone; Bottom: Twigs and Mosses (one knot that does not interrupt the gradient, which I consider a minor flaw; $96 Canadian)

Merino/ silk DK doubles (one long gradient, dyed across two 100g cakes): Top: The Brilliance of Berries; Bottom: Emerald Evening

Flexture

Have you seen Flexture?  It’s a gorgeous new(ish) design by Kim McBrien Evans, from the book Custom Shawls for the Curious and Creative Knitter.  The book is written by the unbeatable duo of Kate Atherley— the math nerd and technique maven– and Kim McBrien Evans, who loves to creatively break all the rules.  As with so many of Kim’s designs, Flexture is an unusual but very wearable shape that provides plenty of room to play with colour. 

Flexture shawl, by Kim McBrien Evans. Photo c. Abrams.

Flexture uses a gobsmacked merino/ silk DK double, which is a long gradient that plays out over two 100g cakes of yarn, plus Triton MCN DK from Murky Depths Dyeworks for the contrast colours. 

This weekend, I’ll have about a half dozen doubles of merino/ silk DK and Silky Yak DK in an online update. I’d love for you to find the perfect gobsmacked double for Flexture, and to pick out just the right colours from Murky Depths to go with it.  If that’s not in the cards, though, Kate and Kim also talk about why they chose gobsmacked and Murky Depths for this particular shawl, plus what to consider if you want to substitute a different yarn. In fact, this thoughtful discussion of yarn characteristics is part of all of the patterns in their book, making it possible to plan your own unique version of every shawl.

A Silky Yak DK double from gobsmacked would work beautifully for Flexture– and Kate and Kim’s detailed yarn discussion give you the information that you need to understand why. (More notes on yarn substitution are hiding in this picture under the yarn itself.)

When I daydream of colour combos, I think about the folds of the earth, the ribbons of water that braid their way to the sea, the strands of algae that float in the currents, the bands of clouds that spread across the sunrise sky…  Or, maybe you find beauty in the colours that spread across an oil slick, or the streaks from tail-lights that skitter across damp pavement at night.  Whatever your muse, I hope that you find inspiration and knitterly joy in Flexture!

Some colourful DK doubles, ready to spark inspiration for Flexture!

Online update: Saturday 13 March at 3pm Eastern Standard Time (Toronto/ New York).  New to my online updates?  Get an overview of the process here.

Do you need a copy of Custom Shawls of your own?  Order from indigodragonfly (here) or your local bookstore (indiebound)!

November update

Thanks for a great update! I’ll start sending out invoices Saturday evening and will have packages out on Monday.

Welcome to the November update!  If you see some yarn you’d like to claim, email me at gobsmackedyarn@gmail.com.  An update can get pretty wild on my end, but I promise I’ll respond to your email to let you know if you got your choices.  I’ll send out PayPal invoices about an hour after the update starts, once things start to quiet down a bit; please note that invoices are due upon receipt (with a little leeway for different time zones and schedules).

Reminders: Colours vary from device to device; I always include a written description of how I see the colour, but please do ask if you’re uncertain about a particular cake or set.  Also note that package delivery is likely to be slow due to the pandemic. Unfortunately I can’t guarantee delivery times.

Four Quarter: Top: 935 Bulbs; Bottom left: Earthship; Bottom right: Bagtown

Four Quarter: Left: Sing It Out; Right: Friendly Buttons

Four Quarter: Top: Build It Up Better; Bottom left: Chaos Tidying; Bottom right: Underwater

Four Quarter: Left: Sempervivum; Right: Staycation

Four Quarter: Top: The Last Blush of Blueberry Bush; Bottom left: Citation Style; Bottom right: Which Pond?

Four Quarter: Top left: Sidewalk Solidarity; Top right: Nova’s Yard; Bottom left: Bridge to Nowhere; Bottom right: Parrot Party

Four Quarter: Top: Aliens in the Quarry; Bottom left: Seasonal Tarts; Bottom right: Two Cat Cuddle (cake has a 12″ long section of damaged ply that I consider a flaw; price $40)

Four Quarter: Top: Mount Chesterfield, Elevation 2m; Bottom left: Looping Around; Bottom right: Sunday Drive

Four Quarter: Top: Five Golden Doors; Bottom left: Impending Snugs; Bottom right: Ephemera

Gobsmidgeon (50g of Four Quarter, $22): The Big Idea

merino/ silk fingering: Been Waitin’

merino/ silk fingering double (one long gradient, dyed across two 100g cakes): Go Plant Your Flowers

merino/ silk fingering double (one long gradient, dyed across two 100g cakes): Opalescent

Cabra giant: Walk in Walker Woods

Cabra giant: Top: Sofa-Yarn Stash; Bottom left: Dog in Duvet; Bottom Right: Three Good Ideas

Snarkle (two matching 50g gradients of sparkle sock, wound in opposite directions to better show colours, $45): That Inner Voice

picnic, lightning

It’s been a rough several months, hasn’t it?

There’s a poem called Picnic, Lightning that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. It’s a classic Billy Collins poem (i.e., dark yet oddly charming) that was inspired by a line by Nabokov, in which the narrator explains his mother’s death with just two words: picnic, lightning.

I reckon that my last eight months are best summarized in similar fashion: pandemic, migraine. Both experiences are new to me, both have sucked up my time and creative energies, and both have, unfortunately, become my new normal.

The good news is that I’m adapting and figuring out new ways forward. I’m getting back in the dye pots, catching up on my dye queue, and have scheduled the next online update: Saturday 14 November at 3pm Eastern Standard Time. I’ll post more details about what will be included in that update as the time draws near; in the meantime, I hope that you’re finding some creative joy, whether through yarn and colour or in some other way.

Working in the dyepots! (Yes, I wear an indoor hat; I get cold easily.)