Friday, August 31, 2007

Intro and Yarn Sub Idea

Hi everyone! My name is Elizabeth, and I'm very pleased to be joining this knit along. I don't have a blog (yet!), but I have been knitting for several years. I actually have very little experience with fair isle though; I mostly work with texture stitches and cables. I think the Mirepoix Bodice is so pretty though, I had to try! I'm glad I'll have some "buddies" here to help, if I run into a rough patch though.

I wanted to let everyone know about an idea I had for yarn substitutions. It hasn't been released yet, but in the Elann Newsletter they showed a new line they will begin selling on Sept. 18. It is a sportweight 100% alpaca called Peruvian Pure Alpaca Fina. They have colors very similar to the Louet Gems shown in the magazine. You can look at the preview here (WARNING! .pdf).

I will be using oregano as the main color, with peridot, sepia, amber, smoky grape, sierra, and spiced wine for the other colors, but I think there are actually a few choices you could make there. They aren't an exact match (especially the amber and the smoky grape) but I think they are very close and the price is nice too! I was actually thinking of tea dying the amber, to see if I could tone down the yellow, but I guess i should probably order it and swatch first. :P

100% alpaca might be a bit too warm for some people, especially double stranded (actually, it might be too warm for me!) but I've got my yarn coming in at about $50, and that's just too nice to pass up. I hope this helps someone; I know what a pain color substitutions can be.

3 comments:

Jenny said...

I think those are great subs! Elann also has a new DK merino that would work too, but you'll need to get creative with the colors because they don't have good matches for some of them.

Robin said...

Welcome, Elizabeth! Thanks for the info on Elann's new line!

Knittymuggins said...

Welcome Elizabeth! Thank you *so* much for sharing that info with the rest of us! Glad you'll be knitting along with our group :)