Sinopia & Blue Sky Alpacas (giveaway)
One of my goals for this book was to make patterns that would work with whatever amount of yarn you happened to have. It’s easy to feel like you can make something marvelous with 500 yards of yarn. It can be a bit trickier if you’re working with half that. But because of the shape of Curls, you can create a substantial, wearable piece with surprisingly little yarn. This one used only 250 yards, and you can see how flexible it is.
That flexibility makes Curls perfect for especially delicious yarns like this treat from Blue Sky Alpacas. The 50% silk 50% alpaca blend is marvelously indulgent. The alpaca makes it warm, the silk makes it glow, and the lovely, balanced three ply structure gives the yarn a fabulous drape. It’s just the tiniest bit slinky without being at all flashy. It feels marvelously grown up and elegant to me! The projects you make from it are destined to be something special.
And the good folks at Blue Sky Alpacas are going to help one of you make your own something special! They’ve got two skeins of the delightful Aplaca Silk plus one of their adorable project bags ready to send off to one of you. If you’d like it to be you, just leave a comment telling me what you look for in indulgent yarns. Is it the fiber? The softness? The color? There are no right or wrong answers, I just want to hear what you like!
Comments left between now and the end of the day (eastern time) Thursday, November 27th, 2014 will be entered to win. I’ll pick a winner, contact them to get their addresses, and arrange to get the goodies to them. When you leave a comment, be sure to use a real email address so I can contact you if you’ve won (I won’t do anything with those email addresses besides notify the winner). If I do get in touch with you, I need to hear back from you within 72 hours or I will pick a new winner and contact them.
I love the squish ones of really nice soft yarn.
I just purchased “Curls” and I love the patterns. I’m going to try some of the yarn you describe, so beautiful.
Both the feel of the yarn and the color move me.
Color of course, but also the appropriate twist/texture for the intended item, harder for socks than for shawls or sweaters.
The color must leap to my eye, and if the yarn feels soft and fine it’s mine.
In luxury yarn I want something that makes me feel amazing. The perfect colour, drape and texture.
Colour and texture. It doesn’t necessarily have to be soft, but a texture appropriate to the purpose and that I like the feel of.
I think the most important quality for me is softness; after that it’s definitely richness and brightness of color.
Firstly, the colour has to grab me and then the ‘snuggle’ factor – the softer, the better
For me it’s the sentiment–buying a luxury yarn is momentous, so I usually get them as souvenir yarns. My bison silk was what was on available when my hubs and I went on our first date alone (to the state fair) after our daughter was born. I bought my EcoAlpaca on my first solo yarn trip after the next daughter was born. For me, anything over $15 a skein is a luxury, and I like knowing that each garment is a wearable time machine.
If I’m in my LYS I go by the “feel” of the yarn. I squoosh it against my face, and thankfully that’s not frowned upon at “my” yarn store. If I’m buying online I look at the fiber content. I mean – how can you go wrong if it’s got alpaca or cashmere or camel or silk in it?
This my favorite Curl!
The way the yarn feels in my hands when I knit with it. Drape and and depth of color are important too.
I really like working with unusual blends of fibers. I really like wool/silk blends or yarns with alpaca in them.
I definitely fall into the tactile camp for indulgence (OK, for most things) – the texture, the softness, the drape. All important and then the colour has to be right.
Drape, softness and color! Silk blends never disappoint.
For me, its the softness and the color, but I want a yarn that wears well too – that’s a deal breaker for me. I guess I fell like what makes it a luxury yarn is that it “does it all.”
I look for fiber first and then color.
Softness and sheen followed by color would be how I went….
I go for both softness and color … and in that order! I would love to win this giveaway!
First, rich color, then I want it to feel good in my hands when I’m knitting and good on me when i wear it
LIke wands in Harry Potter, I believe that the yarn chooses the knitter. At least, thats the way it seems to happen for me. There is rarely thinking involved. A yarn will simply leap into my hand, the bonding is instantaneous. Then I squish and sniff, take in the coloration and texture. Agree with the yarn on what it wants to become.
color, color, color. It reflects the mood of the moment. A personality for a day. If I don’t love the color it will never come off the shelf, no matter how soft it is.
Lovely patterns. I bought it already.
Color catches my eye first. Softness is second. Then yarn structure is the final must have. Will the yarn keep the garment in shape.
For me it needs to be soft and be a color I could not live without. Of course silk or cashmere always help.
Color and how it feels
First is the way it feels, but I am also a sucker for great colors.