caravan and kent—a love story

Posted on Posted in designing, patterns, yarn and dyeing

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a few weeks ago when we released the first design for the bare naked knitspot 2014 knitting club, we focused on the newest addition to our bare naked wools yarn collection—a worsted weight version of our kent merino/romney blend. this utterly squishaliscious selection knits up into the most delectable cables, knit/purl textures, and plain stockinette—all of which we got a taste of in the projects for that first shipment.

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we gave our clubbies first crack at purchasing the stock we had—for one week it was theirs alone. we thought we had tons enough on hand to list in the shop for general release, but by that monday, our shelves were swept clean of every salable skein we had!

so we were forced to delay the release of the yarn in our online store and also the patterns we planned to roll out with it.

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like this timelessly classic blanket, the caravan throw, which so many of you have written me about. our dear friend anne marie knit up this gorgeous sample in the new kent worsted; isn’t it great?

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you may also notice that with this new addition comes a new shade of kent—we’re calling it driftwood; we’ve got that in our kent DK as well, in case you prefer a lighter weight yarn.

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we showed the DK version in one of the slouch potato hats you saw on the blog last friday.

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months ago, when we laid plans for the release of this yarn and patterns, i never dreamed that this late in march we’d still be lusting to knit blankety weight items like the caravan pieces. and when we ran out of the yarn in february, i had every reason to believe that we might even miss the cold weather entirely before we could get restocked.

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yet here it is, the beginning of spring and wa-LA! still windy and icy cold most days and today—SNOW flying all about and piling up very quickly.

i do love to sit down in the evening with my current blanket or large shawl to cover my legs while the wind whines and whistles through the eaves of the house.

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and now we have the yarn for it. still in limited quantities, but enough to put together some kits—this caravan blanket is one—and still have single skeins available too. just in time to celebrate the fact that kent worsted is trending pretty high right now on the ravelry yarn page.

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(anne C. is laughing because she now lives most of the time in north carolina, where spring really HAS begun). she’s in town this week, but something tells me she’ll be hightailing it back there sooner than later . . .

she’s not laughing about the yarn though—that she really likes. in fact as far as i know, everyone who has some is really liking it. this was kind of a test for us; we’re trying to decide if we should make the worsted weight permanent and have it spun in all sheds of kent. let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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remington (we call him remy) likes the blanket too—just saying’.

shown above, the lap size blanket in bare naked wools kent worsted, color driftwood. kit available too! click here to purchase or to view more information.

shown below, the baby square in snow leopard trust handspun mongolian camel, color desert.

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or maybe you’ve had a yen for something to wrap yourself up in for stepping out, day or night—we’ve got you covered for that too, with the caravan scarf or wrap.

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something a little more personal, this pattern offers three great quick-knitting options for giving or keeping: a scarf and two wraps to knit in worsted weight opt aran yarn.

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again, this was one of the original pieces from the february 2013 club pattern package and part of the 2013 BNK eBook, which contains fourteen terrific patterns for undyed yarns.

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and of course you can use the kent worsted to knit the gobi hat and mittens we featured on the blog last month

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it works beautifully for these warm accessories. in fact there are a number of designs that would work a treat

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susan knit up our popular creel cowl and is now working on the matching hat and mitts. this is one of sarah’s favorites; she’s been pushing for a while to have this design knit up in our yarns. now that we have it, she put together a creel kit in several sizes, so you are covered, whether you want to make one piece or all three. she even got her friend mike to model it for us (thanks mike!)

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and the two of them, along with david, braved the biting wind today to get some nice shots in our downtown neighborhood.

to purchase patterns or view complete pattern information, please click here to visit the caravan blanket page or caravan scarf/wrap page in the knitspot pattern shop or visit the caravan blanket page or caravan scarf/wrap page in our ravelry pattern shop.

click here to view all kits.

the  patterns are also included in the BNK 2013 eBook collection—14 terrific garment and accessory patterns that celebrate the beauty of natural fiber, each one multi-sized and suitable for gifting or keeping; many will have universal appeal for women, men, and children alike. purchase the eBook collection from the knitspot club website or in our ravelry pattern shop.

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the BNK eBook is a very special component of our club; packed chock full of valuable information, each chapter provides a depthful study of fiber types and the production behind making them into yarns, beautifully photographed and fully researched. taking the current eBook subscription is a great way to participate in our BNK 2014 club if you missed getting a yarn membership, are on a budget, or prefer to spin your own yarns.

for more information or to purchase your 2014 subscription, please click here.

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ready to get your hands knuckle deep in some heavenly yarn goodness? click here for more information or to purchase the latest drool-worthy selections we have to offer. have a great, knitterly weekend; try to stay warm!

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OH! and if you plan to visit the fiber expo in ann arbor michigan this weekend, you will have a chance to see and squeeze this yarn in person at our booth—along with all of our other yarns in every color we currently have in stock. susan, erica, and barb are super excited about this weekend’s event, so please do stop in, say hello, and browse our overflowing selection of goodies. it promises to be a terrific weekend.

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7 thoughts on “caravan and kent—a love story

  1. Beautiful yarns Anne, it is hard to pick a favourite. Each time I think I have it sorted, you go and release another gem!! The Caravan blanket looks great in the Kent yarn.

  2. I love the yarny posts! The last photo… to be surrounded by all that scrumptious yarn? Pure heaven!

  3. I am in love with the Kent Worsted. i loved it while I was knitting with it but I love it even more after washing and blocking. it’s another winner Anne!!!

  4. I’m in the middle of knitting a sweater for my husband in the Kent worsted–it is splendid stuff!

  5. Dachshund-approved – that’s essential in my household! A handsome throw indeed, and I love all the garments in this post too.

  6. I’m in total agreement with the folks above…the Kent worsted has been a delight to knit. More, please!

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