I confess I’m one of those people whose knitting ambitions far exceed the number of available hours in the day. I’m also too easily pulled by the promise of a few skeins of gorgeous hand dyed yarn . As a result I’ve often got several projects on my needles at the same time.
These are all sweaters presently in the works:
clockwise from upper left: Grandpa Cardiagan by Joji Locatelli in DK Twist, Tuck by Veronica Avery in Tosh Sock, Beatnik by Nora Gaughan in Vintage
There’s a pretty nice range of projects on the go: each uses a different yarn weight, there are a couple of pullovers and a cardigan, and the styles range from casual to more tailored. At the same time they share a couple of things in common. Most obvious of these is that each of these three projects are being knit in a Madeleinetosh yarn: Grandpa Cardigan in DK Twist, Tuck in Tosh Sock, and Beatnik in Vintage.
While there isn’t a Tosh yarn base that I haven’t loved, it’s the colour that always pulls me in. I’m especially fond of the glazed solids with their subtle variegation’s that add a richness to the knitted textile fabric that seems I’ve only ever seen with hand-dyed yarns, and which to me are one of the subtle and very elegant distinctions of a beautifully hand-knit garment.
Madeleinetosh offers so many enviable colourways that I couldn’t choose without the help of serendipity. Knitty City, one of my favorite NYC yarn stores, just happens to be a hop, skip, and a jump from my daughters’ pediatrician and my hair stylist. While this is dangerous for my pocket book it is most advantageous for a little creative inspiration. Their Madeleinetosh stock must move quickly because they seldom have a sweater’s worth of a single colour but on a few occasions I’ve lucked out and found enough yarn in a single, to-die for colourway to make myself a sweater. The Vintage in Candlewick and Tosh Sock in Filigree I’ve currently got on my needles are two such hauls.
The DK Twist in Lolita was part of a particularly optimistic binge at the online shop that also included sweater quantities of DK Twist in Baltic and 80/10/10 Fingering in Seaglass, and Twist Light in Thistle:
Madeleinetosh Sweater Stash
Given the enormous distribution and popularity of Madeleinetosh yarn it’s clear that the founder and owner Amy Hendrix must be at the helm of a substantial enterprise. Nevertheless, the company has the feel of a small, woman-led, artisanal operation and that’s just the kind of business I’d like my retail therapy to support.