Fun
Pattern Scout: 8 Ideas We Love for Dyed in the Wool
A favorite hobby of ours, other than incessant daily knitting, is scheming up our next bit of incessant daily knitting.
Sometimes we start with a pattern. And sometimes we start with a yarn.
Spincycle’s Dyed in the Wool is our launching point today. We just received a new batch in the Shop, so we’re here to help you scope out possible ways to use this rare bird.
It’s unnaturally mesmerizing to knit Spincycle Dyed in the Wool. It does beautiful things. It shifts right before your eyes. It’s unpredictable and wild and addicting. And when you pair two shades in contrasting colorways, the drama doubles.
This 100% American wool is dyed by hand, then millspun—it is like no other.
What to Make? Inclinations!
Brand new from Andrea Mowry is her Inclinations Cowl.
photo © Andrea Mowry
Two skeins each of two colors in half-fisherman’s rib, which is surely one of the smooshiest, delicious fabrics in the knitting world. This design is a riff on The Shift cowl, that design that I’ve made three times already. I love this variation and imagine all sorts of combinations. One tip: really zowie colors get broken up when knitted this way, so it’s fun to go with vibrant colors here. See all the colors in our Shop right here.
The Shift
Speaking of incredibly popular patterns . . . With just three skeins of Dyed in the Wool (one skein in each of three colors), you can join the over 9,000 happy knitters who’ve made Andrea’s fabulous wear-with-everything accessory, The Shift.
CASTAWAY, MISSISSIPPI MARSALA, AND SUMMER LOVE
MIDSOMMAR, SUNSET STRIP, AND ABSINTHE, which is currently out of stock, but Robin’s egg would be a good fit
A Quick Hat
Looking for a smaller project to try out Dyed in the Wool and mosaic knitting? Check out Andrea’s Shiftalong, a slouchy hat that takes just two skeins, one color each.
PHOTO © ANDREA MOWRY
A Whole Entire Sweater
If you’re feeling ambitious, there’s Shifty, or you can combine a favorite fingering-weight solid with a few skeins of Dyed in the Wool to make Andrea’s Stonecrop Cardi or Stonecrop Pullover.
Stellar Dendrite by Fatimah Hinds
Fatimah Hinds has a great one-skeiner hat (or two skeins if you go for the third size) called Stellar Dendrite. (That’s a fancy way to say “snowflake.”) This cabled hat is superfancy and juicy.
Leif Cowl by Dianna Walla
This favorite design is a highlight of MDK Field Guide No. 3: Wild Yarns. Make your Leif Cowl short with one skein each of two colors, or long with two skeins each of two colors. Stranded and worked in the round, this is a great way to see Dyed in the Wool do its crazy thing.
From the top: Salty Dog + Family Jewels, Deep Bump + Melancholia, Nostalgia + Devilish Grin
Please note that your skeins will totally vary, due to the artisanal way this yarn is made. There are no dye lots. We show you these Leif Cowls with the understanding that your Leif Cowl will look different from these! See all our available Dyed in the Wool right here.
I get stupid just looking at the choices! I have some for patterns in my queue…then see ideas like these. Sadly, due to pandemic-induced financial hits, Spincycle has faded from my budget. Fortunately, my LYS is now stocking a substitution out of Maryland, twice the yardage at the same price….I hate that this is what some of us are facing!! Thank goodness lusting over your projects
is free. They are so beautiful!
What yarn did you use as the substitution???
Same question!!!
Sorry to say this, but I totally agree with Kathleen E.! Price, combined with frustrating difficulty obtaining Spincycle Yarn, has prompted me to move on to numerous other similar, and lovely quality, choices. How nice, for those who want to purchase it, that MDK now has it in their shop rather than have to face the frequent “sold out” and “Email when available” notices from them. I adore Andrea Mowry and her patterns. I think she has been very influential in catapulting Spincycle Yarn to its immense popularity.
I’m delighted to see Fatimah Hinds’ Stellar Dendrite among your suggestions! I’m working on that right now, using a Spincycle mill ends hat set that I nabbed some time last year. I love her cabled hats, and I love that she encourages us all to go ahead and use variegated yarns in cabled patterns.
I love it so much!
I made The Shift with Dyed in the Wool this winter and it was a very entertaining ride. Always eager to see what color combinations would pop up next. I’ve already got the yarn to make a second one and there will no doubt be a third. Thanks, MDK, for carrying this beautiful yarn.
I also suggest Gamut, by Lori Versaci! It’s an easy shawl that blends two colorways of Dyed in the Wool or Dream State. My Gamut is one of my all-time favorite, wear-it-with-anything FOs.
I made a “bobble-less” Stonecrop cardigan a few years ago. It still brings me pleasure. Robin’s Egg is a joy forever.
I bet if you paired it with a dark solid it would make a beautiful Pressed Flowers shawl!
It is stunning yarn, but really expensive. I made two Shift Cowls using two colorways of Spincycle and one of another yarn that is not variegated or marled, but is even softer (and less $$) than Spincycle’s yarns. They came out really nice and I don’t begrudge spending what I did for the yarns, given that they were not only really fun experiences but I kept one and LOVE wearing it, and gave one to my new daughter-in-law. Good yarn is indeed expensive, and this is a frustrating brand to try to get…so we are lucky to have MDK making it more available to us. (Sorry if I posted two comments here– I thought I posted one already but don’t see it.)
Feederbrook Farm Entropy DK has been a popular choice for various Shift patterns. I bought some from StevenBe recently though I’ve yet to cast on.
Gail Zucker’s excellent Twin Cities roundup included the shops in the MN Shop Hop, and I for one love how each stocks different yarns and offers a different vibe. Like a few other commenters I’ll give a shout out to StevenBe in Minneapolis. Come and visit in person if you can, otherwise they will gladly ship to you.
I also have to agree with Kathleen E. All I can do at this point is admire the beautiful yarn. Prices on everything these days is making me rein in my spending habits. It is gorgeous
I just purchased the yarn for The Shift, and am subbing Malibrigo Arroyo for Dyed in the Wool. Dyed in the Wool is just too expensive for a 50g skein.
The Shift is mesmerizing to knit and I’ve made two. I also suggest Brain Frieze, a cowl which can be made with two skeins of contrasting colors. I use Yarn Hero, similar to Spincycle, made here in Maryland. Feederbrook Farm Entropy is also similar. I’ll try Spincycle sometime, too.
Seriously! $ 128 for a cowl. We are helping to fund, rightfully genocide on Ukraine. Of course shortages, the inflation of COVID19 remains. Food, energy costs. Idk anybody knitting a $128 cowl.