The New-Shoes Feeling

Dear Kay,

You know it well: it’s the new-shoes feeling. The box that just arrived. The thing you’ve looked forward to is finally here. Jane! We’ve got new Jane!

We’d been waiting for the arrival of our new colors of Jane for many months. I honestly forgot what the palette looked like, it was such a blur of decision-making and committing to ordering a lot of yarn from our friends in Yorkshire.

It’s not something we do often at MDK, so figuring out new colors for our extremely custom yarn is basically an exercise in trusting our gut, giving it our best shot, and hoping all goes well.

Please say hello to 22 colors who seem to be very excited to know each other. New arrivals are in bold: Heather, Peony, Caladium, Scarlet, Clay, Persimmon, Marigold, Citronelle, Pampas, Sage, Juniper, Earth, Shadow, Frost, Lilac, Aubergine, Celeste, Vista, Bluebell, Yorkshire, Cameo, and Pothos/Pathos. (That dark green somehow ended up with two names, depending on the label you get, so you can go with either Cheerful Houseplant or Heartbreaking Pity as your vibe.)

For anybody out there with a blanket itch to scratch, we’ve got a new bundle with all these colors, the Jane Palette Pack. (MDK Society members save 10% with the member coupon code.)

Cutting Loose

My first move was to find a blanket pattern as fast as I could. I know you’re thinking I would head straight to a log cabin idea. Don’t worry—I will. But right now I was jonesing for small squares where I could get all 22 colors going as fast as I could.

The answer: The Fly Away Blanket, one of the many smart designs by Tin Can Knits. Once you dive into the 1,106 Fly Away Blanket projects on Ravelry, the whole thing becomes irresistible.

The pattern includes schematics showing how to assemble a bunch of seven-inch squares all sorts of ways, riffing on the Flying Geese quilt pattern. And it’s such a typically well-written pattern, hats off to Emily and Alexa.

What’s my riff going to be?

I have no idea. Please stay tuned. For the main color, I chose Yorkshire, the color that shows what the Falklands/Masham fiber looks like undyed. I like its warm gray—it’s the base color that underlies all the other 21 colors.

Each square means I wind another color of Jane. I’ve got such a fever for this project, especially because I can’t decide on the arrangement of the squares.

Sometimes I get a vague sense of what it must be like to be Kay Gardiner when she goes on a tear. I’m on a tear, Kay! Knitting is so fantastic!

Love,

Ann