Yarns to Love
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
Oh glory!
My Celeste project is not flying as quickly as I wish (full hands, full heart) but is a joy to work with while I watch my fabric grow.
Your blanket will be a dream, Ann.
Ack, I want to go on a tear…so many WIPs, so little time. The palette is gorgeous
Agreed!! So many works in progress. I love the new Jane colors. It would be fun to make lots of striped hats. I see that in my future
I wish it was an advent calendar or in a 12 month year subscription where you got yarn every month would’ve been a great work along project maybe next year
Congratulations, MDK!
You folks do such great work!
Arlene.
Oh, you MDK folks and your blanket projects! Thanks to Kay, I am 3/4 of the way through a Moderne Log Cabin Blanket. Now Ann tempts me (successfully, I might add) with half square triangles (which will be delightfully more portable than the behemoth the log cabin blanket has become!). I am convincing myself that it will be a good seaming practice project along with several other less practical rationalizations. We shall see how many squares I complete by NYF! Thanks (?) for the inspiration.
I have been on a tear to finish my Waffle pullover out of Cameo and Aubergine Jane. It’s really lovely yarn. I can’t wait to play with the new colors!!
I spent quite a bit of time looking at the different configurations of the Fly Away Blanket — my brain just doesn’t get how the simple V formation could also be the quilt-like version. I am amazed. I am really looking forward to what you end up with Ann.
The colors of Jane are so beautiful. Great work (AGAIN).
You folks have really filled out the color range nicely! Enjoy your tear – I love all those colors against the gray.
That pattern makes my head spin – there are So. Many. Choices! It’s “choose your own adventure” on steroids. Can’t wait to see what you do with it!
i LOVE these new colors. Well done! Tear away!
For me, I can say you NAILED the new colors… there were only a few of the original set that were “me.” This time almost all the new ones…YAY! Well done!
I’ve been around many quilters, so one look at those knitted squares and I thought: half square triangles. If the gazillion projects on Ravelry don’t give you enough inspiration, searching for half square triangle quilts will give you many more ideas. As with log cabin squares, the half square triangle squares can be arranged to form many, many different patterns.
Those Jane colors are amazing.
I think Pothos/Pathos is my new favorite color
Paula’s.***@******il.com
Postscript: I finally did it. For weeks I have been mulling over the Waffle Pullover since reading Kay’s multi-chapter biography of hers. When the new Jane colors were introduced, I immediately fell for the one with the identity crisis – Pathos/Pothos. I perused the possible combinations and came up with Cameo as the contrast, but decided I should wait. Then, at the beginning of Ann’s article, there was the entire array with Cameo and Pathos snuggled together. My mother’s Christmas shopping rule was you could not buy anything for yourself after December 1st so again I decided I should wait. I read through Ann’s blanket obsession and got on with my day. Reading Clara’s article this morning, I heard the siren’s song and ordered my 12 skeins of Jane. Merry Christmas to me. Don’t tell my mother!
I see a temperature blanket in those colors!
Awsome
Dear Ann – Jane looks like it might be the perfect yarn for The Perfect Sweater (TM,AFAIK). Would you be willing to celebrate Jane by once again sharing the pattern for The Perfect Sweater? I can’t find it anywhere and miss it dearly. Thanks for considering and v/r, of course, Yvonne