Inspiration
Rare and Special: Three Yarns to Try
Dear everybody,
The power is back on at MDK headquarters in Nashville, and for us that is a relief. We discovered last week that running an e-commerce enterprise is a bit tricky when there’s no e. But where there’s a will (and a Toyota-powered Rube Goldberg machine to print shipping labels), there’s a way. We are so grateful to have a team that jumps in and does improbable things without a blink: great thanks and kudos to Ashley, Hannah, Janet, and just arrived (brave!), Chris.
We’re going to go for the glass-half-full way of thinking. We are all feeling nerves at the moment, and life feels off kilter right now in a way that is unnerving at best.
With that in mind, we have good things on the horizon, and we hope you’ll hang with us as we all navigate the waters ahead.
Trying a New Yarn
We have certain yarns in the Shop that are so special that you may not have heard of them.
MDK March Mayhem is coming (this Friday! it’s happening!), so we’d like to get in the Mayhem mood and spend a bit of time with three yarns that are noble, fine yarns of excellent character. Knitting Mayhem patterns is good fun when you have a great yarn.
Please note: all three yarns are now available at a tasty 10% savings. Just use the coupon code MAYHEM10 at checkout.
Swatchgenie Cristina Shiffman sat down with these beauties and swatched up three patterns from previous MDK March Mayhems.
It’s time to settle in for a round of our favorite knitting game, Perfect Yarn/Perfect Pattern.
Civility Sport + Dunas Shawl
Gretha Mensen’s delectable texturefest is artfully designed—she is a master of these wraps, and Dunas is truly gorgeous.
Here you can see how it looks with our Civility Sport by Elemental Affects, a blend of 70% U.S.-grown merino and 30% imported mulberry silk.
It is a luxurious blend, with Jeane deCoster’s hand-dyed color adding depth to it all. We have 14 shades on hand, all of them really good. One skein will give you a perfect spring-time neck and shoulders shawlette. Two skeins will give you a full-sized, lush result as shown below.
Raíz + Iqaluit Shawl
The Iqaluit Shawl by The Petite Knitter caught our eye because it allows for both textures and colorplay.
The yarn here? Raíz by Amores Yarns, the work of Amor Esperanza out in New Mexico. It’s a 100% superfine merino superwash, spun as a single. It’s very soft and delicious.
Amor created these colors exclusively for MDK.
The twelve shades can pair in myriad ways, either high contrast or low, bright or subtle as you like. A skein of each color is plenty.
Clockwise from top left: Charisma and Botany, Sequoia and Meadow, Sherlock and Poignant, Constellation and Alliteration, Spices and Poetry, Linger and Morning Fog
Winterburn Aran + Mistigri
Really lovely, Orlane Sucche’s Mistigri.
We see this beautiful cardigan in Winterburn Aran, the all-British yarn from Baa Ram Ewe. It’s 50% Bluefaced Leicester, 25% ecru Masham and 25% dark brown Masham.
The nine shades we carry all share a rich depth of color due to the dark brown fiber in the blend. If you are in the market for the snuggliest cardigan imaginable, this is a contender.
Remember: These designs are available on Ravelry via the links provided; the yarns are in the MDK Shop. These three yarns are all available at a 10% savings when you use the coupon code MAYHEM10 at checkout. This promotion will run through Monday, March 16, 2020 at 11:59 CDT.
Love,
Ann and Kay
The blue shawl has really caught my eye. Presumably that’s also Dunas, but with a garter border? But I can’t work out which shade of Civility Sport it’s in. Please enliighten me!
It looks like “Stonewash” to me. I’ll be curious, though, to see if I’m correct.
High five! You got it, Elisa. Deirdre, when you click over to the Civility product page, you’ll see all the colors available. The photo in the post shows a selection of the colors. Sorry for the confusion!
What is the pattern of the blue shawl in the photo?
I absolutely LOVE Raiz! I’m using the skein I got from MDK in Sherlock as part of my Fantastitch shawl and it is gorgeous to knit with.
Of course, I originally got it along with a couple other colors to make a Superscript shawl…guess I better get another skein 😉
Love the Iqaluit shawl’s colors. What is the name of the brown color?
Resilient, persistent, creative problem solvers—what a team! I’m thinking about all the things one could power with a Toyota and waiting with bated breath for March Madness to begin.
This year’s sponsor of March Mayhem is….TOYOTA. :)))
I wish I were a shawl wearer! These are really beautiful. I have knitted with the Civility Sport, and I found it to be luscious to knit with and lovely to look at. These are wonderful yarns!
The yarns are so pretty…deb