Thursday, December 10, 2009

Bullfrogs & Butterflies

Today's post is about Bullfrogs & Butterflies. This is a single ply yarn, 85% wool and 15% mohair. It comes in 190 yard skeins and knits up at about 4-1/2 stitches/inch on US 8's. It's pictured here in the colorway Cat's Ahah!

The Ahah! colorway evolved from a conversation I had with Cat Bordhi a little more than a year ago. She wanted to create a "teaching yarn". She was looking for something that would allow students to easily see what they were doing so they could learn more readily. Both the yarn and the colorway were going to be part of the equation.

After looking at all of our yarns, Cat decided that Bullfrogs & Butterflies would be the perfect choice. The single ply meant it wouldn't get splitty and since it knits up at about 4-1/2 stitches per inch, it was substantial enough to make learning and teaching easier. I know Cat is linked with socks in our minds, but for this application, bigger is better.

Once we had decided on the Bullfrogs & Butterflies, the colorway was the next step. We wanted it to be both pretty and functional. The color changes needed to be very distinct and consistently about 5-6 inches long. After a bit of back and forth and a few near misses we came up with Ahah.

So, back to the yarn itself. B&B gives great stitch definition. That makes it a good choice for cables and texture work. Here is Kat Coyle's Ardent Jacket...it was featured in the Spring issue of Twist Collective. It's shown here in our Sheridan colorway. And modeled by the lovely Emily...we sure do miss her around here!














This yarn takes color beautifully. All of our yarns respond a little differently to dye, and this one just drinks it up. There are a couple of yarns that are a little fussy. We have to spend a little more time with them to get good results. Not so with Bullfrogs, it's a real pleasure to work with.

Last but not least, felting! This yarn felts like a dream!

I'll leave you today with a gratuitous Pug picture. This from Corinne Neissner's Doggie Knits. The colorway is Sherbet.

2 comments:

Allyson said...

That doggie sweater is so cute! And that yarn looks amazing. I would wear that sweater myself :)

Aran57 said...

I can see some Fuzzy Feet in Cat's Aha.