Happy New Year! I can’t remember another year when everyone let out a collective sigh of relief to see it go. Let’s hope for better things in 2021!

Hopefully my Party Like It’s 2021 colorway will soon live up to its name.

New $5 Flat-Fee Shipping

I have something exciting to share with you for the new year. I have new $5 flat-fee shipping now within The United States. That means you don’t have to worry about what shipping will cost. It will be same $5 whether you buy one skein or ten, and that goes for my clubs and spinning fiber too.

A Bit about Swatches

One of the things I love most is seeing how different colorways will work up. One of the things I like least is making endless little color swatches instead of working on my own knitting projects. A little while back, I decided to find a way to make more useful swatches. To that end, I got an Addi King, and I have been making hats so you can get a better idea of how different colorways will work up.

As you probably know, any color swatch has its limitations because how the yarn works up is going to vary depending on the width of the row, needle size, stitch tightness, and the type of stitches. Nonetheless, I find them useful to get an idea of how something is going to look, and I have heard from so many of you that the swatches help you decide what colorway you want or whether a particular colorway will fit your needs.

Take a colorway like Murder Mystery for example. As you can see from the photo, it has three different color blocks that are of similar length.

If you knit something narrow like a scarf, you may get a couple rows or maybe a row and a half of each color.

If you knit something wider like a shawl or sweater, you will get a part of each row in each color before it switches. Depending on the pattern, it might pool.

Here is a 3-inch swatch I knit using Murder Mystery on Sparkly Merino Sock:

You can see how the swatch has 1-1/2 to 2 rows of each color before switching to the next one.

With the hat I made on the Addi, each color block changes in less than a row as you can see below.

If you were to take this same colorway and use it to knit a shawl, this same effect would be magnified with each color block taking 6 to 8 inches before switching to the next color.

I am having so much fun making these hats! I’m still learning, but it’s fascinating watching the Addi go as I turn the crank. I almost feel like I’m cheating because they work up so fast, but it’s also nice because I get more swatches made for you and I get back time to knit personal projects on my needles too, so it’s definitely a win-win.

I am finding that it works nicely for Wonderful Worsted, Aran Go Baa, and Quick and Cozy Bulky. Here’s a sampling of the hats I have made so far:

This one is especially cute, don’t you think?

Once there are yarn festivals again, I plan to have a “hat tree.” As I get these done, I am adding them to the listings for that colorway.

January Club Colorway

For this month’s club colorway, I chose “Waiting” by Degas. I have been wanting to use a painting by Degas as my colorway inspiration for awhile now, and this one seems especially appropriate right now.

Ready to Go

I have so many more plans for 2021. I’ll be dyeing up more luxury top for spinning and felting, and I now have lots more yarn waiting to be dyed. It’s like a blank canvas. I’ll be adding some new and renewed spring colorways as well.

I would love to hear from you as well. What would you like to see at Purple Lamb?

Tools and Equipment

One more thing–I added a tool section to my shop. I currently have a selection of spindles.

I also have some fabulous little stitch gauge/yarn cutter/needle size tools made by a company called Tulip in Japan. These are nice and small and easy to keep in your project bag. As an added bonus, they are a lovely shade of purple.

I am making stitch markers and plan to add those as well in the near future.

That’s everything for today. I wish you the best for the new year. Happy fiber artistry!