Yarn Test Kitchen – Hate The Cold
Keeley Richardson
Founder and Chief Fiber Officer
Welcome back to The Woolpack Yarn Test Kitchen!
February, the month of St Valentine and romance. As the month draws to a close we had an abundance of fiber loveliness to capture our hearts in the Yarn Test Kitchen – four beautiful skeins of very different yarns from indie dyer and fiber artist, Seth of Hate The Cold. The skies are back to being a little on the gray side here in the PNW, but Seth’s hand dyes brought, pops of color and cozy feels to our knitting needles. As always, we are excited to share the yarn and makes we fell in love with this month!
Our January Yarn: Hate The Cold Yarns
Seth Goldfarb is the machine knitter, indie dyer and Seattle Based knitwear designer, behind the super cool yarn brand Hate The Cold. You may have been lucky enough to come across his brightly dyed and ethically sourced yarns at LYS trunk shows, craft pop ups and occasional booths at Pike Place Market.
A lot of time and effort goes into sourcing Hate The Cold yarns. All fibers are chosen on the basis that no animals are harmed in production, workers receive fair wages and have safe working conditions. Sustainability is also at the heart of Seth’s craft. He champions working with fibers that are durable, and completely natural so that they can be composted after many years of use.
Hate The Cold yarns come in an exciting range of fiber and colorways – fluorescent saturated skeins that glow in the dark, deep tonals inspired by nature and soft naturals. We were excited to test samples from across the range this month!
Our Seasonal Baked Treat : Delicious handmade bagels from A Bagel to Remember
I was delighted to hand the baking reins over to my lovely friend Morgan for this month’s Yarn Test Kitchen. She is a sourdough baker extraordinaire and treated us all to a selection of her plain and everything bagels. I am not exagerating when I say that these are the best bagels I have tasted in a long time. They are light and crisp up deliciously when toasted. Luckily for people living close to Snoqualmie, Morgan has recently begun baking and selling to order. If you would like to try them for yourself then feel free to reach out to Morgan via her Instagram @theemoknitter
We ate our bagels toasted with cream cheese and fruit. I rustled up some honey cinnamon whipped cream cheese. This is a recipe I have wanted to try for a while and it comes from The Cook’s Treat Blog. I highly recommend giving it a go if you want to level up your toast!
Tester: Keeley – Yarn: 100%Peruvian Alpaca Yarn, Aran weight 181yds – Color Way: Fluorescent Purple – Pattern: Sanne Cowl by Jacqui Verbeek
Not my usual color choice, but when I first saw this fabulous yarn, I knew I wanted to experience it! Hate The Cold Aran weight Alpaca yarn is plump, bouncy and as soft as a cloud. Once you feel it you will want to wear it next to your skin, so naturally I had to knit a cowl. Can we take a moment to appreciate the color? Trust me when I say that the skein positively glowed. There are purple and magenta tones that mingle beautifully in this yarn bringing colorful joy to skip across your needles and bring all the happy vibes.
I wanted to knit an accessory that reflected all the fun that Seth’s hand dye exudes, so I was delighted when this fun pattern popped up during my Ravelry search. I’ve not knitted bobbles in a while, and it was fun to reacquaint myself with this knitting technique. The Sanne Cowl pattern is easy to follow and includes three different sizes so you can make one for all the family. Great news – it’s also free on Ravelry!
Yarn Tester: Caitlyn – Yarn: Cotton Linen Yarn, 60% cotton, 40% linen, 380yds – Color Way: Green – Pattern: Spring into Autumn Scarf by Kate Strikker
Caitlyn in her own words: “Knitting and crochet are the most fun creative outlets for me. I love creating something tangible where only an idea existed before.”
Caitlyn brought another showstopper to this month’s Yarn Test Kitchen! Seriously how elegant is this scarf? It is also a perfect pattern choice for this stunning lightweight yarn from the Hate The Cold dye studio. The cotton/linen mix provides a great stitch definition that makes those leaf motifs jump out of the fabric. The color reminds Caitlyn of fresh spring grass – a taste of things to come.
Kate Strikker’s pattern makes this botanical lace design accessible – a great option for intermediate knitters looking to try a new technique. Caitlyn added a couple of her own modifications for personal finishing touches. She worked short rows at the bottom of the scarf to make a curved edge and used a picot bind off. The result is a knitted work of art that she is excited to wear over the coming months.
After admiring the beautiful Spring into Autumn scarf our thoughts drifted to the warmer months that will be arriving before we know it. This is a great time to get to know Seth’s cotton linen range. Caitlyn highly recommends it.
Yarn Tester: Morgan – Yarn: 100% Peruvian Alpaca 4 ply, worsted, non superwash Fingering, 430 yards – Color Way White/Gray Mix – Pattern: Lily Sheer Top by Irene Lin
Morgan in her own words: “I taught myself to knit 12 years ago and have always enjoyed working with beautifully hand dyed yarn. I love the way knitting both calms and challenges me with every project.”
Morgan wins the award for this month’s speediest knitter – she was pretty close to completing a different T-shirt style top when she decided it wasn’t quite right. So, with just thirty six hours until our YTK gathering, Morgan ripped out her project and began all over again. Scroll forward a day and a half and this adorable, cropped tee was finished and ready to wear. Super speedy knitting and the result is fabulous!
It’s always satisfying when you can create a garment with just one skein of yarn, and Morgan has knitted a great example. The Lily Sheer Top is an elegant short sleeved blouse; a simple design that is elevated by cute puff sleeves and is a great spring to summer wardrobe staple. It’s one of Morgan’s favorite patterns and it is easy to see why. Seth’s fingering weight yarn works perfectly for this design – the soft Merino fibers fill in the stitches and although it is hard to tell in the photos, the fabric has a beautiful halo. We were all impressed with Seth’s dyeing – the grey speckles on this skein were distributed perfectly with no pooling in sight – a fabulous neutral!
Yarn Tester: Gail – Yarn: Peruvian Alpaca Yarn, Aran weight 181yds – Color Way: Forest Green – Pattern: Vaapukka by Pauliina Kuunsola
Gail in her own words:“I have been knitting for around 15 years and find I love knitting more than ever, especially when I work with beautiful hand dyed yarn.”
Three little words: Gail’s gorgeous gloves! Gail was happy to report that “This yarn is some of the softest non-superwash yarn I have ever worked with.” When we got our hands on these fabulous fingerless mitts we all had to agree. Whoever gets to wear these mitts throughout the rest of the winter is guaranteed to have the coziest hands around. As well as being incredibly soft the plump alpaca yarn results in beautiful stitch definition that perfectly showcases the engaging pattern in Paulina Kuunsola’s design.
The mitten pattern can be found in Laine Publishing’s 52 Weeks of Easy Knits. It is one of our favorite books from the Finnish publishing house and Gail was delighted to finally knit the mittens which she has been eyeing for a while. If you don’t have a copy of the book, don’t despair, the Vaapukka pattern is also available to buy on Ravelry.
As always, if we have inspired you to knit/crochet any of the featured patterns, simply click on the pattern name to head to Ravelry.com. You can also find all of the Yarn Test Kitchen featured patterns on our Ravelry Projects Page – PSWoolpack.
We all enjoyed these four very different yarns immensely and we would like to say a very big thank you to Seth of Hate The Cold for sending us such marvelous skeins to sample. Do check out the full range of yarns over at the Hate The Cold online shop, and be sure to give Seth a follow on Instagram to stay up to date with all of the events he will be attending over the coming months.
Coming soon in the Yarn Test Kitchen: Huephoria Fibers
Yarn Test Kitchen
Your Monthly Yarn Review
One of my all time favorite knitting activities is a “show and share”, with friends – it’s a perfect way to seek ideas, gain inspiration and get helpful advice. This is the idea behind the yarn test kitchen – I hope our projects will have you reaching for your needles as we bring you our ideas on how to turn those neglected single skeins of yarn in to “One Skein Wonders”, and inspire you to try new yarns that are produced and sold across the Puget Sound Region.
Oh, and I’ll also be sharing monthly baking recommendations as we go. After all, who doesn’t love a slice of cake or baked good? Yum!
Happy reading!
Keeley