January 2021 Newsletter!
I’m feeling rather philosophical at the moment… but rather than pooh pooh the Gregorian calendar and go on about how time is relative, I’ll just say this: Happy New Year Everyone!
So here’s what you’ll find in this newsletter:
January’s Club Colors!
Pattern Suggestions!
Last Month’s Fan Club Colors!
A January Promo!
January’s Club Colors:
For January, we thought we’d go with the theme of tiny creatures! Our Ornithology Club colorway is inspired by the Purple Crowned Fairy Wren, a tiny bird native to Australia.
Pink Earth Lichen and coordinating semisolid Lichen Pink.
Our Entomology Club colorway is inspired by the tiny Jumping Spider! There are many different sorts of jumping spiders, of course, but we thought this one was especially beautiful.
Jumping Spider and coordinating semisolid Jumping Spider Brown.
Our Botany Club colorway is inspired by a lichen I stumbled across on a hike just a few weeks ago! The brilliant and tiny fruiting bodies of the Pink Earth Lichen jumped out at me as we scrambled over some rocks in a disturbed patch of earth (under a power line). I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this tiny lichen not only produces this brilliant fruit in the winter, it also prefers poor and disturbed soils. What a beautiful thing to find in such an unlikely place!
Pink Earth Lichen and coordinating semisolid Lichen Pink.
For the Aquatic Club, we chose the Bobtail Squid. Like most squids, it can change color rapidly to blend in with its surroundings. This particular squid was flashing a full rainbow of color over it’s adorable little body! They can vary in size from 1 to 8 centimeters in length.
Bobtail Squid and coordinating semisolid Squid Orange.
For the Geology Club we decided to find the rarest mineral, and so we discovered Painite. It is a very rare borate mineral found in Myanmar. It contains Calcium, Zirconium, Boron, Aluminum and Oxygen, and trace amounts of Chromium and Vanadium. Its rarity, according to Wikipedia, is due to the fact that Zirconium and Boron rarely interact with each other in nature.
Painite and coordinating semisolid Painite Brown.
Pattern Recommendations:
I decided to look through Ravelry and pick a few of my favorite garments knit up in our yarn! Here they are, with some color recommendations from this month’s club!
For a Single Colorway:
Fingering:
How about a cowl? https://www.ravelry.com/projects/MustangMeg/paris-in-berlin
A single skein shawl! https://www.ravelry.com/projects/knitowl/eugene
There’s always socks! https://www.ravelry.com/projects/malaikag/scatterby-socks
Have you thought about delving into planned pooling? Here’s a beautiful example of what a difference it can make! The pattern, in this case, didn’t call for planned pooling, but the artist decided it would look better if she did, and boy isn’t that gorgeous?
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Gigi/favorite-scarf-ever
DK:
This project used two skeins of Painted Ghost Crab and we love it! https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Dubjp45/touchstone
For a Colorway and Coordinating Semisolid:
Fingering Weight: This is a fantastic example of how to turn a relatively plain monochromatic pattern into an absolutely gorgeous piece by using our crazy colorways and coordinating semisolids!
Here’s another beautiful sample: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/lpietropaoli/myrsine
Here are a few examples of the Breathe and Hope Pattern:
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/sewknit2/breathe-and-hope
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/alsullivan54/breathe-and-hope
This could work with a third color too, especially as it calls for more than two skeins of yardage:
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/rainier/study-hall-shawl
DK Weight:
Check out this beautiful cowl knit up in our Pride Colorway! This is a fantastic pattern for pairing some of our crazier colorways with a neutral semisolid. https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Thatgaykid/painting-bricks-cowl
Technically you could call these three semisolids… and you could probably use 2 colorways and 1 semisolid, as long as they had enough contrast. I LOVE this finished projects! So beautiful!
I’m not sure if this called for 2 colorways and 1 semisolid, or just 2 skeins of the colorway and one of the semisolid. Either way, I’m smitten!
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/sketchymurr/2020-rose-city-yarn-crawl-mkal
For more colorways!
We’ve seen so many gorgeous Slipstravaganzas started with Round Mountain FIbers!!! Here’s the first finished one (using our yarn) on Ravelry. It’s spectacular!
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/MarylandGirl/slipstravaganza
Another Steven West…. This one originally calls for 2 colors, but this talented knitter used many more to great effect!
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/JRoofCWood/starflake
And then there’s always the So Faded sweater. Go neutral or go wild! Your choice! https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Nothingbutknit24/so-faded
Last Month’s Fan Club Colors:
Love our yarn? Want to get some in the mail every month? Then join our Fan Club, where we work together to design a new, Fan Club exclusive colorway, every month! To join, click HERE.
Not ready to commit? You can still get last month’s Fan Club colors through Hook a Frog Fiber and Fun!
January’s Promo:
Use coupon code FADEPATTERN to get a FREE pattern with your purchase of two Mystery Fade Bundles! Order two mystery fade bundles, and add one of the two patterns below to your cart, and we’ll find two mystery bundles to suit the pattern, and your color preferences!
(Left) Come Together Fade (uses 2 different fade collections):https://roundmountainfibers.com/shop/come-together-fade
(Right) Make My Heart Sing Shawl (uses 2 of the same fade collection): https://roundmountainfibers.com/shop/make-my-heart-sing-shawl