Check out our new Stroll Tweed yarn! Once, a few years ago we had a yarn with the same name, however we’ve gone back to the drawing board when it came to the tweed nepps since then and I’m delighted to show you what we’ve come up with! I love the rich color palette we’ve chosen and the new natural-colored flecks. I love using the Stroll family for washable fingering weight projects (especially baby sweaters!) and Stroll Tweed. The minute we opened the box of our photography samples I grabbed a bag of the Indigo Heather (the prettiest purple-blue I’ve EVER seen!) and got to work picking out a pattern.
I didn’t care what I made, I just had to have a whole bag of that pretty yarn! I went through my Ravelry queue over and over again but I wasn’t finding anything that really spoke to me. I could do another shawl, but I thought all those pretty nepps really needed to be featured in a sweater of some sort.
I was still wracking my brains, trying to think of a project I liked enough to spend so much time working with fingering weight yarn when I spotted my copy of First Light on the shelf above my computer. When we first shot all the pieces in that collection I remember mentally bookmarking a few of them so I decided to flip through it to jog my memory.
I opened right to Jill Wright’s Kelso hoodie. I loved how this light weight sweater looked when we put it on Erin (our fantastic model for that half of the collection) and I loved it even more now that I was picturing it knit up with the yarn I’d picked. I envisioned it as the perfect “chilly office top” solution that would also be comfortable in the car on the ride home and endlessly washable which (in my mind) makes it the perfect “work horse piece” to add to my wardrobe.
I admit that most of the things I knit wind up tucked away for special occasions (usually really short ones too) because they’re so precious or itchy. This one is definitely going to get hung up in my closet with the rest of my store-bought cardigans because it is just so comfy! The tweed flecks give this garment a timeless, traditional feel while the subtle heathers in the yarn itself give the fabric and unexpected depth.
Stroll Tweed is definitely going to be my new go-to sock yarn and fingering weight yarn for projects I know will need to be washed often. I can’t wait to work up a little baby sweater in Farmhouse Heather (I think all babies look like little old fellas and I’m definitely not above making them sweaters that remind me of something a scholarly gentleman would don) and I’m definitely eyeballing Flagstone Heather and Down Heather to knit SOME sort of stripes! I think that would look so nice.
Last but not least, I tried my hand at crocheting with Stroll Tweed in Thirst Heather for a last minute free pattern. The Swiss Tweed Cowl takes just one ball of Stroll Tweed, works up in a weekend and is a nice, light accessory that works even when it’s more than a little toasty outside.
I’m still fairly new to crochet and find myself getting irritated when I try to thread a hook through some yarn with out splitting the strand. Figuring out what yarn works best for crochet and what is, quite simply, an absolute nightmare has been a process of trying everything and seeing what I like and what doesn’t work for me.
Stroll Tweed was a clear winner! It was easy to work with and the tweedy bits managed to shine even with the thicker fabric produced with crochet. I think it’s safe to say that I’m thoroughly enamored with the new yarn, and I hope it charms you too! What patterns leap to mind now that you’ve seen this lovely new yarn? I can’t wait to see what beautiful projects start appearing now that you can get your hands on it.
