Cool new handspun yarn from peru

A handspun yarn profile.
Back-story:
I’m really excited about this new find! I love finding yarn from unusual sources, and it gets major bonus points for being natural!

On Thursday, we had a speaker from a nonprofit come in to speak with us in my weaving class about a nonprofit she had started in Peru to help weavers of traditional textiles to keep up the tradition and make a living, as well as to help provide education to youth in these rural villages. Hearing Ashley speak about it is really awesome- she is so passionate about the nonprofit and the people and communities it is helping. You can read more about the nonprofit on their website here(the FAQs and info pages are especially helpful): http://mosqoy.com/

Yarn Info:
Mosqoy (means dream in Quechua) primarily focuses on textiles, especially hand woven pieces all done on backstrap looms. Dyes are natural colors (like the yarn above) or natural dyes from their own areas- part of the goal is sustainability of traditional textiles and maintaining the environment.

Yarns are densely spun single ply fingering weight yarns meant mostly for weaving (but you can of course knit w them!)- so they are strong and smooth. Natural colors were $8 a ball and dyed yarns depended on the dye for the price ($30-45 per kilo I believe). My 2 balls of yarn weigh 15 ounces, and the one is smaller (because it’s a 2 ply), so it’s really a great deal.

If you want to get some of this yarn too, please know it’s not on their site yet! But you can email Ashley (ashley(at)mosqoy(dot)com) for info about pricing on what colors of yarn she has available (weavings too!). It might be helpful to mention to her the Jenn/MidnightskyFibers told you about the yarn so she knows why you are asking and that it’s not out of the blue- I did warn her though that I would be telling people about the nonprofit!

o, what do you do when a teacher tells you they are saving you a spot in a class, even though you aren’t a major in that field? A class you really, really want to take, a class that is really hard to get in to (go interviews, teacher has to pretty much know you and portfolios/sketchbooks!), a class that is only offered once per year. A class that this might be the last time it is offerered*. And most importantly, a class that only accepts ten people a year. Add to that that I would just be in, she already knows my work and wants me in the class since she knows it’s something I am interested in.

Well, if you are like me, you accept, duh! And make the rest of your schedule fit around it- I’ll have seven + straight hours of classes several days a week, which should be fun in addition to the anthropology classes I’m taking, this class is really time intensive.

O yea, and what is the class I guess would be your most important question?

I get to design a rug. Not a small bath matt size rug. O no. We are talking a custom (probably 7x10 + ) rug for a client that sponsors the class. A rug that is handspun, hand dyed, and hand woven to my specifications for the client in Nepal in workshops that have been carefully selected by the teacher. Continuous warp, hand knotted everything…you get the picture! The class is also a business relations class for artists, so it’s awesome I get to take a class that applies so well to what I do even though I am not an art major.

* Revolution in Nepal makes the rug industry unstable and the country problematic for touring there and the teacher goes to oversee the rugs being made.

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I also learned how to card weave yesterday- I’ve read and researched it before, but when I found out my weaving instructor knew lots about card weaving, had traveled to Peru to learn about it (and other traditional techniques), well I had to learn how to do it! She was really excited to show me- practically dragged me down to her office to find me a book and some cards, and well…now I have a new addiction!

My card weaving is not so pretty yet- I’m using a rather random rug warp and need to work on my tension (who am I kidding, my tension is always bad!). I just find it fascinating that you can get something that looks like a twill, and even do double weaves, with a series of cards (as many as you can hold, or you can tension them on a loom), and that card weaving has been done for centuries and centuries. Ancient Egypt, China, Russian, so many places have versions of card weaving, using cards made out of materials local to them- wood, bone, ivory, hides, even playing cards can be used when cut down.


And while on the subject of obsessions, someone threaten me about writing up and properly charting the three (that I will own up to, that is) patterns for fair isle mittens and wrist warmers that I have worked up lately.

Handspun yarn Hat

Handspun yarn Hat



Name: Handspun yarn hat (Harlem Hat)
Yarn: 70 yards single ply Bulky handspun
Pattern: my own for a kit I was making
Notes: the hat is a fast knit- it was done inside 2 hours of class (and that’s with notes, discussion, and a movie). Yarn is a blend of wools with stripes with mohair and Angelina blended in. I left some twist in to make it a somewhat unconventional energized single for the hat (see how stitches lean to the side).

Harlem Hat Kit

We have a new kit at Midnightsky Fibers!

Harlem Hat Kit

Harlem Hat Kits are the perfect quick kit for even a beginning knitter, perfect for a night on the town- a Harlem rent party perhaps with some swingin’ piano and jazz or maybe just to wear outside as you walk the dog. Knit in handspun and painted bulky weight yarn on size 13 needles, these hats can be completed in a matter of hours, and make for great cold weather gear! Or, if hats aren’t your style, make a neck warmer, scarf, or even some wrist warmers.



Each Kit comes with:
-A pattern to make the Harlem Hat
-Enough yarn to make the hat (one size fits most and it is stretchy)

You need:
-Size 13 needles. Either one long circular for magic loop or one 16 circular and a pair of double pointed needles (dpns) in size 13 or size needed to get gauge. You will also need a tapestry needle for weaving in the ends.
-A bit of time to knit the hat, and an awesome place to go wear it.
-To know how to knit, purl, cast on, and decrease. Using a long tail cast on is suggested as it is quite stretchy.

Gauge: 2.5 stitches/inch in st st and 2.5 rows to the inch.

Midnightsky Fibers Shop!

See an example of the yarn here for the kits.

sheep and twill

Last week was one of those weeks where I don’t even get the chance to turn on my computer a couple of the days. The afterthoughgt heel socks have been abandoned in favor of Lorna’s Laces in Vera, a multitude of fairisle gloves and mittens, mobieus scarves in multiples, experiments in entrelac, handspun silk gloves, a handspun hat, and a number of other items now spewed across my floor drying (rain rain please go away! There are only so many places to hang my wet clothing! Never mind the wet shoes). Plus, the carpet was wet all last week from steam cleaning (note the foil on the legs!) making life much more difficult in order to get stuff dry.



To be fair, most of the knitting was objects that had just a bit left, are patterns I am working on, etc so maybe finishing them will be the push I need to translate my scrawl-I-call-writing in to more then symbols so other people can read them!

But this was most of my last week:


Giant weaving sample! Inlays, brocades, lots of twill (I might be in love with twill), some traditional rug weaving tapestry (see: sheep that is more square the sheep). Said traditional weaving is known as Sumac weaving and took me about an hour for every inch. It does look like knitting though, so that excuses it somewhat.


Playing with a rather random (and I suppose, unbalanced) twill pattern. Ive been playing around with learning drafting for various types of weaving, and it’s like taking math 101 all over again.


Probably my favorite piece (more or less unblocked here). I’m obsessed with pears right now and had to do a maze shape in inlay or brocade (though you will see some sumac in the seed and stem!) for a sample, so an abstract pear was born! I’ve also been cooking a lot with pears, which brings me to: