catalogue

We make hundreds of skeins a week here in the studio. Hundreds! It’s always a surprise to me, the sheer volume of what we can make. Our dyers are amazing. 

Sometimes, though, things go a little awry in the process. It’s usually something in the dyes; something will “split”, making tiny dots or even, in extreme cases, small streaks on the yarn. In other cases, a pot will come out just a wee bit different than the the intended colorway, and we just don’t feel comfortable sending it with the rest of its friends. We’ll collect these Freaks & Geeks, as we call them, and set them aside for a show. 

The thing is, we haven’t had a serious show since Maryland Sheep & Wool. We’ve been preparing for Rhinebeck, and looking at our pile of oddlot Freaks & Geeks and honestly? I’d like to bring some of these to Rhinebeck, but I’d like to share some of the wealth with folks who can’t make it to New York, too. 

There are some seriously lovely things in this pile. This is the table I choose from when I go hunting for my stash, because I feel no guilt when I lift from our “oddlots”; this is where I nabbed the “this is meant to be Hawaiian Bobtail Squid, but it turned out just a bit too purple, and there are four of them” lot of Bugga that I have hidden in my craft room, as well as a gorgeous set of 4 Montauk Monster in Skinny Bugga that spotted and will be a cardigan, someday- someday!- when I have a break in my work knitting. 

Some of the odd bits in these yarns are hardly noticeable, like the Montauk Monster; it’s so difficult to spot any differences in this colorway. Other times these differences are teeny, tiny spots- little speckles that are like pinpoints of color. Some folks would consider this a defect, and other folks would really like this, so we want to be sure to point it out before selling it! 

Sometimes, these differences very noticeable but easily worked with, like the spots on the Starry Night Cracker; these are splits that come from one dye in the recipe, and only occur a few times in the entire skein. These could easily be cut out, but we have set very high quality standards for ourselves. I know what I’d want to receive when I buy yarn, and we want you to receive only the best when you buy with us, so these skeins are set aside and marked on discount. 

We’ll be listing a huge, huge, huge amount of these Freaks & Geeks on Monday, all at 25% off their normal prices. Each will be photographed to especially show their particular difference, and many will be updated in sweater quantities. I’m particularly excited about the Montauk Monster and the Pandorous Sphinx that’s going up; some folks will be making some beautiful sweaters this fall! 

So: to Freaks & Geeks! Here’s a salute to being different. We hope you enjoy our sideshow update this Monday. We’ll be loading the update at approximately noon Eastern time. It’s a wonderful steal for anyone looking to find larger lots, or just some lovely deals.