Three Reasons to Tackle the Mailman

Nathalie Gray may bill herself as "Author, Goof, Chocoholic, and Future Empress of the Galaxy," but the truth is, she is a goddess. Who else but a goddess would take a family vacation to Finland, and remember her poor overworked editor when she sees the yarn shop? The woman is not even a knitter, and yet she had the genius, the extraordinary genius, to look at this yarn and recognize what an exquisite find it is. I mean, look at this--


















That's three precious hanks of Icelandic wool weighing in at a combined 56 grams. It was hand-dyed using things like mushrooms and beets and flowers. The depth of color is astonishing for vegetable dyes. The yarn has the feel of a Shetland or Lopi--a bit crunchy, a bit lofty, and something that will unquestionably wear well and soften up over time. I'm guessing it will knit up at a DK-to-worsted gauge.The colors are so beautiful together that I can almost see the stranded pattern they'll make. Can you?




















Nathalie got the card of the woman who made the yarn, and I've already been to this blog several times. Each post is written twice, once in English, and once in whatever language that is on the business card. Finnish? That's my guess, but I can't tell Finnish from Swahili, so I could be wrong. Nat said that they talked for a while in a mishmash of broken English and other languages, and that the woman was very gracious about helping her pick out something good. Mission accomplished. This yarn is fabulous.

I've been on such a kick with hats and gloves lately that I can't help but envisioning this yarn used as a fair isle banding on a hat and mitten set. Wouldn't that be pretty? Imagine a winter white hat with a deep, turned-up cuff banded with this. But it couldn't be peerie patterns. This has to be an eight-pointed star to honor the country of its origin.

Or should it be something else? If you had these three beautiful, precious hanks, what would you do with them?

And while you ponder that very important question, go check out Natalie's website. She's an up-and-coming author whose books have been on the bestseller list both at our proprietary site and at Fictionwise. Her books are sort of like a cross between Star Wars and a roller coaster with a whole bunch of smokin' hot sex thrown in. She will leave you breathless, in more ways than one. ;)