When I was in Wellington during our recent trip to New Zealand, I stopped off at Holland Road Yarn Company. I think I saw them mentioned on Twitter? In any case, it was a lovely shop. After much deliberation I bought some Zealana RIMU in a deep blue. It’s made up of 60% NZ merino and 40% brushtail possum. The possum gives the wool a lovely dark haze.
I started out using a pattern I’d fallen in love with, Star Anise. However the deep colour and haze of the wool meant that the pattern didn’t stand out as much as I wanted it to, so I frogged back to the ribbing and decided to just knit it plain in stockingette order to just ‘celebrate the wool’. What I wound up with was a rather boring hat. So I frogged it back completely.
Now I’m trying to find time to start again. This time I’m going to try the Blue Laurel Hat pattern. I’m hoping the slightly lacier patter will show up more. If it works out, I should also have enough wool to come up with a cowl. I love cowls – a lot less wool and time than a scarf, and a lot easier to not lose!