The Best of the Worsted Part One or The Men In Our Lives at Halcyon Yarn

July 24th, 2009 by Gwynn | Posted in General News |

We have a fairly sizable staff here at Halcyon Yarn. From owner to manager, to in-store sales, internet sales, phone sales, order fulfillment, shipping, receiving, accounting, ordering, sample card production, kit production, marketing, teaching, knit design, catalog design: there is a lot to do around here. Granted, some of these positions overlap but there are quite a few of us ladies downstairs. What most people don’t know is we also have  staff upstairs doing Very Important Jobs and with the exception of Halcyon and Annalee, our upstairs staff happens to be male. The Men here at Halcyon are busy upstairs (and sometimes downstairs) constantly monitoring and improving (sometimes repairing) the framework our business runs on – the Computer System. Forgive me for venturing into stereotypical generalizations but they are also in charge of heavy lifting and fluorescent light bulb changing and general handy man stuff. I probably don’t have to tell you how things come to a screeching halt without computer and internet access and we are indebted daily to their collective experience and technical savvy.

Our list of men includes Will, Ralph, Amos, Declan and Greg. Will gets first mention and pride of place as Halcyon’s hubbo. He has been shoring up behind-the-scenes processes for many years, producing Award Winning Catalogs and he developed the computer database that we use every minute of the day. Ralph gets his mention here because he is Halcyon and Will’s dog. He happens to be the most amazing dog in the world, well known for his ability to give emotional and moral support whenever and wherever he is needed. I don’t have time or space to talk about how cute and adorable he is so here is his photo.

And then came Amos. He is our web designer and all around computer trouble shooter. He makes it all happen for those of you who shop online. Besides all of the  Very Important Technical Stuff he takes care of for us, without which we would be lost, his real claim to fame is that he is Declan’s dad. Declan is our official Yarn Store Baby and for the last two years has come to work with dad while his mom Monica teaches at the Bath Middle School. Declan is the cutie on the cover of the latest Halcyon Yarn catalog laughing with Halcyon. He is currently on summer vacation with mom and we miss him.

Last but not least, there is Greg. Greg is the latest addition to the Male Contingent and if you are appreciative of the fiber colors and how they are portrayed in the catalog and online, you have him to thank. He collects the yarn from the store shelves. He photographs each skein of each line of yarn. He then uses software to color correct the image to make it as close as possible to true life color. It is HARD to portray color accurately in print and on a computer monitor. Greg makes it happen beautifully and accurately. Therefore, Greg Rocks. As far as yarn goes, other than photographing and color correcting, Greg likes yarn in the form of blankets and socks. But it remains a complete mystery to him how yarn actually becomes these things. Which leads me to the other portion of this week’s topic.

Early this week, Greg asked “When are we going to have a sale on the Best of the Worsted?” (He does have a dry sense of humor with a tendency toward pun.) Being a fiber addicted group, we all thought it was pretty funny. We aren’t having a sale on the Best of the Worsted but it’s a great title for a timely topic considering the new worsted yarn we just received.

Halcyon Yarn is now a proud supplier of Swans Island Certified Organic Merino Yarn. And I do mean proud. This wool comes from sheep who live on Nash Island in South America. (Note: We have updated info on the source of this yarn, see full story here.) On this island there is no shelter from the elements for the sheep. This single factor leads to two amazing benefits. 1. No shelter equals thick fleece. Sheep must keep warm. 2. Very little vegetation means clean fleece. No trees, brush or bark to rub up against. Much of the natural oil is preserved in this wool because very little washing is needed. Therefore, it is thick and it is soft. It is also organically dyed. All these colors come from only 4 different dyes: madder root for orange, indigo for blue, cochineal for red and pink, kamala root for yellows. We have the fingering weight as well as the worsted weight and it is luxurious. You are likely to have sticker shock on first glance but do not let the $30.00 price tag put you off. Considering how this yarn Comes to Be, you are truly getting what you pay for. These sheep live their whole happy lives on Nash Island. On shearing day, they are rounded up, the wool is collected and minimally, organically processed. It is combed, carded, spun, organically dyed and then skeined. Every piece of the journey is mindful and deeply rooted in tradition. Each skein can be traced back to its roots in a very tangible way.

I scooped up two skeins of worsted weight in Robins Egg Blue and cast on last night. I quickly found myself in  Yarn Nirvana. I chose a lace shawl (shown at right)  calling for worsted weight yarn, knit on size 10 needles. Frankly, I was too tired last night to be knitting lace. I was too tired to be knitting at all, much less knitting lace. The pattern I chose is only a 4 row pattern. It is only a 62 stitch pattern. The lace only repeats 3 times. Those things said, I had to rip the entire thing out 4 times before I could accomplish a 4 row repeat. Rip out completely and cast on again. 4 times. My tenacity got a major work out but I did not give up. I now have 4 entire repeats to show you and can vouch first hand for the durability of this fiber. I cast on each of the four times with the same long tail and the yarn is none the worse for wear. When the yarn first came in and we were swatching for the online write up, we wondered if this yarn would truly knit to a worsted gauge. At first glance, it seemed much lighter. I am surprised and thrilled to report that even knit on a size 10 needle, this yarn is making fabric. It is blooming to fill in beautifully and the only holes are the intentional yarn overs. I chose this color and pattern for the resemblance to a whale’s tail fin. This yarn is worth it’s price tag. It runs away with the title The Best of the Worsted. It is so special and luxurious I wash my hands compulsively before I will even pick it up. Knit something exquisite and gift it to someone exquisite. Gift yourself (you are exquisite, just in case no one has reminded you lately). You will be glad you did. And you will be back for more.