Yarn Profiles: SweetGeorgia Yarns
This week I am finally getting around to something I have been promising to do from the start, I am profiling one of the lovely yarn companies we carry in the shop. This post is all about the fabulousness that is SweetGeorgia Yarns (SGY).
SweetGeorgia yarns are hand-dyed in Vancover, Canada by Felicia Lo and her team. Felicia started SGY in 2005 in her kitchen and it grew from there. (I highly recommend watching the video on the page in that link). I knew SGY from yarn shops in the states but hadn't seen it much in Europe and I really re-fell in love with all the beautiful colors after seeing their stand at Wonderwool last year. I took to their website to learn more and felt an instant connection to their brand and their concept. The SGY tag line is: "passionate, relentless and unapologetic color" and that becomes clear the instant you see their yarn. Unapologetic color is the absolute best way to describe the SGY palette, it is an array of stunningly saturated colors, all of which you will want to have, immediately.
Choosing the colors for the shop was a mind blowing task the first time around for this very reason, not only do they have some of the most incredible yarn bases to choose from but also an incredible range of color choice - I think they currently have almost 100 colors and Felicia is always coming up with more. To hear Felicia speak, which I had the opportunity to do at Unwind Brighton last year, is to listen to someone who is 100% passionate about what she is doing and it shows in the products she creates.
So enough about my girl-crush on Felicia and onto the fabulous SGY yarns we have here in the shop and why I love them...
Trinity Worsted was a yarn that I had only seen a sample skein of but I'm pretty sure I would have ordered it just based on it's fiber content alone, it's a truly luxurious blend of 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% silk and has both a glorious sheen and drape to it while maintaining excellent stitch definition.
As soon as I saw the patterns in the recently released Tempest I knew I had to knit the First Beach cowl. This pattern can be knit in either a shorter version that uses 2 skeins (1 of each color) or a deeper version that uses 2 skeins of the main color and 1 skein of the contrast color. I chose to knit the deeper version because I wanted a nice cosy cowl for the fall and winter. This pattern was a dream to knit up and I will absolutely be making myself a jumper in this yarn at some point, I just need to decide on a color...
We also have the ever popular and SGY staple: Tough Love Sock. This is a fantastic all around fingering weight yarn as it's made up of 80% superwash merino and 20% nylon and each skein is 115g with 388m of yarn to work with. So it will absolutely hold up to some wear and tear on your feeet but will also make a lovely cardigan as in Seaswell which is another pattern from Tempest. This was knit up for the shop by KnitInHarmony and it's a great example of what this yarn can do and how versatile it is.
Next up is an example of the lush Superwash DK in Mist which Nadia of Abso-knitting-lutely knit up for the shop. She chose the beautiful Melanie Berg shawl pattern Kir Royale and boy did she fall in love with this yarn! You can read her full yarn review over on her blog. This yarn is 100% superwash merino and comes in a 115g skein; a perfect yarn for just about anything.
Superwash Six is a beautiful 100% superwash merino chunky weight yarn. It's the perfect yarn for a winter hat, a cosy cowl or some mittens. It's super smooshy and soft and has amazing stitch definition. This is a version of Rachel Brown's Bonfire Night cowl done in Mulberry by StitchAlli.
Not to be left out is the delicate and oh so soft Cashsilk Lace. Made up of 55% silk and 45% cashmere this yarn is the epitome of luxurious. 365m in a 50g skein will make you a little shawl such us the Shattered Sun Shawl designed by Felicia herself. Sweet Georgia's incredible colors just shine on this yarn.
Last but not least we have the 60% fine kid mohair, 40% cultivated silk yarn, Silk Mist. This lace weight yarn can be used to make a fine shrug or ad a bit of glamour and texture to a project. Tempest has several patterns that feature this soft and fluffy yarn and customers have loved making the Mohair Bias Loop by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. I don't have any finished photos to show off but I do plan on knitting up Eventide from Tempest in either Deep Cover or Silver later in the year.
So that is SweetGeorgia Yarns, can you tell that I LOVE them!?! New colors and new yarn will be arriving from the SGY studio later this summer and I'm so excited to share that with you when it arrives. Until then, happy knitting!
-Carmen