Recently, I’ve picked crochet back up to work on some ideas to expand my art and jewelry lines. I invested in some gorgeous new yarns. Some of them are luxury yarns sold by the hank, so I got a yarn ball winder to help manage them. Unfortunately, I was so excited to try out the new roller, I forgot to get pictures of one of the yarns still on the hank!

Yarn winder and my first winding projct – the Darn Good Yarn recycled silk roving yarn

First off, I got a load of size 10 crochet cotton to experiment with crochet jewelry. I’m particularly pleased with the Aunt Lydia’s size 10, Aspenvariegated yard.

Aspen: Aunt Lydia Classic Crochet Thread Size 10

What really thrilled me was my purchase of recycled silk and recycled silk sari yarns from Darn Good Yarns. It got better when I opened the beautifully packaged yarns and found a personally addressed message signed by Nicole explaining her business model. From DGY’s mission statement:

My mission is focused on employing women in India, saving thousands of pounds of waste by turning it into yarn and helping innovate small businesses in the United States and worldwide. Just in India we have provided jobs to over 300 women and counting. We give them jobs so they don’t have to rely on charity…and when you buy at Darn Good Yarn you’re supporting those efforts!

DGY’s Wild Peacock recycled sari silk yarnis truly wild! It’s definitely challenging for crochet, so I have yet to discover how I’m going to use it. I may try weaving with it or using it as an accent.

Wild Peacock recycled sari silk yarn

DGY’s Teal Party recycled silk roving yarnis lusciously soft. This is fairly thick yarn, so something larger, like a bag or scarf, is probably its destiny.

Teal Party, recycled silk roving yarn

Finally, DGY’s Silk Cloud recycled silk yarnmay just be my go-to yarn. Not exactly thin enough for jewelry, it is a nice light fingering weight for pouches and other small projects. The Northwest Territory variegated yarn is simply yummy!

Silk Cloud Recycled Silk Yarn – Northwest Territory. The hank is tied with the ribbon DGY used to package the yarns.

Last but not least is the Navajo Churro sheep’s wool yarn I picked up at the Flagstaff Farmers Market (see my flickr photostream for pics). Flagstaff resident Zuni Ishikawa of Wanowa Studios uses a variety of natural dyes, many local to northern Arizona, to create beautiful wool yarns. Liz Rayner has a lovely write-up about Zuni. This is a pretty thick, like the DGY silk roving yarn. So many gorgeous colors, it was difficult to choose just one. I guess I’ve been in a green mood lately…

Navajo Churro wool dyed with indigo and rabbit brush

I need to go back to the Farmers’ Market for AR Farm’s mind blowing alpaca yarn. As much as I’d like to have some just sitting in my yarn basket, I’m going to try to have a project in mind first before splurging.

AR Farms yarns at the Flagstaff Farmers’ Market

I’ve got a couple yarn-related projects on the studio workbench right now. I’ll post pics when I get them finished!