Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Etsy
Saraphir

Contemporary Crochet and Knitting Design

  • Home
  • Crochet terms
  • How to buy
  • Flower Wheel Mandala Series
  • Hooks and Yarn
  • About
  • Contact
Crochet stories, Yarn stories

Finding the Perfect Yarn

by saraphir
Follow me

Being a crafts person is always a journey of discovery. You have ideas and plans and think you know where you are going, but it is often the surprise discoveries that determine your direction. Sometimes you have to search and search to find the perfect thing – in this case yarn – and give up before you then stumble upon it almost by accident! I started making my (as a friend called them recently) happy booties back in the autumn of 2014. I had finally found a perfect yarn for them – 100% organic cotton yarn made by British company. Alack and alas, it turned out to have been discontinued, so even though I stocked up with what I could find online, I knew I would have to go searching for another perfect yarn at some point.

Blue rainbow booties in organic cotton.

Finding organic cotton yarn is not easy, and finding it at a price where it remains viable to make something as a product to sell is near impossible. So I widened my search and recently decided to start looking into yarn made from superwash merino wool as it will make it easier for parents to care for the booties if they can be washed in the machine. I’ve often heard from customers at markets that this is a priority for most new moms (yes, they always say moms… in Britain… in the 21st century!).

The rainbow booties that I make are very popular, so I had to find a yarn that have the right colours to make a rainbow. I found and tried Patons Extrafine merino DK – a superwash 100% merino wool yarn. Those of you who have followed me on Instagram and Facebook will know how I have uhm’ed and ah’ed over this yarn… the colours are more saturated and brighter than the cotton yarn, and it just wasn’t quite right. But I thought I had to settle for it and stopped searching.

Then in March this year I went to The Edinburgh Yarn Festival – with a very small budget and really only to look and meet people. I walked around everything a few times and the second time I walked through the stand of John Arbon textiles I was stopped in my tracks. Gorgeous mustard colour yarn up there in the right corner… 100 % merino wool…. perfect for making a hat pattern. Stood for a while and had a feel, too many colours to choose from – the greys are pretty gorgeous too, so are the browns, what to go for etc. They assured me it will not be discontinued.

I finally chose two shades of the mustard. The yarn was so soft I just couldn’t stop touching it and whilst doing this found myself kind of mindlessly staring at all the other 70+ colours. And suddenly the realisation hit me: I could make countless versions of my rainbow booties with this yarn! It has the right weight (yardage) and even better, it is spun and dyed in a small mill in Devon by a small company, by people who are devoted to making beautiful yarns and sourcing their fleeces responsibly – and they seemed pretty nice too! So I made a quick business decision and got out my credit card…..
finding the perfect yarn
When I got home and read through their brochure I discovered to my joy that the yarn is 100% organic! It fits my own ideals and philosophy perfectly (organic, small business, responsibly sourced), the texture is far superior to the texture of the superwash wool (which is not a bad yarn, just not perfect!), and there are 70+ fantastic colours to choose from. And it is just so, so soft. Smooth and soft. And with all this perfectness, what does it matter that new parents will have to sacrifice 15 min every so often to wash their precious one’s booties by hand?

Blue rainbow booties in merino wool.

© Saraphir Qaa-Rishi

Saraphir on Pinterest

Related Posts:

  • Puffalicious Square
    Puffalicious Square
  • Knitted Child Bentie Pompom Beanie
    Knitted Child Bentie Pompom Beanie
  • Star Web Snowflake
    Star Web Snowflake
  • Knitted Monster Pontius
    Knitted Monster Pontius
  • Baby Pixie Hat
    Baby Pixie Hat
  • Knitted Adult Bentie Beanie
    Knitted Adult Bentie Beanie
  • Large Tosne Snowflake
    Large Tosne Snowflake
  • Free pattern for Butterfly Garland
    Free pattern for Butterfly Garland

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Post navigation

Free pattern for Butterfly Garland
Flora Hexagon Crochet Pattern

Share your thoughts Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

  • Affinity Heart
  • Rainbow Circles
  • Puffalicious Square
  • Galaxy Snowflake
  • Pointsetta Snowflake
  • Baby Pixie Hat
  • Large Flower Wheel Circle Square
  • Medium Flower Wheel Circle Square
  • Granny Victory Cowl
  • Flower Wheel Circle
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy




Web Hosting

Post Categories

  • Baby Patterns (3)
  • Crafty questions (2)
  • Crochet patterns (42)
  • Crochet stitches (1)
  • Crochet stories (1)
  • Flower Wheel Mandala Series (7)
  • Free patterns (39)
  • Friends of the world CAL 2015/16 (4)
  • Knitting (6)
  • Knitting Patterns (4)
  • Markets and fairs (4)
  • Snowflakes (15)
  • Spring and Summer (6)
  • Yarn stories (1)

Follow on Pinterest

Things Men Have Made

Things men have made with wakened hands, and put soft life into

are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing

for long years.

And for this reason, some old things are lovely

warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them.

D. H. LAWRENCE

On Facebook

On Facebook

Saraphir on Instagram

  • Different rainbows.... I started making what I call the #bluerainbow when I was experimenting with colours for my #happybooties and
    by saraphir 2 weeks ago
    Different rainbows.... I started making what I call the  #bluerainbow  when I was experimenting with colours for my  #happybooties  and
  • Of course, my #affinityheart pattern doesn’t need to be striped! This combo works equally well for Christmas and Valentine’s Day....the
    by saraphir 3 weeks ago
    Of course, my  #affinityheart  pattern doesn’t need to be striped! This combo works equally well for Christmas and Valentine’s Day....the
  • Which way would you go in the rainbow??? Different directions bring different creative outcomes!
    by saraphir 1 month ago
    Which way would you go in the rainbow??? Different directions bring different creative outcomes!
  • New pattern on my blog: Affinity Heart. I made the pattern years ago and have been working my way through
    by saraphir 4 weeks ago
    New pattern on my blog: Affinity Heart. I made the pattern years ago and have been working my way through
  • When I was working on my #affinityheart pattern they started to grow on me without a border too.... ❤️
    by saraphir 3 weeks ago
    When I was working on my  #affinityheart  pattern they started to grow on me without a border too.... ❤️
  • More #affinityheart rainbow variations. I love how the small change of colour for the border makes a big difference. Perfect
    by saraphir 4 weeks ago
    More  #affinityheart  rainbow variations. I love how the small change of colour for the border makes a big difference. Perfect
  • These wee ones are on their way to Perthshire.... maybe they already arrived! Made in 100% merino wool, very soft
    by saraphir 1 month ago
    These wee ones are on their way to Perthshire.... maybe they already arrived! Made in 100% merino wool, very soft
  • I could only snap these in the morning light before sending them off to their new home last week, so
    by saraphir 2 weeks ago
    I could only snap these in the morning light before sending them off to their new home last week, so
  • This pair of 6 - 12 month #happybooties are on their way to Israel for a baby photoshoot. They’re made
    by saraphir 1 month ago
    This pair of 6 - 12 month  #happybooties  are on their way to Israel for a baby photoshoot. They’re made
  • More #affinityheart variations. This is one of my old favourites. Very Scandi style. This one always decorates my stall at
    by saraphir 3 weeks ago
    More  #affinityheart  variations. This is one of my old favourites. Very Scandi style. This one always decorates my stall at

My Ravelry Patterns

  • Baby Pixie Hat
  • Galaxy Snowflake

Legal Stuff

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Elara by LyraThemes
  • © Saraphir 2014 - 2020.