Doctor Who Christmas Special Make-a-long!

Traveler Colorway - Felici Worsted from Knit Picks

Is anyone else as excited about the new Doctor as I am?! I love Doctor Who Christmas specials and I love meeting a new Doctor. (I’m a little sad that I’m going to be on a cruise this Christmas, so I’ll have to wait until I get back to watch it! Eek! Okay, maybe not that sad.)

To celebrate, I thought we’d make something Doctor Who-y together and count down the 13 days until we meet the 13th Doctor! From December 12th-December 25th, pick a Doctor Who inspired project and start making! Post your progress to Instagram using the “#doctorwhoMAL” hashtag and join us on the Geeky Knitters Unite! Facebook Group too (a link will be sent when you sign up below)!

Prizes

Prizes will be given out to two random makers that sign up to the newsletter below! (If you’ve already joined my newsletter, just fill out the form again to be funneled into this list!)

First Prize:

2 Skeins of Knit Picks’ Felici Worsted in the discontinued Time Traveler colorway, enough to knit the Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Infinity Scarf!

Second Prize:

1 Skein of Knit Picks’ Felici Worsted in the discontinued Time Traveler colorway, enough to knit a cool Doctor Who inspired hat!

To be eligible for prizes, get a discount on my latest Doctor Who knitting pattern, Doctor Who trivia, and project ideas, sign up for my newsletter below!

 

Join the Doctor Who Make Along

Aw, the Make Along is now over! Maybe next year…

O-Wool Organic Yarns: Eco-Friendly and Humane

Beekers watching after the O-Wool

As an animal lover and earth enthusiast, I try to be conscious of what I’m buying, where I’m buying it from, and what implications that purchase has on our environment. Until recently, I had not given much thought to where my yarn was coming from, aside from when I purchased local yarn while traveling.

With a new knit design in mind, I went on a search for a line of yarns that is environmentally-friendly, animal-friendly, has a good set of colors and could be cost-effective for colorwork.

And I found O-Wool.

O-Wool is run by Jocelyn J. Tunney, who seems to work hard to source humane, organic wool, cotton and alpaca. (And if you’re wondering how wool might not be humane, Google the term ‘museled’. The sheep that provide wool to O-Wool are not museled.)

She also tries to keep things as local to her as possible: the wool is dyed, spun, and skeined locally to her in Philadelphia.

I ordered shade cards for the Classic Worsted and the O-Wash Sport.

O-Wool's O-Wash Sport
Cats love O-Wool!

I’ve never ordered a shade card before, but it’s a great way to compare colors in a line of yarn and I didn’t even have to leave the house!

O-Wool’s “O-Wash” is machine washable, using an organic compound that stops the wool from felting.

O-Wash uses a GOTS certified organic compound to create machine-washability. The compound holds the fibers still during washing so the scales cannot interlock and felt. Conventional “superwash” processes burn the scales off the fiber with an acid bath, or coat the fiber in a resin, or both. O-Wash both has its scales and uses a certified organic compound!

From the O-Wool FAQ

O-Wash Sport has some very vivid colors and a nice sheen. At the time of this post, one skein is $15.99/336 yards. A little pricy for colorwork, since I wouldn’t need the whole skein, but a good price for what you’re getting.

They also have a fingering weight O-Wash that comes in mini-skeins! Those are $5.99/100 yards, perfect if you need a bunch of colors but not much yardage.

O-Wash Sport
O-Wool’s O-Wash Sport yarn

And the Classic Worsted yarn has beautiful, muted colorways. It’s also reasonably priced if you’re going to need a few colors for a project at $7.35/99 yards.

O-Wool Classic Worsted
Beekers couldn’t help himself and needed to lay next to the O-Wool Classic Worsted.

I’m not sure which I’ll use for the design I’m coming up with, but I’m definitely leaning towards the O-Wash fingering so that I can take advantage of the mini-skeins.

Have you used O-Wool yarn before? Can I see your projects??