Yay for WestKnits stash acquisition! My package arrived in less than 72 hours from the time I placed my order! Who doesn’t love that?! I’m pleased to say, there’s no buyers remorse here! This was a really fun box of goodies to open!
I love the book! (WestKnits Best Knits — the Mix Tape Tour book, I already had, it’s just there for size reference) It’s a larger format than the tour books from the past couple years and Stephen has started including e-book codes for Ravelry in the back cover! I especially love that! I asked and been unsuccessful in getting download codes for some of his other patterns I’ve bought as the print version. I’m so happy he heard those requests and did something about it, even if it took a while!
I love the project bag. The eyes are so fun and it’s a heavy almost canvas fabric. Perfect for people who cram way too much stuff into their bags, like me!
And, even more importantly, I love the yarn. It’s a variety of weights, fibers and colors. I think it makes a great set though. I’m feeling compelling to use it all in the same project.
Going clockwise from noon, we’ve got the mustard color Arucania Nature Wool, 100% wool, aran weight. Then that lovely grey, Holst Garn Supersoft 100% uld. I think it’s fingering weight, if not lace weight. I especially like this one because it’s not something I’ve seen in the US. It reminds me of Brooklyn Tweed.
Continuing on, there’s a denim colored tweed, Berroco Blackstone Tweed. Nothing fancy there but I’ve used it’s big brother, Blackstone Tweed Chunky, with great success. In my WestKnits sweater, no less.
Finishing off the top corner, is a skein of Hedgehog Merino DK in color Stone. It’s really lovely. I’d have to be a fool to complain about that one!
To really give it the Westknits feel, there’s a skein of mohair. It’s not my favorite thing in the world and it’s probably the first thing I’ve give up from this collection but still…It’s the right color so I’ll figure it out!
And finally, a lovely, soft, blue skein of single ply superwash merino. The label says it’s from etsy, but the shop is no longer open.
I have no idea what to make with this pile but it’s gonna be good when I finally figure it out. I’m sure I can make the colors into something awesome. I’m not sure how to deal with the different weights just yet but I know the answer is out there. I just need to find it.
My only debate…do I add my own stash to the mix or do I use only what’s here for a project. It’ll be a while before I get to it so I’ve got plenty of time to decide!
FogKnits 
There are a couple of ways to deal with different weight (and probably more than I know about!)
– Use more strands from thinner yarn so they roughly match the thicker yarn (probably a bit of a hassle, unless you have multiple balls)
– Increase the number of stitches you use and go down in needle size so the knitting remains the same size
– Go up a needle size so you get the same gauge (this does amusing things to the look of the fabric!)
As to whether or not you should mix with your own stash- I vote let it hang out in your stash and see whether they make any friends or not!
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I might invite some of the stash out to play. If I find a combo I really love, it’ll be hard to ignore :)
As for the gauge issue, I may call it a DK gauge, that gives me room to double strand the fingering weights and still be sort of similar.
I think a thick/thin effect could be interesting mixing dk and fingering on the same needle size.
And of course, they call that mohair a bulky weight but it knits to a lot of gauges.
The thing I’m trying to avoid is something too busy. I definitely see the possibility for that with different gauges, colors, fibers, textures.
It’s definitely going to require a bit of patience but I’ll come up with something!
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Fun! What a great idea by Westknits – I would have squealed out loud when it arrived!
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Especially because it arrived 5 days before I even expected it to be shipped!
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Those colors might make a really fun textured shawl. I’ve never knit with mohair it looks like a pain
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Yeah, something textured for sure.
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You pick the best colors
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You did a bit better than me. I’m hoping mine grows on me as I figure out how to use it up. The bag itself is indeed awesome though, and I will totally be using the heck out of that thing. But for the yarns, I got a bulky weight, sort of thick-n-thin, marled black/white mystery yarn (maybe there’s enough for a hat?), and a full skein of some kind of mystery neon yellow mohair. The rest is all Rowan Summer Tweed in earthy colors, about 3 full skeins and a couple of partials that, thankfully, do all coordinate so I can definitely make some kind of accessory with that. I was just hoping for a bit more variety perhaps.
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Yeah, that’s not a shopping cart I’d ever pick for myself. Good luck using it all!
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That is a fabulous bag! And so much beautiful yarn, I bet you can’t wait to get started.
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I’m still mulling it over. I was thinking I might enjoy the challenge of using them all in one project but I also really feel that blue tweed wants to be a cabled hat. In a week, I might be on to something entirely different.
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