O, Pioneer

Pioneer yarn skeins and hat sample

Sorry for the hackneyed post title, but my brain is mush as I’m writing this on a fine, warm Wednesday evening. After a five-hour meeting and two hours in rush-hour traffic getting home from said meeting, I treated myself to a little pop-in at the Pioneer release party at A Verb for Keeping Warm. This is the yarn I mentioned before — made from the wool of Sally Fox’s organic merino sheep just north of San Francisco, and naturally dyed by Kristine Vejar at Verb. I’d touched it before — I went in on the day the first skeins arrived and got to cop a feel — but today was the first day it was for sale. Given my exhaustion as I sat still on the last, endless highway overpass before the exit, I debated going. I figured whatever was left would still be left in the morning. But I’m so glad I marshaled what little energy it took, really, to gaze at a big table of beautiful yarn and give Kristine a congratulatory hug. Because what was there, and would not have been there in the morning, was Sally Fox herself! (You may recall I’m a fan.)

I came very close to leaving with two skeins of indigo, but I do hate being quite so predictable. Plus what I love about this yarn is its very sheepiness. So in the end what I chose was the lightest of the undyed colors, Lighthouse. I’m thinking of making a little triangle wrap with it, maybe Tunisian crochet.

But I can’t talk about Pioneer and not talk about this hat, seen up top. It’s one of the promotional samples the Verb crew have knit up, a modification of an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern, which mods will apparently be detailed on Ravelry soon-like. It is so, so cute.

If you want to know more (lots more) about Pioneer, check out the Verb blog, where it’s been documented in loving detail.

Pioneer yarn skeins on display at A Verb for Keeping Warm

Top right photo from AVFKW; the others are from my iPhone.

13 thoughts on “O, Pioneer

  1. What a beautiful table above! It looks like a Thanksgiving harvest for knitters of fine yarn! Yum!

  2. Oh, my. I just clicked through. How to ever choose from those beautiful colors! As a lover of the word, I think I would pick Swordfern, both for the color and the sound of those letters together!

    • Oh, my god. Those names are as amazing as the yarn looks! “Wolf Lichen.” Tree Fort.” Love!

    • My hand hovered over the Swordfern for a minute. But there were only like three skeins of it left, fyi. I don’t know if there was more in back or anything.

  3. I, too, would predictably choose Indigo… However, I finally decided on Bandana, which is a wild swing for me. How wonderful to be able to see them all together, and hurrah for Sally Fox, my heroine.

  4. Hey, that’s my head! Your blog is so elegant and fun to read. Thank you so much for the nice words about my head. I promise to get my modifications up soon!

    • It’s your hat AND your head, right? It’s a great hat, and will never be as cute on me as it is on you, but I’m eager to make it anyway.

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