South American Yarn and Buenos Aires Yarn District

Just came back from a South American vacation, which included the usual search for local yarn!  We visited Santiago and Puerto Varas in Chile, Montevideo in Uruguay, Bariloche and Buenos Aires in Argentina.  More  in my travel blog (January 2013) for South American Trip.

I knew in advance some of the brands that we get here.  In fact, from Uruguay, I pre-knit my souvenir sweater with Manos Del Uruguay silk-blend yarn.







But first stop was Santiago Chile.  I struggled to find any yarn there, and came up empty. My big stop was going to be the store that featured Araucania yarns.  In the big city of 7 million people, there are yan shops scattered.  But they had hours that did not match my schedule, and the ones that I did find had a very, very, very small selection of just a few yarns.  Plus, the prices were not so great.

I did get in touch with a Santiago knitters group on Ravelry, and one gal was very kind to offer advice. She let me know that the store which was known for Araucania yarns, closed just a month ago! That's so sad.

Glad I had my pre-trip Souvenir Sweater 2012 Ender Pender Vest already knit in Araucania Nuble.  In fact, I wore it on this trip, it was really perfect as a lightweight layering piece over my tees, even in the warmer weather!

Next stop was Puerto Varas, Chile. What a wonderful little town!  It was cold, windy, rainy, most of our short time there, so we missed the wonderful views across the lake at rising volcanic peaks with snow caps.

Wandering the town, I found a Fabulous Yarn Shop, and grabbed a little Chilean yarn.  So I will have a post-trip souvenir from there!

Next yarn shopping is in Montevideo, Uruguay. As mentioned earlier, I thought it would be a highlight of the trip, to go to one of the three Manos Del Uruguay stores!  But sadly, the store had mostly finished crafts of non-yarn media.  And a loft with some wool yarn, but nothing I would knit with.  The little bit of english spoken, they said it was summer, and more yarn is available in the winter.  Also, this store is listed as an "outlet", so maybe one of the other 2 stores might have had what I'd like. But limited time.









Manos Del Uruguay outlet loft "wall"



DH is kindly walking the Yarn District with me

Final yarn shopping of the trip is in Buenos Aires.  And they have a Yarn District! 

It is along Av. Scalabrini Ortiz, starting on Av. Cordoba and extending toward Av. Corrientes, most of the shops are pretty close together within 4-5 blocks, both sides of the street!
We take a taxi, and I am thrilled with the windows and little shops full of yarn. But it is confusing. The yarns are generally unlabeled, they are bundled in bins with headings that mean something to locals, but not much to me! Fiber content may or may not be listed, nothing about gauge, needles, yardage. Just price per kilo.

I just wander the shops and finger the yarns, not sure what I want. No one speaks English to answer questions. But I know algodon is cotton, seda is silk*, and lana is wool.  At Hilados Reina, I settle on a nice multicolor dyed cotton for 44 pesos, calculated as .45 kilos at 98 peso per kilo. It looks like a lot of yarn for a short-sleeved sweater, about $9.

Now we are running short on pesos, so I look for a shop that accepts credit cards. At Yanabey, hard to select from that gorgeous wall of color, but go with a 50/50 cotton/silk, 1.42 kilos at 195 pesos, $56. Enough for 3 sweaters.

*Postscript here...since returning home I found someone online who works in the Buenos Aires yarn district who answered some questions.  While seda is spanish for silk, they are actually referred to rayon "artificial silk". No silk is made in Argentina, so they are loose on labels because they all "know this". Kind of weird to me, as the spanish word for rayon...is rayon (so why not use it??) But the good news, the unlabeled yarns are made in Argentina for that store, so I have some unique yarns!

Unleashing my Stranded Color Genius

So, proceeding belatedly in topics that should have been written the end of 2012...sigh...

I have really loved exploring Stranded Color techniques. I call this article Genius...but that is of course nonsense (but catches attention?).  I am new at this!

But my beginning with the Icelandic Hoodie, was an instant success at working out charted color patterns on my own.

My Second Stranded Color project was off a pattern that has been in my queue for over a year, Cloisonne Jacket in Travel Colors.  In fact, I bought the yarn for it over a year ago also. But Stranded Color was still a little too scary for me.


It is now done.  I easily changed the color scheme within the pattern's chart.  And added a few extra accents in stranded color dots, plus a lace button placket.

And my Third Stranded Color project is entirely my own design.  Worked on the fly and an inkling of an idea, I found inspiration in charts from other patterns, tweaking them together into my Ivory Sand Flowers Swirls Jacket .  Knit in one of my favorite yarns, Mirasol Nuna (wool/silk), it is lightweight and yummy soft.

It works with an ivory shell I knit during the summer.

Do you like the "tattoo flower" on the back, just a reminder of being handknit?

Someday, again, I will write this up as a pattern for others.  I have had the wonderful joy of creating those color charts already!

And my Fourth Stranded Color sweater, I'm now working out my Genius (haha).  Another sweater completely my own design, worked out on the fly.  Stranded Color Chestnut Top, knit with Manos Del Uruguay silk blend yarn, BECAUSE I am making my souvenir IN ADVANCE for a South America trip in January 2013!  This yarn is made in villages and homes in Uruguay, hand dyed, and sold to create a living for the women in the cooperative.  As I am writing this blog post-trip, I can tell you that the yarn is hard to find when you are actually in Uruguay, so no souvenir from there.

Anyhow, I love this top, worn it several times already. The yarn is lightweight but warm.

I worked in the round, bottom up, starting with this lovely softly pleated hemline (from a book given me by my SIL last year).  The chestnut color yarn is softly light-dark in the hand dyed process.

Cute row of flowers in my stranded chart, used along hemline and sleeves.

I did some color going up the side seams, which was a bit too fussy and not that terrific, I'm not sure I would do that again.  But it's there now!

The yoke shaping is particularly unusual, to achieve what I wanted.  I wanted the stranded colorwork in round yoke, but with a scooped neckline, and not low into the sleeves.  So I used combination of raglan and setin shaping of underarms, some short rows to raise shoulders and back above the front. Works for me!

Final Fifth Stranded Color project was a gift. Square Stranded Pillow to work for a dark brown leather sofa.

Another joy of working on the fly.  And I was using leftover yarns that had a somewhat similar gauge, plenty of colors to pick from, solids and variegated.

Made up a few charted patterns, found inspiration from other patterns.

The back is buttoned, different ones from my stash.

I really like this pillow, and the recipient has asked for another!

My Iceland "Souvenir" Sweater

This is a VERY belated posting, but I'm thinking of new things to write about and have a bit of guilt over previous topics.

Since my last posting was about the LettLopi yarn purchased on a trip to Iceland, I have used the yarn AND the reindeer antler buttons to make a hooded sweater!

It was my first venture into Stranded Knitting technique.   This means, I am working one row of knitting with 2 different color yarns, floating one strand in the background when it is not being used, alternating the knit stitches in each color to form a pattern over several rows.

This technique has scared me.  It's such a pleasure to knit with just one strand of yarn, no fuss, easy to pick up and set down.  So working in two colors, well I was worried about tangling and all the hassle.

In fact, it is pretty fun, and the little bit of fuss is countered by the unfolding of a color pattern.  And for me, being adventurous after all, some of this can be worked out on the fly.

Stranded Knitting is worked off of charts.  Each square is a different color, easy to follow.

So now I have the JOY of creating my own charts!

This hoodie ended up being my own design, you can see my Ravelry project page for details.  Maybe someday I'll write it as a pattern.  It is a bit scratchy to wear, but as an outer garment that's okay. It's roomy, the hood fits perfectly, and it will shed a light rain and keep me warm!  Plus it is very cool looking in the rich color combos.

I'm happy with my Iceland Souvenir!