I am so very excited to bring you this year's yarn Advent calendar!
Last year I created colorways based on Frodo's journey through The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This year we will be doing one more year of Advent colorways inspired by The Lord of the Rings, but this time we will be following Aragorn's journey instead of Frodo's, and the pattern will be different too of course.
Each colorway will be based on a place or encounter along the journey, beginning with the meeting between Aragorn and Frodo at The Prancing Pony and ending with Aragorn's final return to Gondor. These colorways will be based on the books and nothing but the books. :-)
Yarn
In addition to 24 sock-weight mini skeins, this year's kit will include one full-sized skein of sock-weight yarn.
For the mini skeins, I'll be using Splendid Sock, which is made of 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon for the 20 gram mini skeins. Splendid Sock a strong and soft 4-ply yarn with 92 yards per 20 gram mini skein.
For the full-sized skein, you get your choice of the following:
-
Sock Perfection - Made of 80% extra-soft superwash merino and 20% nylon with 450 yards per 3.5 ounce skein
- Sparkly Merino Sock - Made with 92% superwash merino and 8% sparkly lurex with 409 yards per 4 ounce skein
- So Silky Sock - Made with 50% superwash merino and 50% mulberry silk with 437 yards per 3.5 ounce skein
Depending on which yarn base you choose for the full-sized skein, the total yardage for your kit will be between 2617 yards and 2658 yards.
The full-sized skein will be gift-wrapped, and each mini skein will be packaged in a small numbered box with the name of the place in The Lord of the Rings that inspired the colorway.
The idea is to enjoy one colorway every day beginning on December 1st and ending on Christmas Day. This is a no-guilt kit. If it takes longer or if you decide to start early, that's okay. It just means more time to enjoy the creative process.
Colorways
The colorways are intended to be a surprise, but I do want to give you an idea of the color palette. You can expect lots of earth and forest colors--multiple shades of green, silver, brown and antique gold along with blue, royal purple, and maroon. There will be a bit of white where it is needed (think Gandalf the White) but not much.
The full-sized skein will be a semi-solid colorway, and the minis will be variegated colorways. While about a few of the colorways will be the same as last year, most will be new and different. Overall, the colorways will be darker than last year's as well.
Knitting Pattern
Your kit will also include a beautiful knitting pattern by Deborah Bowanko called the Alsatian Advent Wrap. I'm including a couple photos of the wrap in Deborah's sample colors to give you an idea of how it looks, but just keep in mind that the colorways will be different. It is a gorgeous rectangular wrap that will be around 30 inches wide by 76 inches long and will use most of each colorway.
Deborah and I have been collaborating on this since spring, and it's going to be amazing! This is an expanded version of her original Alsatian Wrap. The pattern includes the option of beads, so I'm going to be including the beads as part of your kit. They will be Toho beads that match and enhance the colorways.
The Alsatian Advent Wrap pattern is great for an advanced beginner, but it has lots of fun stitches and beads (!) so it certainly won't be dull for a more advanced knitter.
Of course if you prefer to crochet or weave with your kit, you certainly can. There are some wonderful crochet patterns for Advent kits, and this kit would be enough to weave a wonderful shawl, skirt, or top.
Timeline
This is a preorder. I will be dyeing the yarn and packaging it in time to ship these Advent calendars on or before November 10th. With my apologies, I will only be shipping these within The United States this year.
I would be grateful if you would order your Advent Calendar all by itself. The box is quite full with just the kit, so please order other items separately.
Gift Packaging
The full-sized skein will be gift wrapped, and the minis will each be in their own little boxes. If you are giving this as a gift, please let me know in the note to seller so I know not to include pricing information in the Advent calendar packages this year.
Audio Books
If it would bring you joy, you might consider listening to an audio book of The Lord of the Rings while you enjoy your Advent calendar. I have found two different versions that are great. The first is a fantastic dramatized version from the BBC, which you can find here. The second is an excellent unabridged version read by Rob Inglis, which you can find here. Both links are to the first book--The Fellowship of the Rings--on Amazon. I like them both a lot, but I personally have enjoyed the dramatized version more. Our family has listened to it many times.
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