Here we are for the fourth installment of the Toad Hollow Book Club. This month, we’re reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I know that some of you have read it already — might I suggest listening to the audio book read by Jim Dale? Helen and I have read the book MULTIPLE times (best book ever!!!!) and we both got a new appreciation for it when listening to it.
This month we are joining up with Jake and Rae from Dogstar Knits Makecast to bring you not one, not two, but three (that’s right, THREE) different takes on Night Circus yarns. Jake’s yarn, Le Cirque Des Reves — which is awesome! — is available only on his site.
For our contribution, we have Tsukiko’s Cloak (dyed by me, Mary Beth) which is 100 grams of pure gorgeousness (on our Sock Toad base — a 80/20 Superwash Merino/nylon mix with 400 yards). Then Helen just lost her mind and dyed five mini skeins because, basically, she just couldn’t make up her mind which of the colors she wanted to choose. They are all based on parts of the book: Chandresh’s Gift is a lovely orange for the kittens he gives the twins; The Wishing Tree is greens and browns and bits of yellow for the wishes; The Carousel is grey with orange, brown and black based on the animals described on, you guessed it, the Carousel; Circus of Dreams is a mixture of red, black and white for the cover of the book and the circus overall; and Open What Is Closed, which is golden yellow and green, is from an impression she got from reading about Widget’s tent of scents (if none of this makes sense to you, it will after you read the book). Each of the minis are 20 grams/92 yards for a total of 100 grams/460 yards.
Patterns: We wanted a pattern that used mini skeins and having just fallen in love with the Gradient Band Cowl from Joji Locatelli while we were at Yarnings in PA, we decided that’s the one! The pattern calls for 650 yards of the main color and 44 yards of the minis. We are altering it just a bit so you don’t have to buy two full skeins and a set of minis. You will have a little less of the main color and a bit more of the minis. It’s going to be spectacular — trust me! And we are offering the super secret extras again this club.
In other news:
The Toads are hitting the road again. This weekend, July 28, we will be at Wool Works in Putnam, CT for a trunk show. Then, when we get back from that, we have to hit the ground running because the Lancaster Fiber Festival is just over two weeks away (OMG — so much to do)! We have just upgraded our booth size to a 10′ x 10′ because our original 5′ x 10′ space will not hold all the yarn and bags we are bringing. If you are a local maker and are free that weekend, there are still spaces available and it’s a fiber festival in August that is INSIDE with AIR CONDITIONING!! Come see us and say HI! we are in booth 323. After Lancaster, it’s full steam ahead for our favorite event of the year, the NJ Sheep and Wool Festival, September 8 and 9.
