Welcome Holla Knitters!

I'm thrilled to death to be a part of the wonder that is the Holla Knits pattern club. Katie Canavan has written a pattern that is just perfect for hand dyed yarn.  The beauty of this pattern is that while it looks stunning in tonal yarns, the more variegated yarns would be highlighted by the interesting stitch pattern.  

Isn't it just perfect?  Introducing the Julep Jacket.

For those of you who are new to our Unplanned Peacock Yarns, let me introduce myself - my name is Natasha, and I've been dyeing yarn for about 5 years now, and previous to that, I was a theater costumer.  While I was working in the theater, I did a lot of costume crafts, which included a lot of dyeing and painting of fabric.  When I learned to knit and spin, and became TOTALLY OBSESSED with fiber arts, I decided that dyeing yarn was a natural progression of my career.  It allows me to be creative, messy, and best of all - people can make stuff with my stuff!  It's a collaborative art form when the dyer meets the knitter (spinner/weaver/crocheter!)  This partnership is made even better when patterns are designed especially for the yarn that's been dyed.  It's an amazing feeling knowing that my work is being used to make heirloom and well-loved crafts.

Shawl knit by Jean Hogle out of UPP Chives Diva Sock

The number one question I am asked is "what's the deal with your name?"   

When we first moved to our farm in Ferrum, VA, we had sheep that were happily eating the weeds in our yard.  One day, I went out to tend to them, and a big elegant blue head poked up out of the weeds.  We had been hearing this mournful cry every night, and even though I was an avid bird watcher, I had never heard one quite like it.  Now the mystery was solved.  The peacock was a male with a glorious tail.  We named him Picasso, and he's stayed on the farm ever since.  UPP was just a glimmer in my mind at that time, but when this peacock appeared, I thought the name "Unplanned Peacock Studio" was just the perfect mix of metaphor and fun.  

My dyeing is a bit out of control. I can never quite tell what color I'll get, even through the best efforts of making it reproducible.  It's a bit unplanned, which to me makes it more enjoyable.  That element of beautiful chaos makes it interesting and challenging all at the same time.

Picasso, our mascot.  He will be getting a girlfriend this year.

If you haven't knit with our yarns yet, be assured you will be getting the very highest quality wool yarns and fiber.  The colorways are complex and typically non-pooling, because of my dyeing process.  I dye with acid dyes, and the yarn is very colorfast.  People have knit socks and sweaters that they have worn for years without durability issues.  Because my colorways are very complex, it is very important that people buy the correct amount for a project at one time, as it is very difficult to exactly reproduce dyelots.  When you have up to 5 colors flowing and mixing together on a skein of yarn, you get a stunning result, but if you try to get the identical result again, it's incredibly difficult.  If you have any questions about the quality of our yarns, you can order a mini-skein to test out.  

A bunch of our Silk Merino Laceweight

In fact, throughout the month of May, as a gift to our customers, we'll send you a free mini-skein with any order from our website!

Random sheep picture

Aries our Icelandic ram modeling a Honey Cowl out of Superwash Merino Worsted in Fuchsia

Don't forget to Like us on Facebook and we are @unplannedpeack on Twitter!  There's also a Ravelry Group.  We welcome wholesale orders and custom dyeing as well.