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The Quick Story of Pearl Yarn

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pearl yarn zealanaVogue Knitting is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its resurrection this year, and as part of the happy event New Zealand yarn company Zealana produced a limited edition fine weight yarn spun with pearls (some kind of fancy spinning technology allows the pearls to be permanently infused into the cell walls of the tencel the fiber is made from). The yarn is said to be luminous, silky and nourishing because the pearls help keep your skin hydrated.

Just 500 skeins of the yarn were made — presented in cool black jeweler’s boxes — and 100 of them went to String Yarns in New York City. They went on sale Friday and literally sold out overnight. The yarn went to just a handful of retailers across the country (you can find them on this Ravelry page; free signup required) and several were reporting the yarn had already sold out.

This is one I’m sure to never get my hands on; I’m not sure I even want to know how much such a thing would cost (none of it’s turned up on eBay yet). Would you shell out the cash for a yarn made with pearls? Spill it!

[Photo by Zealana/Yarn Sisters.]

Comments

  1. It looks beautiful and I’m sure it feels amazing to knit with it. Yeah, I would buy it if it wasn’t TOO expensive. But it’s almost too pretty to knit with. I would probably just keep it in the box and stroke it now and then. Is that weird?

  2. WoW ~ how cool is that?! It always amazes me with what they come out with. Makes you wonder what’s next?!
    ‘hugs from afar’

  4. I’d like some pearl yarn. Not because I knit (one of very few people in Sweden sho didn’t learn how to knit in school) or use yarns very often, but because I love fiber and especially unusual fibers. Haven’t seen this one before, but have had my eyes on another pearl yarn, Sublime Bamboo & Pearls dk. (I even had to google DK, that’s how much I know about knitting yarns…).

    Of cause I do love pearls as they are, but pearls used for yarns are so low grade they wouldn’t be suitable for jewellery anyway. At least I assume that’s the case, kind of like which beads are milled in to MOP powders/pigments.

    @Christine: Hope not because that’s what I do too! Both with my beads and my yarns and embroidery threads. 😉

  5. Christine: It’s not wierd. Tangeling it up, intentionally, then using it as a holloween costume wig would be wierd.
    As for buying it, no. I’m sure its very costly.
    Besides, they have to pry open the shell to get to the pearl, so any one animal only makes one pearl. Rather crewl to the animal, but then they almost die in the process of creating a pearl anyway, even naturally. Let alone if humans seed them.
    I really don’t like the idea of killing animals just to get pretties.
    But then they also harvest the animal itself for food not just the pearls.
    I do eat meat and feel bad about it, but just can’t seem to give up my chicken and fish.
    I feel very bad for the chickens especially.
    Ok, I’ll stop now. ^_^

  6. Nah, I can’t afford it. i have one skein of yarn currently. Im waiting on good prices at the thrift store, or a good sweater to be the right price.

  7. I am really curious as to why they say that the pearls would hydrate the skin. You have to be careful with pearls ensuring that they get enough moisture from the air so I can’t see them hydrating anything.

  8. I was able to get a skein at my LYS, it cost about $45 for 617 yards or 100 grams. I can get a shawlette and maybe some mini fingerless gloves out of it so I didn’t think the price was too much.

  9. I missed the boat on Pearl, but I called Yarn Sisters and they were kind enough to call me back! They are starting another line of their pearl yarn as Black Pearl in a variety of colors that supposed to be out in the late fall 2012!

  10. I would buy it in a heart beat and knit it up in to a scarf too, so I could snuggle it around my neck. It was very reasonably priced as well, only $35 per skin and its 617 yards. Other fibers are much pricier considering the yardage. just hope I get a crack a the black pearl coming out soon.

  11. I would buy it in a heart beat and knit it up in to a scarf too, so I could snuggle it around my neck. It was very reasonably priced as well, only $35 per skin and its 617 yards. Other fibers are much pricier considering the yardage. just hope I get at crack a the black pearl coming out soon.

Have you read?

Apple Knitting Patterns for Fall and Back to School

It feels like it’s too early to be thinking about back to school, but as I write this my daughter has just a couple of weeks of summer left! So let’s get in that school and fall knitting spirit by looking at some apple knitting projects. 

If you have a 22 needle circular knitting machine, knitting an apple is one of the easiest things you can do. I have an apple pattern over at Our Daily Craft that will take you just a few minutes to knit and they’re a great addition to your fall decor. 

Apple hats are a classic, and whether you want to knit a hat that looks like an apple or one with apples on it, we’ve got you covered. For hats that look like apples check out the rolled brim version from Emma Crochet Design 4 U, which uses worsted weight yarn and comes in sizes for kids of all ages; and the ribbed brim version from Hand Knit Hugs. This one also calls for worsted weight yarn and comes in four kids sizes. Both include a stem and leaf. 

If you’d rather have apples on your hat, try the Red Apple Hat from Little Red Window. This one is sized from newborn to 2T and calls for four colors of worsted weight yarn. 

How about apple socks? You’ll find Ariel Chang’s Apple Picnic Socks as a free download on Ravelry. These use three colors of sock yarn and come in three sizes. Stone Knits also a pair of stripey apple socks that show the inside of the apple. These also have three sizes but they use six colors total, with the main color being a self-striping yarn. 

If you want a little apple accessory for the house, the apple potholder from Nifty Knitter Designs is cute and a great way to practice double knitting. It uses two colors and you’ll find the colors in the reverse on the other side. The pattern only uses about 50 yards of each color of worsted weight yarn, so it’s a great use for odd balls, too. 

Once you’ve got your double knitting skills sorted you can also try the double knit apple scarf from Crow and Chai Shop. The Winter Apples scarf is shown in red and gold, but you can use whatever colors you like. There are apples, stars and random stitches in the design, which calls for DK weight yarn. There’s also a matching fingerless glove pattern.