Jimmy Beans Wool Buys Madelinetosh

Jimmy Beans Wool, which started as a coffeshop and yarn store in the early 2000s, has positioned itself as a major player in the online fiber world, selling yarn and notions as well as acquiring companies that produce quality goods for fiber lovers.

In years past they have purchased bag makers Namaste and Della Q, and they just announced the purchase of indie yarn giant Madelinetosh.

“Yarn is such an important part of Jimmy Beans’ DNA and with the addition of Madelinetosh, it feels like a match made in yarn heaven,” Jimmy Beans founder Laura Zander said in a press release. “We’ve been carrying Madelinetosh yarn for years, and to see what Amy and John have created is remarkable. Their eye for color and ability to take dyeing from their kitchen to becoming the largest hand-dyer in the country is just incredible.”

For now Madelinetosh will continue to operate in Fort Worth, Texas, while Jimmy Beans operations are based in Reno, Nevada. According to an FAQ on the Jimmy Beans site, individuals will still be able to order Madtosh yarn from either website, though inventory on the Jimmy Beans site will reflect what they actually have in stock in Reno while orders made through the Madtosh site will be made to order and will take longer.

It will be interesting to see how this partnership evolves. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Jimmy Beans Wool.]

Next Pattern:

One great thing to knit when the weather is warm (or honestly any other time) is dishcloths and washcloths. They are fun and easy projects and a great way to play with new skills. Pretty washcloths make cleaning a tiny bit more fun, and they’re great to have on hand as a quick addition to a store-bought gift.

The Daisy Delight Dishcloth from Yarnspirations is a fun one for using leftover bits of green in your cotton yarn stash. What looks like the bottom in the picture is actually the left side as you knit it, and each little color section is worked with its own ball of yarn, intarsia style.

That’s a little fiddly for a washcloth, but the effect is cute, and it’s a simple way to learn the basics of intarsia knitting (as well as reading a chart) if you don’t already have those skills.

One the knitting is done, you add the flowers with a bit of lazy daisy embroidery, which is really easy to do even if you’re not that into embroidery. You could also potentially add flowers in duplicate stitch if you’d rather.

This may be the most work you’ve put into a dishcloth, but isn’t it adorable? It would be fun to use as a hand towel through the spring and summer, and if you already have some leftover green yarn from other projects it should be pretty easy to do.

You could also take this same concept and make it different colors. All dark green stems with stars on top might be reminiscent of Christmas trees, or brown with daisy stitch on top in different colors could be trees in the fall.

However you stitch it, this looks like a fun little project for knitters who are comfortable with intarsia and reading charts or who are ready to try those skills.

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

Book Review – Dishcloths for Special Days [Knitting]

Book Review – Holiday Knit Dishcloths

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