NNK Yarns – From Woolly Mail to Finished Object

I love NNK Yarns’ unique hand dyed yarns. Everyone loves getting woolly mail and I’m no exception! Although I’ve been bad at posting my deliveries from NNK Yarns on Instagram (follow me @mycraftsandkelly if you’re not already), I’m still steadily making my way through all my lovely, squishy delights!

Not Just a Hoarder

Yes I am guilty of having a large stash. However, I do knit! I don’t just collect, I swear! Unlike other yarns, NNK Yarns have been easier for me to ‘stash bust’ with and work with regularly. I think because they are so gorgeous!

In preparation for this blog post, I went through my Instagram feed. Hunting for my woolly deliveries. Surprisingly, I found that I hadn’t posted a lot of my deliveries to my feed. However, I’m guessing I was trying to keep them secret from the partner!

“Excuse me? Yarn delivery? You must be mistaken! I’ve always had these skeins you’ve never seen before!”

Finished Object vs Work in Progress: What’s the tally come to?

I think I might have 20, maybe 23, finished objects (not counting weaving in ends!) that have been knit with NNK Yarns. Including a few projects where they seduced their way into the project and weren’t the primary yarn!

And there might be around 11 NNK Yarns WIPs currently…. Is a cast-on-a-holic a thing…?

See below for lots of delicious yarn eye candy!

A Couple of Oldies but Goodies:

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I think these two colourways look good no matter what the project is or what yarn they are paired with. So bright and vibrant and full of cheer. Did you manage to get one of these classic skeins? What did you knit with it? Leave me a comment below!

NNK Yarns Woolly Mail – AKA “The Hoard”

Scroll the gallery! I did my best to remember all the colourway names! Let me know if I got any wrong!

Finished Objects

One Awesomely Amazing Skein, So Many Projects!

I think hands tied behind my back, gun to my head, if I had to choose a favourite colourway Impossible Princess might be it. I have only ever bought the one skein of this colour way. Yet its been knit into so many different projects. Sometimes as a star and sometimes as a supporting artist.

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Almost through this second ever order:

I custom ordered the triplet cakes with the plan to design and knit a shawl for Ovarian Cancer (I’m a survivor). That’s right! Custom order. If you contact Lisa (the amazing woman behind NNK Yarns) she is so helpful and willing to get your yarn dreams into reality.

However, with the shawl design, I keep sketching and knitting and ripping and not being happy with the result. Hopefully I can get my vision and survival spirit out into shawl form with these three gorgeous skeins before 2022.

I knit the second of my Hopeful Shawl design in a slightly larger size in the Shimmer colourway.

The Silver Fox were a heavy handed dyeing (Lisa’s words not mine!) on a Merino Silk base which is just scrumptious. I used these as the main colour for my first Slipstravaganza during last years West Knits MKAL.

Lost track of the order of the orders from here out…

I kept buying skeins just because they were beautiful but didn’t always have a plan of what to knit them into so a lot of the time they were used for random bits here and there. Mermaid, a gorgeous blue with speckles of dark blue and purple, I ended up using in my scrap wrap design and in a scrappy set of arm warmers that are a custom design and order for one of my best and longest friends living in America.

The Ultraviolet Mohair went forever and made it’s way into a few West Knits as mohair dares, was added into the purple Euphoria glove’s cuffs, and were the lovely lace flounce cuffs on the custom arm warmers.

Lipstick is another seductress. Making it’s way into various projects. I still have a decent amount left of that bright and vibrant yarn so I’m sure it isn’t finished with it’s seductive ways.

Radioactive and Wicked were used to make a T-Rex Amigurumi for my young cousin. He loved it! I was so pleased and he drew me a picture. This bargain clearance sale Silver Fox I used to finish off the the Silver Fox Slipstravaganza when I ran out at the i-cord bind off and was the second stripe colour in my Garter Garden Shawl alongside Purple Rain.

I still haven’t knit anything with the Christmas skein yet. What do you think I should knit with it? Please let me know in the comments below!

A very large order… too many gorgeous skeins to resist….

I think this order has the most skeins that I’ve still yet to get to…

Most important was knitting up the second version of my Garter Garden Shawl using Glacier and Honeycomb. This is not a combination that is usual for me, but I really love how it came out and the beachy vibes that it emits.

I still have one skein of the Honeycomb left. Originally I was going to use the two Honeycomb skeins with a purple Yak Silk. However, I felt it best to use what I had rather than keeping it aside with the idea to get around to knitting with it later.

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More Plans for these NNK Yarns!

In this order I had a large amount of gorgeous yak silks. Almost all of them made their way into both versions of the Slipstravaganza’s that I knit. And the left over yak silk I’m trying to use to knit a lacy raglan sleeve top. The pattern is called “Sun and Moon”.

Two of the skeins, I believe the top two pinky looking ones, are set aside for this year’s West Knits MKAL, Shawlography! I can’t wait to cast on Friday!

I’m designing a lace shawl using the Yak Silk in the Opal colourway. There are two skeins of Footpath Art, a gorgeous dark grey with bright pinks and moody purples. I plan to knit a small cardigan for myself with those. I planned to knit a brioche cowl with the Goldenorb Weaver and the Plush (red) balls. The gorgeous three cakes of Merlot are ready to be cast on and turned into a Spritz Stripe top, pattern by Carol Feller. (I was just trying to finish the Frenchy Blouse first).

I want to make a cropped top with the Rogue with an accent of the moody plush on Yak Silk. And the gorgeous trio of Tabacco, Truly Teal and different kind of Merlot I want to use to knit a fair isle top.

And I believe the rest, including the Christmas Sock Set will be knit into socks!

This year I set a goal of knitting a shawl a month. I’ve far exceeded my lofty goals I’m so pleased to say. Next year I’d like to set a goal of knitting a pair of socks each month! Fingers crossed I can be just as successful!

Pinks and Purples are really my jam right now…

I’ve used all the yarns in this order excluding the Driftwood Mohair. The Driftwood Mohair I’ve recently paired with two skeins of Driftwood on a sock base (acquired during The Big Wool Show) which I plan to use to reknit the arm warmer pattern before releasing it for test knitting. I can’t wait to cast on that project!

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Euphoria, like Impossible Princess, has made its way into many projects. First being used as a gorgeous gauge swatch. Next being used in the arm warmers, then in a pair of gorgeous gloves, it was also added into the scrappy version of the Garter Garden Shawl. I’ve still got a nice amount left. It’s another versatile colourway!

Lipstick, like it’s mohair counterpart, has been used as a pop in many projects, including the Fantastitch and the fingerless glove portion of the arm warmer.

Controlled Crazy I picked out for my younger brother immediately. My little bro has been hugely supportive of my knitting and is a creative, crazy, free spirit (and my handsome male model) but can also be very serious and stern in stark duality. Because of that, I felt this colourway was absolutely perfect for him. Of course, socks were the gift of choice. However, I’m terrible when it comes to knitting socks.

I can knit a 900+ stitch i-cord bind off with ease, but when it comes to completing two socks to make a pair within a month it’s an impossible task. What’s wrong with me?!

I’d really like to have this pair of socks finished before Christmas! Can I do it?!

NNK Yarns Advent Calender 2020

It’s cast on… but hasn’t gone very far. I drafted a pattern tentatively named “Scrap Wrap” with the purpose of using up lots of little bits of yarn that you might have left over but would also be perfect for Advent Calendar Mini Skeins Sets.

I was getting my best friend, a novice knitter, to attempt to knit this wrap. She had a lot of difficulty with the cable border, so it was decided that the cable border would be removed and an easier alternative would be used in the design instead. Neither of us have gotten much further.

I do hope to tackle this again in the near future as these gorgeous GORGEOUS advent skeins are screaming to be knit up in a superb row all together looking fabulous and stunning. Soon my pretties… soon….

Works in Progress

Currently on the needles!

The Bulevardi 5 socks have been an absolute delight to knit and I think the Frosty Diva and Currant are a perfect pair! But like all my socks, the tradition dictates I must knit one sock, most of the second and never finish them both in a reasonable time.

Maybe I will use it as my ‘waiting for the next clue’ project during the West Knits Shawlography MKAL. The Jacki Scarf in Serenity I started to wrap my head around brioche knitting increases and decreases. Although I haven’t finished it, I’m in no rush to as I use it as my brioche refresher project. When I haven’t knit brioche in a while, which happens quite a lot! As a result, I use this project to get back into the swing of things before tackling the project I want to tackle. I think it will be on the needles for a while yet, and that’s ok.

I started to design a pair of socks using the Summer Sky sock set, so far I only have a squishy cuff completed. I’m designing a brioche cowl using Bubblegum Denim and Blue Jeans. Although taking much longer than I initially planned, I can see the finish line on the larger version of the Hopeful Shawl. This is knit in the No Shrinking Violet Diva and In Your Face Diva colourways. I hope to have this shawl pattern ready for test knitting really soon!

Another older colourway, Moody Blues, I have used to treat myself. I cast on and have been making steady progress on a crochet mandala. Eventually, this will grow into a duster.

Other Finished Knits

I forgot to mention my first Garter Garden knit with Garden Pond and Currant. I used the left over Current from the shawl as the contrast yarn in the Bulevardi 5 socks. Next, is a shrug using the super chunky, and also super squishy, base in the colourway Magnolia. This project you could knit in an evening and uses just under 2 skeins. The pattern is the Shieldmaiden Shrug.

Lastly, and also most recently off the needles, is the Frenchy Blouse (pattern by Poisongrrls) with sleeve and hem length modifications. Using 4 skeins of DK Sparkle. This project came out better than expected!

Garter Garden KAL November!

I’d like to do a knit-along in November (my birthday month) to celebrate my first published pattern the Garter Garden Shawl. The shawl uses 2 skeins (or approximately 800m) and I’m eyeing off the Woodnymph and the Charcoal pairing cuddled together in my stash…