custom order and yarn review no. 2

its not quite warm in london yet....still a little more of winter to go it seems so still happy to be knitting up some more hotwater bottles.  i have a lovely customer who asked for a cable hotwater bottle in pink this time which i think turned out quite well (if i must say so myself....again!).

for all my handknitted hotwater bottles this season i've used my favourite south african yarn from vinnis colours (unfortunately there is no dedicated website to link to for vinni as yet, but happy to pass on details, just let me know).

background : for those that don't know, vinnis yarn is hand-dyed and balled by women in economically depressed rural areas in south africa.  the sale of the yarn empowers the community and brings economic benefits.  reason enough if you ask me.

range : the colours in the range (i use the nikkam 100% cotton yarn) are extensive and range from soft muted towns to bright and bold.  the hand-dying give the yarn an added depth of colour and also a marbled effect which you may notice on the hotwater bottles.

availability : i get my yarns from the very helpful purlescence and have to say, for my purposes, the yarn is reasonably priced (although not sure i would want to knit up a larger item for the price - it may get a little expensive).

how it knits : with all cotton, its important to keep an eye on what you're doing as the yarn "splits" a little (so no watching tv and knitting with this yarn i'm afraid, its audiobooks all the way).  but the end result is a lovely soft product.  the yarn goes quite far which helps of course. 

all in all, a great yarn, great colours and even better long-term community benefits.

if you've knitted with vinnis colours in nikkam, let me know.  would love to know if you agree or disagree with my two cents yarn review......