More ecofriendly yarns to consider

Glad to see that over the past three years, more knitting yarnmakers are featuring organic cotton and other earth-friendly yarn. My main criteria are primarily organic plant material that's naturally dyed, and secondarily, fair-traded. Pakucho meets both. Then after that... not much.

Still, I'm making this list to consider other options for those yarns that meet my first criterion. The third would be, recyled... and fair-traded, of course. Fourth would be, recycled.

Not in any particular order, here are my candidates for my Plan B wish list for the year (in progress):

1. "Good Earth Cotton" Yarn by Tahki--100% organic cotton yarn spun from naturally colored fiber

2. "Natural Earth Cotton" Yarn by Tahki--worsted-weight little sister of Good Earth Cotton

3. "Cottonwood" Yarn--certified 100% organic cotton by Fibra Natura, complying with the standards of the EKO as a sustainable textile, the strictest in the industry,

4. "Links" Yarn--with the prestigious EKO Sustainable Textile certificate  of 100% organic cotton

5. "Biosoja" Yarn--crafted in Italy of 40% organic soy, 34% organic cotton & 26% organic bamboo (no mention of certification though)

6. "Eco Cotton" Yarn by Debbie Bliss--the premier yarn in her Fair Trade Collection, authenticated as 100% organic through the BioRe textile chain,  using non-toxic, non-carcinogenic dyes, and all water is recycled and made drinkable. (sounds great!)

7. "Purelife Organic Cotton DK" Yarn by Rowan --a 100% organic, environmentally responsible yarn (connected with BioRe). Spun from cotton organically grown in India, the fiber is then naturally dyed in Italy.

8. "Purelife Revive" Yarn by Rowan--crafted in Italy of 36% recycled silk, 36% recycled cotton & 28% recycled rayon.

9. "Riveting Worsted" Yarn--soft recycled blue jeans fiber imported to the US where it's into 4-ply yarn.

10. "Recycled Silk" Yarn from Himalaya Yarn--Composed of 100% recycled silk fibers from the industrial weaving mills of India, the fibers are handspun in Nepal, supporting a cottage industry of spinners with each one working independently.

Ravelry advertisers to patronize

As a way to support my fave social network for knitting, I hope to buy some stuff someday from these Ravelry advertisers :-) my priority is those selling organic cotton yarn.

1. KnitPicks--already bought some yarn from them before. Maybe will buy some needles here, especially those I'll need for knitting hats (circulars and DPNs).

2. ArtFibers--hmmm, they have organic Egyptian cotton, ecologically dyed. They also have nice-looking linen yarn.

3. Lantern Moon--Known for their handcrafted knitting needles. I also badly need stitch markers. I can buy them via Paradise Fibers, which also sell linen yarn on cones. Or maybe over at Verra Yarns.

4. Yarn Mountain--carries lovely handpainted linen yarn by Claudia.

5. Verra Yarns--sells interesting organic and socially conscious yarn from the Mirasol project. I dunno though when I'll have to buy wool yarn again, since I'm currently destashing for my current charity knitting projects. Fortunately Mirasol also has organic cotton yarn.This online store also sells fair trade organic yarn, Rowan Purelife. Here's another online source for Mirasol yarns.

6. Yarn Market--sells Himalayan Aloo yarn as well as Louet Euroflax yarn, etc.

7. Fiber Organics--also sells Mirasol Sampa yarns, based in California.

Yarn Wish List, Jan 2012

All organic, natural, and mostly ecofriendly. I'll prioritize cones and large skeins, where available :-) ha ha, I practically ordered most of the colors available for the Pakucho cotton.

ECOBUTTERLY ORGANICS

1. Rich Cinnamon Chocolate Pakucho Organic Cotton Yarn (Worsted) Skein

2. Vicuna Qoperfina Organic Cotton Lace (Cone)

3. Deep Green Qoperfina Organic Cotton Sport (Cone) 

4. Cafe Pakucho Organic Cotton Fine Flamme Sport Yarn  

5. Moka Chocolate Pakucho Organic Cotton Yarn (Worsted)  

6. Deep Golden Brown Qoperfina Organic Cotton Sport (Cone) 

7. Sage Qoperfina Organic Cotton Sport (Cone)









PARADISE FIBERS

1. Louet Euroflax Linen Yarn Sport 1/2 lb Cone

Colors: Willow, Crabapple Blossom, Pewter, Violet








2. Louet Euroflax PARIS Linen Yarn Lace Weight 14/2 1/2lb Cone

Colors: Island Moss, Aqua, Sandalwood, Terra Cotta

3. Louet HAND DYED Euroflax Sport Linen Yarn 100g Skein


Color: Nature








GREEN SHEEP SHOP

1.  Hemp for Knitting AllHemp3 - Brick

2. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp3 - Deep Sea

3. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp3 - Raspberry

4. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp3 - Cinnamon

5. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp3 - Sprout

6. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp3 - Lilac










7. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp6 - Marble

8. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp6 - Wineberry

9. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp6 - Pumpkin

10. Hemp for Knitting AllHemp6LUX - Olive











QUINCE AND CO.

1. Sparrow--Organic linen yarn, undyed

Let the river flow

Correction: The yarn to the left is not Filatura di Crossa yarn, as I had posted earlier, but Filati Italian Collection yarn... got it from elann.com

I decided to knit it on its own, rather than match it with the Camila "chamois" yellow yarn, since the orange/yellow bits in the colorway already brighten up the rest of the yarn... as intended. This makes me curious to see the Italian place that this colorway was named after, Po River.

I remember now why I chose this colorway. I wanted something in blue, to tone down the orange and maroon yarns ... yet I also wanted to have something in orange bits (his favorite color). So there... it was rather hard to choose the colorway. I loved their color combos... trust the Italians for having good taste even in matching colors. I'm sure it's in their genes...

I'll soon post a pic of this scarf-in-progress. As usual, seed stitch played out better than garter. I love how it's turning out.

Only problems I've had with Filati sailor: splitty, and the usual challenges of 100% cotton yarn, making me kiss my metal needles for making the work easy.

Unfortunately, I won't get to buy anymore Filati Sailor yarn, much as I love their other color choices. After buying my elann.com stash, I've opted to buy only nature-friendly yarn, so that means sticking to organic cotton... and tencel, and tussah silk, mostly.

I've decided to just wait for my tencel yarn to arrive and experiment pairing it with the Zahir, for Beng's scarf. There's no real hurry anyway plus my deadlines are killing me.

So for now... I'm still dreaming up various Zahir permutations and starting to eye my other yarns... especially my two balls of Filatura di Crosa Brilla, "Tangerine Dream" which is a blend of cotton, viscose and rayon. The photo below doesn't show the subtle sheen of the yarn, which makes the actual yarn brilliant in texture and bright in color.



It would make a cheery, summery scarf... the colors don't seem appropriate for a guy.

Well, I could tone down the sheen by pairing it with my hemp yarn, the Canapone, in green tea. I'll think about it and wait for my dreams to show the way...