Brooklyn Tweed’s Woolen Spun “Shelter” and “Quarry”

Brooklyn Tweed’s Quarry and Shelter yarn reviews and what to know when knitting with woolen spun yarn.

This was my first purchase of Brooklyn Tweed’s “Shelter” yarn. It’s a worsted weight with 140 yard per skein. It feels a lot like the Quarry yarn, which I have knit with before, but that one is a bulky weight.

Reviews I’ve read at Ravelry, of Shelter yarn, are also similar to Quarry, in that knitters have sometimes had trouble with the yarn pulling apart as they knit. I know what they are saying is true, because I had this problem when I first began knitting with Quarry. I almost decided to NEVER buy it again – I was so mad. I thought it was the dumbest yarn ever. Glad I got over that.

Now, I want to try knitting with the worsted weight version. Shelter yarn comes in some really beautiful earthy colors. I don’t have any specific patterns picked out yet, but these skeins will probably become hats.

Brooklyn Tweed shelter yarn skeins
Shelter yarn skeins come in a variety of pretty colors.

In Defense of Shelter and Quarry Yarn

A few years ago I bought a couple skeins of Brooklyn Tweed’s Quarry yarn. It felt very weird, and when I began knitting a hat, I couldn’t even get it joined in the round. The yarn kept breaking apart. Later I learned that because this yarn is woolen-spun it will tend to come apart easier than regular yarn. The Brooklyn Tweed site has a whole page pointing out the difference between woolen-spun and worsted-spun yarn.

The unique quality of Quarry yarn means it may pull apart easily.
The yarn will sometimes simply pull apart

If you don’t feel like reading that whole page, then here is what you need to know: If you get a skein of woolen-spun yarn that seems to be breaking easily, twist the yarn a bit before putting pressure on it, such as when joining in the round. I think maybe certain skeins may just be weaker than others, or maybe the company changed something. The dark yarn above pulled apart very easily, but when I knit with Quarry again, I didn’t have the problem of breaking.

Here is the Oxbow sweater I began knitting in Quarry yarn (color Geode). I had no trouble at all with the yarn splitting apart as I knit. I did however have lots of trouble with the pattern, so this garment has been frogged.

Knitting the Oxbow cardigan sweater
Oxbow sweater was eventually frogged!

This type of yarn does feel funny. It has a dry, lightweight feel, but not scratchy. The yarn knits up into a very lightweight garment that ends up being surprisingly warm. This makes the yarn perfect for sweaters, which could otherwise end up bulky and heavy. Any project knit with this yarn dries super fast as well.

This yarn will bloom, which means when it’s washed the fibers fill in the spaces between the stitches. That helps the knitting look more uniform and perfect.

Another plus for me is that it is completely made in the USA. In fact Brooklyn Tweed yarn is spun in Harrisville, New Hampshire – a location I am very familiar with. I often drove past signs for Harrisville on my way to Keene, and ended up visiting the Harrisville Designs Mill Store during a NH visit.

In closing, I am certainly no expert on yarn, but I’m coming to love the wools for their beautiful properties.


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Knitting I’ve Done in 2022

Knitting projects finished in 2022 and my thoughts on each one.

This year, 2022, has not been an especially good one. Knitting has been a great way to escape and be at peace for a while. Looking at my list here, I’ve done a lot of that! I have not checked off “learning brioche”, but I bought a book. I have not steeked anything, but maybe next year.

In the order in which they were finished knitting, here are all the patterns (two were mostly my own) I used this year. My thoughts and info on each come after the title. Each link goes either to my blog post where I review the pattern, or is a direct link to the pattern download / purchase. I will have a link to the actual pattern (if one exists) on the post pages.

  • Solstice Glow Hat, by Bunnymuff (January) – Love the colorwork hat even though this type of hat doesn’t look good on me. End product is so cute.
  • Two by Two ribbed hat (January) – Quick and FREE. Didn’t like the yarn I used, but the pattern is easy to follow.
  • Wrist Warmers (February) A fun & FREE project to play with colorwork.
  • Meadow Moon, by Jennifer Steingass (February) Excellent designer, fun pattern, great sweater.
  • Slouchy Watchcap in Blue (March), by Churchmouse Yarns – Great hat! Long project that was quite boring to knit, but end product is worth it.
  • Lopi Wool Pullover (May) I created this pullover to use up my wool yarn and use some unique colorwork designs.
  • Hidden Gems shawl (June) A fun & FREE shawl to knit.
  • Bonnie Isle Hat (June) The recent, yearly Shetland hat. Mine is horrible and I don’t look good in this type of hat. Last one for me.
  • Warm Up Sweater, by Espace Tricot (June) Free pattern and worth it – great directions. I used up some Lettlopi yarn.
  • Honey Cowl 3 (July) Knit this simply to use up some yarn. Very easy pattern.
  • Kate’s Poncho (August) Fabulous pattern, loved the yarn. Made as a gift.
  • Cumulus Sweater, (September) Nice pattern, I changed the yarn weight to use up yarn. End product is okay and is probably better using suggested yarn.
  • Bulky Turtleneck (September) – my own creation to use up Alafosslopi.
  • Venlig pullover (October) Beautiful end product pullover, and awesome yarn, but pattern is a bear…!
  • Slouchy Watchcap 2 in Orange (October) Wonderful and versatile hat. Same as blue one above. Wearable for sure.
  • Playdate in Blue (December) Knit for a friend’s grandchild. Second time knitting this fun little baby cardigan – pattern by Tin Can Knits – you can’t go wrong.

So how did I remember all this? Of course I didn’t. I went to my Ravelry page that shows my projects in order! I found this info in my “projects” section under “challenge”.

I’m finally getting around to posting this on December 25th. It is very cold here in Florida, and I know it doesn’t compare to many places that are suffering with snow and REAL cold, but for us it’s extreme. The banana trees and other tropical plants can’t easily survive teens and twenties. By next week we will be back to normal with temps in the 60s and 70s. Happy knitting all my fiber loving readers.

Merry Christmas!


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Camel Yarn Weekend Hat Project

A simple ribbed hat pattern with enough brim folds to keep ears warm. The Weekend Hat is a pattern by designer PetiteKnit.

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I didn’t get far when I began the Clotilde Cardigan pattern, but it’s a good looking cardigan, and I’ll try knitting the pattern again.

Christmas Gift Knitting; Hats For the Guys

Get an early start on hat knitting for Christmas. This page lists a few hat patterns, for free and to purchase, that work well for guys. Also, I’ve listed some machine…

Blue Playdate Cardigan for Baby Boy

Knitting a little Playdate cardigan for a new baby boy. Blue “Putnam” yarn from Miss Babs is perfect for this little gift knit.

I’m so happy to have a reason to knit the Playdate Cardigan again! This is such an awesome pattern, with very good instructions from Tin Can Knits. The first Playdate I knit taught me about pockets and button bands. I think it was also one of the first times I did the Kitchener stitch.

Now, I am knitting this cute pattern again for a baby boy. The first Playdate (pattern linked down the page) was not for any particular child and I still have the little sweater. This time a good friend’s little boy grand-baby is arriving in December and he will be the recipeint.

The Yarn

I chose blue Putnam yarn, in color “Coos Bay”, from Miss Babs. The yarn is made up of 75% merino wool and 25% nylon, and is machine washable. Skein yardage is 400 and this size (3-6 months) sweater uses 350. (If you want to knit with some nice yarn, check out Miss Babs.)

October 21st, I began the project using the Old Norwegian cast-on. First, I had to knit the two pocket liners and then I began the body.

When I knit this sweater before, I used some merino wool with silk in it and the yarn was very slippery. This yarn is more suitable for a sweater. Playdate #1 page.

The more I knit with this yarn, the more I really like it! The shoulders of the Playdate sweater have been grafted using the Kitchener stitch. One sleeve is nearly complete.

I dislike using DPNs and began the sleeve with a 9-inch circular. Eventually I had to switch to wood DPNs but it is not a problem as there is plenty of room on each needle for the stitches.

Button Selection

Because of the small sweater size, I plan to do only four buttons. My choices are nautical designs, little tractors, or cute animals. I’m leaning toward the animals.

Once the pockets are sewn up and the buttons are added this little sweater will be ready to go. I have already washed and blocked it. Quite a bit of yarn is left which means a little hat or baby socks could be knit to match.

Finished Photo to Come

Buy the Playdate Pattern, by Tin Can Knits.


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A Simple Sweater With Stripes

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Yarn Selections and Casting On For the “Easy V”

Planning to knit the Easy V pullover pattern by Caitlin Hunter.

Having grown up in the 60’s there is some bohemian / hippy blood in my veins. I love a unique boho pattern and the “Easy V” sweater caught my eye.

The designer is Caitlin Hunter of Boyland Knitworks. I’ve knit a huge shawl of hers, which was a lot of fun (see it at the end of this page). Also my very first sweater knitting project was one of hers called “Umpqua”. It was a fail for me because I used the wrong kind of yarn (superwash) and it grew huge! I didn’t know any better at the time.

The Easy V has a colorwork yoke and colorwork on the sleeves. I believe it is meant to be a loose pullover. The pattern link is down the page if you’d like to see examples of the pattern and buy it.

Time to Cast On – Twice

I hope this is not a bad omen, but I had so much trouble beginning the cast-on. First I used the wrong needle size (I’m blaming that on the wine.) Before I realized my needle size mistake, I had decided to add some green mohair with the Plotulopi to give it strength.

I cut the yarn and didn’t bother to frog it. I began again with the correct size needle (size 4). This time I ran out of yarn in the tail of my Old Norwegian cast on! I finished it with a regular cast on.

Holding the two yarns together will be fiddly, but that Lopi yarn by itself breaks very easily.

I don’t know what is up with the cakes of Plotulopi as they are all attached together in the center. I have plenty of the yarn, so loosing a bit to that weirdness is okay. Getting a good color shot of that wool will be tough it seems!

Two Necklines Begun

After I had worked a bit on the green neckline, it began to look pretty large. I decided to begin again with a size 3 needle using some white Lettlopi yarn. It’s hard to tell a size on this sweater because the neckline is very unqiue. I did not do a gauge swatch mainly because I didn’t want to use up my hand spun yarn on a swatch. BUT… once some knitting had been done I did check my gauge and it’s very close. Of course the item has not been washed and blocked either.

I kept the green collar / neck and will end up making two of these sweaters!

I began the colorwork using the size 6 needle, but ended up going up to a size 7. This yoke gets large around with over 300 stitches on the needle. I’m knitting sweater size 3.

Working with this type of colorful hand-spun yarn can be tricky. I love the colors, but they can end up looking very different once knit into a project.

The yarn I chose for this colorwork yoke are: Primrose Yarn Company’s “Undergrowth” shown in the middle of the three skeins below. Also used the blue “Magic Hat” (below in skein and ball) and the speckled “Starling” (ball).

Looking at the skeins, I thought that “Undergrowth” would be more pink, but actually it is more tan / brown. Unfortunately you don’t really know until the item is knit. This yarn is too expensive to waste on a swatch, IMO.

The colors are good together, but not really what I had expected. The white color area used up nearly one skein of my leftover Lettlopi, so the main color for the body and sleeves will be brown Lettlopi.

Easy V in Green

My second Easy V is knit with Plotulopi and mohair held together. The colorwork yoke contains some variegated lime green-blue, dark blue plotulopi and other yarns I am using up.

Buy this pattern: Easy V Pattern Page at Ravelry

I will be writing another page about the completed knit of this pattern, but at least it seems I have finally decided on size and colors.

It turns out that this yoke had a line on the colorwork chart that used three yarn colors at once. I changed it to two for my yoke, but the designer has updated the pattern so they are all two colors.


More by this Designer – Moon Sisters – Shawl by Caitlin Hunter

The Moon Sisters shawl is a great way to use up yarn. It is done in mostly knits and purls with a fun bit of colorwork in the center.

Moon sisters shawl finished knitting with tassels attached.

Here’s what else I’ve been doing