Mirasol

Alright, alright so it turns out that I am not really going to be able to write once a week after all! There is some definite fear about what people will think about blog posts, which as it turns out, makes it very easy for me to procrastinate the whole thing; but I digress and today I do actually have something to tell you all about. 

Mirasol Display at Intwined Fibre Arts

Mirasol. This is a fantastic yarn company, that is all there is to it. They make beautiful yarns and they have some pretty great business practices too boot. The company began back in 2005 when Kari Hestnes and Per Svendsen made several business trips to Peru and were quite taken by two children (Marisol and Alex) of Alpaca shepherds. They saw how difficult it was for children to attend school and still maintain their connections to their culture and traditional way of life. Long story short (you can read the entire story here) they bought a farm, built a school, picked up Canadian yarn distributer Diamond Yarn as a major supporter and now they create beautiful hand knitting yarns. A percentage of every yarn sale is donated to the Mirasol Project and the school benefits directly. If you are ever feeling guilty about indulging in your yarn addiction pick up some Mirasol and feel really great about helping at least 45 Peruvian kids get and education instead!

So now that we all feel good about this awesome company and the amazing things that they have done lets discuss the fun stuff, the yarn! The yarn lines are always changing, but currently I have 6 different ones in the shop: Akpana (65/25/10 Baby Llama, Merino, Donegal), Miski (100% Baby Llama), Nuna (40/40/20 Merino, Silk, Bamboo sourced Viscose), Paqu Pura (100% Peruvian Alpaca), Sulka (60/20/20 Merino, Silk, Alpaca), and Ushya (100% merino).  I will tell you about a few of my favourites.

Ushya - Chunky weight yarn with braided look

Miski - Aran weight 

                                                                          

Paqu Pura is 100% Peruvian Alpaca, sport weight, single ply and I have got to tell you I love the texture of this yarn. I am basically in love with all alpaca yarns, but this one was one of the first yarns I was shown when setting up shop and I still am drawn to it. It is a single ply and that makes it a bit fragile, so if you are doing a complicated pattern that you might have to rip out a few times this isn’t the yarn for that project.

Hat and Cowl made from Paqu Pura, colour: galapagos

Nuna is new to the shop, though I gather that it is not new to Mirasol. It is another sport weight yarn but this time it is a two-ply, 40% Merino, 40% silk, 20% Bamboo sourced Viscose blend. The shine in this yarn is incredible and between the silk and bamboo it has a wonderful weight to it. I have yet to work with this yarn, but I have seen several finished projects in it and it does have a great drape in its finished projects. I would say you can make almost anything with this yarn, it is soft enough to wear next to your skin and the Merino in it should help any larger garment keep its shape. 

  

So there you have it a brief introduction to a great yarn company, both in its products and its ethics. Come down and check them out in person and I promise you won't be disappointed.