Licorice Twist April 17, 2015 18:00

Licorice Twist has been in my repertoire for years, starting back when my primary audience was people who were cloth diapering their babies and wanted to knit wool pants as diaper covers. It's a great yarn for that purpose--100% wool, (mostly) not superwash so it retains its full absorbency powers, and relatively lightweight for summer wear or warmer climates.

Cloth diapering hasn't been my focus in a long time, so it had been quite a while since I'd dyed it in any sort of quantity until Black Sheep Gathering 2013. While getting ready for the show, I found some in my inventory and decided on a whim to dye it up for the show. To my surprise, a lot of people were attracted to it, most of whom would associate knitted pants more with Stephen West than a cloth diapered baby.

Maybe it's the vibrant colors, a holdover from those kid-centric dyeing days? Or just the unusual barberpole effect that comes from one of the plies being superwash, which dyes up darker and brighter than the untreated plies? The attraction happens even before it hits the needles, when you find out that it creates a supple fabric that bounces back wash after wash, thanks to being un-superwash.

Whatever the reason, I'm glad my customers like it because that means I get to dye it. Licorice Twist makes for some great transitions because once dye strikes the superwash ply, it mostly stays put, but you can still manipulate the color of the non-superwash plies around it. It's fun to play around.

I've just put up several colorways, both new and old. It's a great chance to try out this versatile yarn, with a range of color choices.