So when I first started creating hats and developing patterns for my Brand YarnGoneWild-Yarn Craft, it was all good as summer was shifting onto Fall, the perfect time of year to focus on hats knowing there was a practical need to cover the dome, the noggin, our tresses, and secure warmth that the old folks said would escape if you didn’t. FYI...its a bit of a myth, but to date, I still adhere to it.
When that first Spring came around...I was hooks deep into what would be considered cold weather yarn and prototypes, photographing them in chunky sweaters indoors and out, while the temperatures rose. Thank goodness for air conditioning, face powder and a cosmetic brush. I knew I needed some Funky Head Gear Swag that was more right for the change in climate that was about to lay a thick slather of heat on us, kinda like butter but not as tasty, hence a venture to a LYS or three, netted a continual introduction to Juniper Moon Farm yarns, specifically Zooey @junipermoonfarm.
Just like I live for color, I live for creative naming conventions. “Zooey” hit the mark. Was it pronounced like Zoë as in Zoë Kravitz the actress or was it Zooey as in “I’m going to the Zoo to see animals, inhale odd smells and hopefully come out unscathed”? I opted for the latter considering the brand name, and apologies to Zoo lovers for the “odd smells” comment as while I haven’t visited a Zoo in ions...the odoriferous aspects are as fresh as yesterday. Anywho....
Zooey was a walk on the wild side as it was Cotton/Linen, a 2/F yarn which was a real stretch for me cause y’all know...4/M or Aran was and still is truly my sweet spot, but as wearing wool in the North Carolina Summer time was not what was up...I saddled right on up to this thick thin with a little sheen to it wonder, and got to hookin’.
My experience with cotton yarns was limited but I knew enough to know, they were tough on the hands and wrists cause they are notoriously dry with almost no slip. Zooey had news for me! The way the cotton and linen were twisted together to make a ply then three of those are twisted together to create the strand...provided the path, the slip, the ease that I needed, to say nothing of the subtle sheen that comes with this three ply (or six ply depending on how you are counting) glorious donut of fiber.
I initially blended it with other speckled cotton-esque yarns, first single strand, then held with said cotton-esque. As another Spring came and went, I and Zooey leveled up as it was held together on its own, letting that shimmy shake of sheen do the walkin’ and the “all that and then some” zhuzh of the finished sample, do the talkin’. Come on now... you know yah gurl took it to the streets to show up and show out...as I like to do.
And by the streets, know I mean, flitting out in uptown Charlotte to the museum, the play, the concert, breaking bread with friends or on my own, cause that’s joy too.
Fast forward, Juniper Moon Farms Zooey is worked into many a sample and a couple of my published patterns: “DECONSTRUCTED FEDORA” currently only available in my one and only Pattern Book, as well as the newest pattern release of 2023 “40 ROWS IN A BUCKET HAT”.
I vibe it when y’all buy patterns, and/or the yarn whether I have an agreement with the yarn supplier or not (on this one I do not), but more impactfully, I vibe it when y’all pick up a hook and create something that wasn’t there before. It’s magical and yarn is the vehicle to a million smiles...so say I.
So check out Juniper Moon Farm. Im clearly a big fan of Zooey but also dig Summer Solstice, Cirrus, Nimbus and Cumulus of those I've trued thus far, but read their story as its inspiring and FYI...Im eyeballing a few other selections from their line cause Funky Head Gear Swag knows no bounds.
Juniper Moon Farm Website Link
My Website link
My. Ravelry Link
My Pattern book link "YarnGoneWild - Yarn Craft - The Hats The Thing"
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