Color Fusion Merino Comes to Wind Rose

I actually wanted to call this post Color Fusion Merino by Ashland Bay comes to Wind Rose Fiber Sutdio and What I've Been Up To Lately, but even I know that's long winded.  I guess I'll lead with the good stuff, the Merino top.  

For a long time I've been perfectly happy with my ecru account at Ashland Bay.  I enjoy doing my own dyeing and dyeing for my customers, so I never really paid much attention to their dyed products, until recently.  What changed?  They introduced a new line of dyed Merino, and I fell in love.  I can't really explain it.  It was an "at first sight" kind of attraction.  They call it Color Fusion and what that means is that they've taken 3 harmonious shades and blended them together.  The one I have pictured in the upper right corner is called Orchid.  As you can see, the colors are all in the same family, but the depth and complexity achieved by the blending is so pretty.

It probably sounds like I've never seen dyed fiber before, but color was only half of the draw.  The other half was in the fiber itself.  This Merino is a luscious 19 micron, super soft, I mean like butter soft, like hugging a cloud soft, like puppy soft, well you get the idea.  Gorgeous color and cuddly feel, what's not to love?  So now I have ten colors in my shop.  They can all be found in the Dyed Merino Section in lots of 1, 2 and 4 ounces. I worked all day to take pictures that would do the colors justice, but there's nothing quite like seeing them in person.

Phew! (exhale) It's exhausting proclaiming your affections.  Still, let me muster just a little more energy and share a crochet pattern book I've been enjoying.  My free time has been limited lately, but when I am able to carve out time for myself, I spend it with Rustic Modern Crochet by Yumiko Alexander.  It came out in January I believe, so it's not brand new, but it's new to my library.  I like the design on the cover which I can tell you makes up quickly.  I gave this design to my sister for her birthday and she loved it.  She commented on how I always find the coolest things to make, so thank you Ms. Alexander!  The other design that I have completed and really like can be found on page 27.  It's called Bridges and it's a light mesh top which looks great over and tank and is perfect for the summer.  

Okay, that's all for me tonight.  I hope your summer is off to a great start.  Stay cool out there!