Have you ever wondered how a custom color is born?

I get this question a lot, actually. People wonder how we work with indie dyers to develop our custom yarn colors. And the truth is, every collaboration is a little bit different.

So this week, I’m sharing a couple behind-the-scenes stories of two very different, recent color collabs.

Since our big Hot Loops Wall Reveal Event is coming up next weekend, let’s start with how I worked with Aimée of La Bien Aimée to develop our brand-new custom color…

“I had the pleasure of making a beautiful, beachy custom color for Knit Stars,” Aimée wrote. “It was inspired by this mood board Shelley sent. [see photo, below]. We created a mash-up of two of Shelley’s two favorite La Bien Aimée colors: Dusk and Waterlillies.

“This is the first time I’ve been asked to mix two existing colors that are so different, Aimée continued. “I absolutely loved this challenge of finding the right proportions to create this color to celebrate our Hot Loops Wall collab.”

Aimée sent me a photo of the first sample skein, and I literally squealed out loud, then did a little dance – thank goodness no one was around with a camera to record this moment LOL. My first thought was, forget whatever I’m working on, I have to cast this on. Right. Now.

So when Aimée asked me to name the color, “There Goes My Yarn Diet” sprang right to mind!!! And our new custom color was born.

When our new Hot Loops Wall is revealed Sept. 17th, I’ll be wearing my new Ranunculus Sweater in “There Goes My Yarn Diet” on Aimée’s new Bouclé base – that is, if I finish it in time! 😅

If you haven’t yet registered for this global, FREE Hot Loops Zoom event Saturday Sept. 17, you can do that right here. There will be prizes, party favors, appearances by your favorite knitwear designers and tons of fun. It’s like New York fashion week, but for yarn!
And if you’re near Tulsa, you can also join us for 2 special in-person events:

• Aimée Gille book signing at Knit Stars, 12noon-2pm Saturday, Sept. 17th
• Aimée Gille “Worsted” Trunk Show at Knit Stars, 2pm-4pm Sunday, Sept. 18th

P.S. Hot Loops isn’t just for knitters…we’ll have lots of crochet options too! And did you know that Aimée and I both crochet???

Sometimes a custom color comes around based on a personal story…

My niece, Cayanne, is getting married this fall in the Bahamas. I started a wedding shawl for her, but I just wasn’t feeling the pattern and yarn pairing that I had put together.

So when I saw an email from Emma’s Yarns about their new “Wispy Haze” yarn packs, I knew it was time to abandon project #1 and cast this on instead!

There were just two problems:

1. The yarn packs included mohair, and I’m allergic
2. I wanted the exact shade of the Bahamas water!

So I reached out to Emma’s, and we collaborated to make a yarn pack with their Silky Singles base + (instead of mohair) an amazing Suri Alpaca + Silk. And they dyed the perfect new shade… “Cayanne’s Wedding” was born!

You can pre-order our exclusive kits and make this along with me. I’m on a deadline so I need accountability buddies 😎

Choose from 9 colors – including “Cayanne’s Wedding” – and pre-order here.

Going, going…

It’s the last week to shop our Spring Hot Loops Wall on sale, before we usher in the new Wall September 17th!

Remember, any yarn you purchase from the Spring Wall also benefits Gaye “GG” Glasspie, who helped curate the whole collection.

Find all of our Sale yarns right here.

Aimée’s roasted garlic sweet potato soup + Pita chips
Feeds 4-6 people

Ingredients
1 entire clove of garlic roasted in oven
2 pint glasses of chicken stock or veggie stock
1 medium sweet potato
2 onions: one red and one white
1 white radish (navet)
6 small potatoes
1/4 cup of tomato purée or stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
2 tablespoons of turmeric
Salt & pepper to taste

Roasted garlic:

● Preheat oven to 400°F / 200°C. Slice off top of the head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and
season with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and place in a shallow dish.
● Roast until golden and soft, 40 -60 minutes. Let cool then squeeze out garlic when ready to use.

Prepare the garlic head to be roasted a few hours before starting the soup prep. I like to do this heading to the market to get my veggies for soup. By the time I get home, the garlic is roasted and ready to be taken out of the oven. Your house will smell so yummy!

Peel and chop all veggies and squeeze in an entire clove of roasted garlic (you can use less if this seems a lot to you) and put them into a dutch oven. I use Julien’s grandmother’s Le Creuset. It always makes me think of her making me wonderful French dishes when I’d visit her.

Bring to a rolling simmer in 2 pint glasses of chicken/ or veggie stock, lower to a low boil/simmer for 30-40 minutes until veggies are easy to cut with a fork. If you like your soup a bit more liquid, you may add
more water if needed. Once the vegetables are cooked, I use my immersion blender to mix the veggies and make a nice smooth soup.

Pita chips, to be prepared after the soup has been mixed. This gives your soup a chance to cool down to a
good eating temperature.

Pita chips:

● Two heaping tablespoons of za’atar
● Melt two tablespoons of salted butter and then mix in za’atar
● Cut up two large pitas to make pita chips.
● Dip in butter and Za’atar
● Bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes until brown and crispy. They will be perfect for dipping in your
soup!