Snail Gradient Yarns

Last week we showed you our new Dandelion hand-dyed yarn; this week we have another small-batch, hand-dyed European yarn for you. Snail Yarns are kettle dyed in Rome, by Valentina Consalvi. We are delighted to carry her gradient sets and mini bundles.Gradient sets are made up of five 20 gram skeins of single-ply, merino, fingering-weight yarns in shades from the same dye bath. An entire bundle has 100 grams with a put up of about 366 metres.

Gradient Sets

All the colours in a gradient set come from the same dye bath but have been left for various lengths of time, to make different shades.

We asked Valentina what her favourite colour is

“My favourite colour has always been purple, from lavender to deep aubergine. And I love to pair contrasting colours (those on opposite sides on the colour wheel); they enhance each other. My favourite colour combination is purples + yellows/greens, Plum+Viridian is a great combo in the Gradient sets.”

Mini bundles

The mini bundles are made up of five 20 gram skeins, of different colours, of the merino single ply. These can be used in a multi-coloured striped project or are perfect for colour work.

“I wanted to see how a single hue would look in different shades. I liked the idea of knitting with two Gradient colour-ways, in a sort of crescendo, alternating them in stripes or colour work.”

The gradients were immediately popular. There aren’t many dyers making gradients because they require a lot of extra work, but Valentina has persisted and we are delighted to be carrying her Snail Yarns.

Recommended Patterns

Designers have recently taken notice of Valentina’s wonderful yarns. The Snail Gradient, “Viridian”, was used in the Utu Cardigan from the latest issue of Laine Magazine.

And designer Janina Kallio has made two beautiful shawls that exploit the gradient effect:  Softly Spoken and Dip in Blue shawl.

There are many other patterns that would look great in Snail Yarns. Valentina recommends the Solaris shawl by Melanie Berg, the Everyday Shawl by SweaterFreak Knits and Rose Gold by Andrea Mowry; all of these would work perfectly with the gradients.

Or try swapping a gradient for any of the very popular brioche patterns, for a sophisticated look.

Valentina says her knitting favourites are sweaters and socks.

“I always have at least one sweater project, and many sock wips, at a time. I never get bored of them, probably because I prefer to knit in the round. I’m planning to cast on a gradient sweater, an Utu cardigan or maybe a gradient version of Boxy, we’ll see!”

You can follow Valentina’s progress on her instagram feed.