That something extra

Recently we started carrying the Planet Earth Beaded Silk Yarn, from Tilli Tomas. When I first saw these mini skeins, I didn't quite get it! They're so small, each skein only has 25 yards. I wondered if they would even sell!

Tilli Tomas made these mini skeins for needlepointers, cross stitchers and crazy quilters. They've been out for a couple of years, and they've been really popular with these folks. Tracy told us they were also selling like hotcakes in knitting shops, so we ordered them at the TNNA show in June. They arrived on Wednesday, June 23rd, just as the Vermont Quilt Festival was starting, and quilters were streaming through our shop.

We were unpacking the Tilli Tomas box down in the shop and were swarmed by some quilters. All of our Planet Earth Beaded Silk Yarn was gone by the weekend.

Fast forward to last week. Barb and I realized that in the last month, we've had to reorder these mini skeins numerous times! Each time we increase our quantities, and each time they sell out! And while the quilters did gobble up our intitial shipment, it's been knitters buying them since then. People want to add just a little something to a scarf, a hat, a shawl, etc. and the size of these little skeins is perfect! I'm now a believer!

Last week I made the Chill Chaser, a cute little scarf pattern by Tilli Tomas. I used one skein of Tilli Tomas Raw Silk and 2 Planet Earth Beaded Silks. It was so easy, and super quick. Here it is (not yet blocked, sorry!) When blocked, it will look more like this:

Then this week we got the Tilli Tomas Elsie yarn - this yarn is 1/3 wool, 1/3 silk and 1/3 milk protein. It is gorgeous and SO SO SO soft! I touched it and immediately thought "baby hat." So I grabbed 2 mini skeins (in Caribbean & Dill) and a skein of the Elsie (in Warmth) and got started.

It's going to be really sweet. I introduced just a hint of the sparkly stuff on the brim of the hat... I'm saving the rest for a statement at the top!