Shop Staple - The Gradient Kit!
Hey Goat Gang! We’re trying a little something new here and giving you some extra knitting-related reading material for you to relax with or use to learn something new. We hope you enjoy these little snapshots of shop life and that it’ll feel a bit like you’re all receiving a letter from us (or, perhaps more accurately, like you’re reading our diary!).
Where to start? Well, if you’ve ever wondered about the inner workings of a Local Yarn Store like the Fuzzy Goat, the best thing to illustrate just how much love, time, and endless thought goes into the running of it all has to be the art of stocking! Choosing what to stock is like our own personal love language. We want our decisions in stocking to be thoughtful above all else, since we strive to make this a place where you come to learn and grow and dream, as well as just shop. At the same time, we know you’re spending precious money with us, and so there’s an element of trust which we hope we earn through each decision we make in what we choose to offer you. When stocking, we always want to marry inspiration and trust, accessibility and fun, while also leaving room for a bit of a challenge (if you want it!). That’s why it’s always good to have a few key shop items we’re proud to stock again and again, season after season.
Couldn’t think of a better illustration of this than one of our favorite shop staples that we always have on hand – our Gradient Kits! If you’ve ever been to the shop, you’ll have seen our proud little display of these bundles made up of four cakes of color-coordinating Urth yarns.
They’re a great example of being approachable and still adjustable to your creative whims. Approachable because all the things you need to cast on are in one happy little package. That’s great for beginners or the indecisive because there’s no more worries about pairing the right yarn and the right pattern because everything’s already there together (well, everything except the needle, but we can always hook you up pretty easily with one of those if you don’t already have the right size at home).
However, it’s all relative to you! These babies are versatile! If you love the yarn but don’t like the pattern or don’t have a need for a baby blanket at the moment, just disregard it. You can simply use less stitches when casting on and end up with a wrap or nab two kits and make a bigger (more adult-human-sized) lap blanket. We also have a few Gradient Kits made up with the Promenade Shawl pattern included rather than the blanket pattern.
Whatever you do with it (we’re not here to gatekeep your knitting), we like that you have options – not only with your patterns but with your dyes. Each kit has a mix of speckled and solid yarn in soft dreamy colors chosen to coordinate effortlessly. Since quality and color are married to one another in knitting, this is just the thing we look for when we stock something more than once – soft to the touch, pleasing to look at and work up. And best of all, there’s no scratching of the head wondering whether multiple differently colored skeins will actually look good paired together (we’ve all been there).
Basically, everyone always knows new expecting parents or just enjoys a lap throw to keep themselves cozy or wants something fun that they can wear and say “I made this!” These give you just enough room for your own inspiration to shine while not feeling adrift or overwhelmed. Hopefully you can see why we have a love of the Gradient Kit – they’re a classic!