Yarn Review: Traveller

I’ve always been a sucker for hand-dyed yarn. In my opinion, it has more personality than machine dyed yarn has. Hand-dyed yarn has a soul. You don’t buy it, you adopt it.
And Traveller (with 2 L’s, yes) is my new favorite yarn of all time. There are a few different yarn companies that make it: The Verdant Gryphon, Cephalopod Yarns, and Dragonfly Fibers (and I highly suspect Miss Babs’ Yowza is the same stuff). These dyers all use the same base and all of them dye the MOST BEAUTIFUL colors. Each has their own style and technique, I assume (not that I know much about dyeing…although I would love to learn). Each is fantastic in its own way. I have a feeling they’re all competing with each other, which means ALL the colors just get better and better.
The yarn is a dk weight, sturdy and thick on a size 5 needle, perfect for hats, sweaters and gloves (except I use a size 6 because supposedly I knit tightly). It also makes a wondrously drapey, soft fabric for shawls when knit on an 8. Seriously, there’s nothing you can’t do with this yarn. Verdant Gryphon, Cephalopod and Dragonfly all make beautiful colors that range from semi-solid to wildly variegated, to suit every project, stitch pattern, and taste.
It comes with a generous 280 yards to a 4 oz skein—this is true of all three of the aforementioned dyers, and it ranges in price from $19 to $20, making it possible to knit a sweater for under $100, which is a major factor when you knit as much as I, and many of the knitters I know, do.
The only drawback is that very few, if any, yarn shops carry Traveller. I know of one store that stocks Cephalopod, but it’s in North Carolina. The best place to find it is at fiber festivals like Rhinebeck and Maryland, or, failing that, online.
I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF THIS YARN. You should go out and try some yourself. You will not be sorry. If you, for some unfathomable reason, decide you don’t like it, send it to me. I’ll give it a good, loving home.