February Sock Yarn Review - Schaefer Anne

Already February 6, and nothing about this month's yarn. Too much work (definitely too much driving), a fair bit of knitting in the early morning hours but no time to write. I've driven in and out of Winnipeg on business, and have been thinking a lot about quilting.

But there's always time to knit.

This month's yarn is one I have in my stash several times over, but have not yet knit - Schaefer Anne.

The Schaefer Yarn Company of Interloken, New York has is an American yarn dyer with several weights and blends of yarn. Schaefer Anne is a fingering weight yarn with superwash wool, mohair and nylon. It can be used for socks, scarves or mittens.

This colourway is Elizabeth Zimmerman.



Schaefer takes the majority of their colourway names from notable women. Elizabeth Zimmerman is a remarkable woman of American knitting, no longer with us, unfortunately, but in her lifetime and beyond a remarkable designer. Her Baby Surprise Jacket is still a great favourite for grandmothers (and everyone else who must knit an infant garment quickly. It's wonderful because it finishes in one piece and all the knitter needs to do is add a few buttons and sew in the ends. This is particularly wonderful for those of us who hate sewing together pieces of knitting.) Elizabeth Zimmerman's book, "The Opinionated Knitter" is worth reading, regardless of how experienced you are.

Whenever I look at Schaefer's offerings I wonder at how they chose colours for women's names. This one both intrigues and confuses me. I think of Elizabeth Zimmerman as being a colourful woman. How could she not have been and been as prolific a knitter as she was? This colourway is hardly, well.... colourful. To my mind, it's rather dull and a bit too much like camouflage for my taste.