Anticipation. Sorrow. True Joy.

Wollmeise sockenwolle: our dramatic quest
for gorgeous yarn from Germany

Poison no. 5 in dark, medium, and bright (for Cathy)

From a previous confession you know that a few of us stalked Wollmeise sock yarn on Flickr for months. (You know, before Ravelry emerged.) Elemmaclitur kept posting absolutely gorgeous photos- how could the obsession possibly wain? Of course, I kept forcing other knitters to look at the photos, too.

At the end of June a few Minnesota knitters placed an order with Wollmeise. We each ordered a number of skeins, and opted for the cheaper "Sea Way" shipping from Germany to Minnesota.

This was a bad idea for two reasons:
1. The wait was nearly unbearable.
2. The shipper was very naughty.

Sodden and stinky, the Wollmeise box arrived in St. Paul less than three weeks after Claudia shipped our gorgeously dyed wool. Everything was wet. Completely wet. Either the shipper left the box out in drenching rain, or (most likely) it sat in multiple inches of water for an extended period of time-- days, I'd say. Most of the skeins were in a jumble, the box had multiple holes, and one skein-- Tiefer See-- was completely missing. Cathy thought her skein wanted to go where it came from- the Deep Dark water! (Tiefer See roughly translates to 'Deep Dark Lake')You can see from the photo above that there was beautiful wrapping- but it nearly disintegrated. All of the labels had shredded and were stuck to the cardboard box.

Claudia, the Wollmeise herself, took the incident in stride and called our sea way box a submarine. She even asked if there were any fish inside! Claudia even offered to re-send our entire shipment.

I felt a compulsive need to 'save' the yarn. Every skein was washed at least once the moment it left the box. Some received multiple washings. Not all skeins were save-able, and were just too stinky to salvage. Claudia replaced these few skeins without charge-- and the insurance company is currently passing her request for damage reimbursement from desk to desk.

Of course, what you really want to see are photos. Now, they do not do justice to this gorgeous yarn.

Am Kalten Polar & Raku-Regenbogen
Dornroshen,Rosenrot & Feuerwanze
the infamous Tiefer See
Suzanne
Koralle im Meer (bright) Spice Market, Granataphel, Brombeere, Red Hot Chili, & Sonne
Gewitterhimmel- this photo certainly does not capture how beautiful this yarn is!

What do I think of the yarn? Honestly, the better question is-- what's not to love? :)
The colors are truly unique, and fantastically dyed. The yarn is smooth and not as stretchy as other superwash merino yarns, but has a ferocious amount of bounce. At first touch it may seem a bit like cotton-- but it doesn't react this way at all. The yarn does have many plies, and I have split the yarn once or twice while knitting an entire sock cuff. Of course, I do this with Regia or Opal, too. Once it's knit up into fabric it's absolutely wonderful- lots of stretch and resiliency.

According to Claudia's blog*, her shop will be closed for the next month. Ordering should be easier for both the user and her in the future. Distance always makes the heart grow fonder!

*The Google translate tool can be used to read her blog in English, although as Cathy notes, the effect is rather yoda-like.