Yarn Review: Stranded Dyeworks Fjord in “Industrial Kingfisher”

First Impressions:

Well-packaged, love the ball bands, everything as advertised (yay!). Photo was accurate to the website picture. I also grabbed a photo from the dyer’s podcast “shop update” section in her Episode 87 – at the 51:49 point – where she holds up some Industrial Kingfisher on three different bases. Fjord is the left, Oasis (fingering merino/nylon) in the middle, and Drift (right). You can see how the dye takes up very differently on the three bases.

Preparing:

No issues with this; easy on the swift and ball winder, no tangles.

Knitting Up:

As Fjord is a BFL base, it is a bit rougher than a merino blend, but at no point did I feel uncomfortable or unhappy working on it. It didn’t have any tendency to split whilst being knit, and I was knitting rather quickly (and picking up slipped stitches and manipulating them) so I was happy about that. It has a lot of spring to it and I was also particularly happy that if I dropped a stitch unintentionally, the yarn had enough ‘grab’ to keep from continuing to drop the stitch further and further down. There were also no issues with flashing or pooling.

Wear:
I haven’t had the chance to wear these a lot but I’m really happy with how they feel and how they are holding up. No more than the expected halo anywhere.

Fiber:

This is a high-twist BFL/nylon blend.

Purchase Experience:
The dyer, Amy, does a website update fairly regularly – dyeing is her full-time job – and many of them are 7pm British time. She tries to do an international-friendly update at least once a month (10am British time) but isn’t always able to for various reasons. Nonetheless, you stand a pretty good shot of being able to always find something to your tastes in the Stranded shop. Shipping is always prompt and reliable, and she’s responsive to email inquiries. I got a good laugh in March: I asked if she ever dyed up Industrial Kingfisher on a different base, since I want to make a No Frills sweater out of it; her response was ‘no, but I’ll put it on my to-dye list!’, and lo, it was in the shop shortly thereafter. She even commented on her podcast about it – so if there’s something you want that you don’t see, really do e-mail! You never know what will happen!

Additionally, her website allows you to ostensibly put almost an infinite number of skeins in your cart. When going to checkout you may find the available number has dropped (e.g. you want to buy 3 skeins for a sweater, you may see “your order quantity has changed due to availability, 3 -> 1”). This has been frustrating for me when I thought I could get a sweater quantity of something for myself, since I could put 4 skeins of yarn in my cart, but only would actually have been able to purchase one. No one “cartjacked” me – it was purely a case of website setup. I would much prefer if the website allowed for an accurate viewing of how many skeins are there for purchase, especially for people who are considering trying to use some of her yarn for larger projects.

TL;DR: Amazing BFL/nylon base, colours a little muted from the merino/nylon but a hands-down favourite.

Studio/Dyer: Stranded Dyeworks
Base/Line: Fjord, 80% Bluefaced Leicester, 20% nylon
Weight: fingering, 100g has 365m/400 yards
Colourway: Industrial Kingfisher
Put Up: skein
Purchase: directly from Stranded Dyeworks