Shadow and Light – our 2021 Festive Yarn Box unwrapped

Suzie Blackman
Saturday, 1 January 2022
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This year’s Festive Yarn Box was one I absolutely loved putting together. It was a lot of work, but, almost two years into the global pandemic everyone deserved an extra special festive treat.

Yarn Advent Calendar: Shadow and Light 2021 Festive Yarn Box mood board

The Shadow and Light yarn shade collection was inspired by the the contrasting effect of brightness and darkness on the colour spectrum.

The Shadow and Light Festive Yarn Box ready to be unwrapped

The box was packed in the usual ‘advent calendar’ format with 24 parcels, one to be opened each day from 1 December. There was a mini-skein each day and a selection of carefully sourced extra gifts, many of which we commissioned from local makers.

Shadow and Light 2021 Yarn Advent Calendar

Shadow and Light yarn shade collection

The yarn shades comprised two colour gradient sets of twelve semi-solids, one dark (‘shadow’) and one light (‘glow’). They are designed to be used in a variety of creative ways; for example, to form two fade projects or to combine in a gradient Fair Isle design.

2021 Yarn Advent Calendar

Shadow and Light dark gradient set

The dark set is deeply saturated, while the lighter set is soft and more muted. If you’re interested in the dark look, we have several shades from our permanent range that are similar to individual colours from this set including ‘Monstera‘ (very dark green), ‘Spirulina‘ (dark teal), ‘Depth Charge‘ (very dark midnight blue), ‘Boudoir‘ (very dark purple) and ‘Dancing in the Dark‘ (dark plum purple with warm tones).

Yarn Advent Calendar gradient set

Shadow and Light glow gradient

Both sets have an iridescent quality to the colours when arranged as a gradient.

And now for the extras…

2021 Yarn advent calendar extras - embroidery scissors
2021 Yarn advent calendar extras - embroidery scissors
Handmade needle case
Handmade lampwork stitch marker by FlameKnits
SAW Chocolate mini bars
SAW Chocolate mini bars
SAW Chocolate mini bars

There’s a beautiful pair of embroidery scissors; Tulip Japanese-made darning needles (simply the finest we’ve ever used); a handy needle case to store said scissors and needles, handmade by me; a handmade lampwork glass sheep stitch marker by FlameKnits; three bars of handmade chocolate from our amazing local maker Saw Chocolate; plus a choice of PDF pattern for miniskeins from our collection.

This is the first time I have made something for the box (except for the yarn). It was a bit of extra pressure but I love sewing and I think the result was a really nice addition.

Edited to add: It’s been amazing to see all your projects emerging from this set. Here are two of my favourites:

The author

Suzie Blackman

The dyer, designer, photographer, creative technologist and maker-of-things behind It's a Stitch Up. She lives in East London in a home filled with colour, fluff and house plants.

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