Tricolour

 What is "Tricolour"? It is the official colours of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario (Canada). A royal blue, scarlet red, and golden yellow. They do have actual colour values, and I believe it's trademarked. However, for aftermarket items, sometimes things are more rust, or more golden. It can be hard to get red, yellow and blue in the same item if you want to make something, like yarn. Often, there's a good red and blue, but no yellow.  Lucy wanted me to make her Tricolour mittens for Christmas. She drew out the design even.

I first looked at an Ontario wool company and found red and blue, but no yellow. Then I remembered about Topsy Farm! Located on Amherst Island, just south-west of Kingston, they would be familiar with the Tricolour! I contacted them, and had some great customer service!! Top notch. This is what you get with farm to fork. Or, farm to needles! They pointed me in the direction of their Tricolour woven wool blankets, and indicated they used Sunflower Gold. It was not the yellow I had selected, but I trusted their intimate knowledge of their yarns. 

Then I was shocked at the shipping cost. It seemed a lot for 339gr of wool. I asked if they stocked it at the locations listed on their website, but no. If my kid could meet them at a certain location in Kingston the next day, they could bring it into town with them. It wasn't really practical for my kid as they don't have free bus service this year. So I asked about the shipping and they said they will charge only the actual shipping--the website averages out shipping costs. So they saved me some money and I'm really grateful! Not only that, it arrived SO quickly, and before Christmas! I had planned to just wrap up Lucy's mitten sketch with an IOU. I was able to wrap up the wool! 

When I opened the box, I was a little disappointed with the earthiness of the yellow, and Rob said it was flat out wrong. I said, it goes with the natural qualities of the wool---it would be strange if it were bright yellow. It would also not show dirt like a bright yellow, and there was only supposed to be small amounts. Lucy said she liked it, so that's the final decision! Sorry, no pictures, it's too awkward right now. Just go to their worsted wool page  and scroll down to the red, royal blue and sunflower gold. I wanted to get the totals in before the end of the year. I know I could have the mittens knitted before the 31st if I got my butt in gear, but I don't want to rush, and I'm picking up more duties around the house now. 

Yarn In:   339gr + 6477gr = 6816gr
Yarn Out:  10 597gr = 10635gr
Balance: 3819 gr gr more OUT than in!
Costs:  $140.68 + 44.07 = $184.75/363 days = $0.50 per day