MCAL Starts Tomorrow - Choose Your Yarn

Is everyone ready for the Mystery Crochet-Along to start tomorrow?!

Have you chosen your yarns for the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Crochet-Along yet? Two hanks of any sock yarn will do. I absolutely love working with hand-dyed yarns, where even solid colors have gorgeous subtle shadings. A silk/wool blend is nice for added drape, but this project is worked on a fairly large hook for the weight of the yarn so any fiber is going to drape well.

I've been traveling for the past week for TNNA (the National Needle Arts Ass. trade show), and got to fondle lots of yarn, including many of the ones recommended by the various participating yarn stores. I was looking for another sock yarn to crochet the shawl again, along with everyone else, so I can post process pics, etc.. but just cannot settle on one. There are so many possibilities!

The ones I am most familiar with:

• Baah La Jolla (at All About Yarn) - A lovely, springy 100% superwash merino from a dyer in southern California. I just finished a top in this yarn, and it was a delight to crochet with.
• Black Trillium Lilt (at Wool 'N Wares, Black Sheep at Orenco also recommends their Pebble Silk and Merilon) - I made a shawl sample with this gorgeous yarn, hand-dyed by a local dyer. The touch of mulberry silk gave the finished shawl incredible drape, and I was amazed by how the lace just blossomed when I blocked it.
• Brown Sheep Co. Cotton Fine (at Gossamer, or try Nature Spun for a woolen feel) - This is a great alternative to a mostly wool yarn, as it is mostly cotton and will give a very different effect. I actually just finished a little dress in this yarn, and the drape in crochet is quite amazing.
• Anzula Sebastian or Breeze (at Yarn Garden) - Another west coast hand-dyed yarn, their colors are simply stunning. I have not worked with the finer weights yet, but I did do an afghan in their MCN (merino/cashmere/nylon) For Better or Worsted for my upcoming book. And I picked up a hank of the Breeze at TNNA, which is a lace weight linen blend, so the gauge may be a challenge, but if you make the larger size of the pattern, it should make a lovely, if somewhat smaller shawlette.
• Knitted Wit Superwash, Single Fingering, and Shine (at Northwest Wools, For Yarn's Sake, and Twisted) - I have been dying to try some of my colorwork designs with the brilliant colors from this local, Portland dyer.

I also think it's pretty neat that a couple stores have developed Special yarns just for the Mystery Alongs:

• Ahti & Vittra and Lorelei & Tyr (at Yarnia) are special blends made just for the MCAL and MKAL at this one of a kind yarn store where you too can design your own special blend of fibers and colors they will ply up for you.
• Thoroughly Thwacked (at Pearl Fiber Arts) is another local dyer who actually developed colorways especially for our Mystery Along. How cool is that?!

So, what will you use for your Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Crochet Along Shawl?
I can't wait to get started! Thanks for joining the fun! (And go do it now if you haven't already, there's still time!).

(note: there are a LOT of links in this post, so please let me know if you come across any that are not working. Thanks!)