The Story of Imbue
LBA x BT: From Portland to Paris, spun and hand-dyed with love
I can’t express how excited I am to finally be able to announce this incredibly special collaboration. It has been a year in the making and now the time is almost here. Next Friday, September 15, La Bien Aimée will welcome Imbue into our yarn family.Imbue Worsted is a yarn base spun by Brooklyn Tweed from soft American Merino wool. A 5-ply worsted weight yarn, it is round and smooth, offering perfect stitch definition for cables, lace, colorwork and textured stitches. Imbue is ideal for garments and accessories alike. I love this yarn.
I have been a long-time fan of Brooklyn Tweed. I know their different yarns well, and have used them for years. As a yarn shop owner, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter and Loft were some of the first American yarns I sold at my café, L’OisiveThé. So, when I was thinking about yarn brands I wanted to collaborate with in my new book, Neons & Neutrals, Brooklyn Tweed was at the top of my list. At the time, they had just released Imbue, so I ordered it in every color straight away. It was the perfect fit to knit Brienne Moody’s Brienne cardigan, and the only difficulty remained: choosing my colors! Of course, I chose their beautiful yellow, Warbler, and paired it with their subtle purple, Orchid.
I love this yarn so much that my mind immediately started to imagine my own colors on this base. I reached out to Brooklyn Tweed to see if they would let me dye on this base and they were very excited at this opportunity to collaborate with us.
Since then, my team and I have been developing our colors on Imbue, and knitting samples and swatches. This is how we get to know a new yarn base. We start by dreaming of all the patterns we would love to knit with it. Then we swatch a lot to see how the colors knit up and we start planning.
La Bien Aimée Imbue will be available next Friday, September 15 as a dye-to-order. You will find a curated selection of 23 LBA colors, all carefully chosen to complement BT’s palette and highlight the beautiful construction of this yarn. We have included some of our signature colors in bright neons, delicate neutrals, and rich jewel tones. I can’t wait to share this special yarn with you all! We also have some very fun plans with Brooklyn Tweed for the fall. How about a KAL?