This time we had it stocked in our store, which doesn’t happen often.
It’s Lemon Jelly Pool’s merino sock.
It feels like this yarn is an illusion since we it stocked a long time ago when we were doing the Yarn Club. I thought I had received more than one skein, but I checked, and I only have one now. I don’t know why.
Lemon Jelly Pool is one of the pioneers among Japanese indie dyers (that’s what we call individuals who dye yarn by hand). I think they still do shop updates from time to time, but they are probably too popular to buy – the only time they have ever been in stock at amirisu was for that Yarn Club. I’ve been a fan for a long time and always cheer them on from the shadows on Instagram, but I don’t have the guts to fight with other fans, and since I feel bad about already having so much yarn, I'm holding off on buying any more. I will cherish this one skein.
Sometimes customers ask me, "Don't you sell yarn from dyers in Japan?" However, I tell them that we have no plans to do so at the moment. The reason is that dyers’ prices are too low and (1) they do not plan to sell them wholesale and (2) if we asked them to do so, their share would drop. I couldn’t ask them to do that.
In the first place, most buyers sell at prices that do not even consider their own profit. The buyers are happy, but I think many of them don't understand that the dyeing cost is not a profit, but the cost of the labor. Of course, you also have to take into account the cost of materials, such as yarn, labels, and packaging when you send the products. From the profit you have to pay for rent, other equipment, and the costs of running the online shop. Once these are deducted, there is finally some money left in your pocket. And yet, if we asked a dyer who doesn't seem to have even these basic costs reflected in the price to wholesale to us, their profit would be zero. We would feel bad to even ask.
Oops, I've gone off the topic of the yarn I was supposed to be introducing.
The skein is cute and has a grey base with pink, green, and orange speckles. Lemon Jelly Pool has been doing a podcast recently, and I always enjoy listening to it and imagining how we'd get on, and how much I'd love to meet her. I'm struggling with what to knit with this skein. I’m thinking socks, after all. However, I also feel like I'll treasure the skein as is forever.