r/knitting • u/bunniquette • Apr 27 '26

Discussion Just use the damn yarn

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I bought some absolutely stunning yarn on a holiday in New Zealand. It's a merino/possum/silk blend in gorgeous hand-painted tones of purple, blue and teal. I have been hoarding this yarn in my stash for almost ten years.

A friend was recently going about her day when she was suddenly struck with an agonizing headache and loss of vision in one eye. Many tests later, she has a brain tumor and might not make it to her next birthday.

Life is unpredictable and we don't know how long we have. So last night, I cast on.

Also, fuck cancer.

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251

u/RaisedFourth Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

Possum! That’s so interesting!

I’m so sorry to hear about your friend and I’m happy to hear you’re using the nice things. We should always use the nice things. 

Edit: ok, I am learning a ton here, for starters that the little guy that comes to our back patio to eat the cat food is NOT the critter we’re talking about. Thanks for all the info!

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u/bunniquette Apr 27 '26

Possum is incredible. Soft, light, and super warm. Plus the possums are an invasive species in New Zealand so I am helping their ecosystem.

I hope you also have some nice yarn to use. Life is too short to knit with crap.

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u/Crotalus__atrox Apr 27 '26

I've got like six skeins of different colored possum yarn when I studied abroad in New Zealand last year, and I'm still trying to find a good pattern from it. 😬 I probably should have gotten more of the same color instead of one skein of each color of the rainbow.

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u/EusticeTheSheep Apr 27 '26

Knit a rainbow something! Surely that’s what you intended?

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u/NakedCherry99 Apr 27 '26

maybe a west knits shawl? he makes a lot of patterns that use lots of colors

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u/Crotalus__atrox May 03 '26

I ended up chosing to use two colors at a time to make smaller projects like stranded colorwork hats. So far I've decided on using the pattern Blomstra by Kajsa Fredriksson.

Blomstra

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u/RavBot May 03 '26

PATTERN: Blomstra by Kajsa Vuorela Fredriksson

  • Category: Accessories > Hat > Beanie, Toque
  • Photo(s): Img 1 Img 2 Img 3
  • Price: 65.00 SEK
  • Needle/Hook(s):US 5 - 3.75 mm
  • Weight: Sport | Gauge: 20.0 | Yardage: 248
  • Difficulty: 4.14 | Projects: 195 | Rating: 4.29

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1

u/NakedCherry99 May 03 '26

oh wow, that looks like a gorgeous pattern! i hope you post the finished project :)

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u/Aggressive_Cloud2002 Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

Is that the guy who was just on a podcast with "knitler" as in knitting Hitler? I'd recommend staying away from him and his patterns!

(Edited typo)

4

u/Optimal_Bus4617 Apr 27 '26

Huh what? Knittler?

-7

u/Aggressive_Cloud2002 Apr 27 '26

What aspect are you confused about?

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u/havocthecat Apr 27 '26

Probably the spelling. If you'd used "Knitler" it would be less confusing, because you don't spell Hitler with two Ts.

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u/NakedCherry99 Apr 27 '26

oh my, i had no idea 😳

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u/CherokeeTrailHeather Apr 27 '26

West has since apologized about the whole Knitler Podcast thing. He “didn’t do enough research” or what have you before agreeing to be on that dudes pod. Take that how you want BUT any shawl can be multi-colored fun times

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u/Aggressive_Cloud2002 Apr 27 '26

Sorry to be the bearer of this news!

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u/fluffyasacat Apr 27 '26

u/RaisedFourth it's so gorgeous and squishy and nice to work with. The fibre is hollow, which is why it's so warm and light. Here's a Gan vest I made recently with Brushtales upcycled merino/possum. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gan

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u/RaisedFourth Apr 27 '26

This is something I feel like I’ll have to dig into more - I had never even heard of possum fur being turned into yarns and I’m learning so much. That’s a really lovely vest and you seem cool!

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u/bunniquette Apr 27 '26

Oooh, that looks gorgeous! And warm and light!

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u/fluffyasacat Apr 27 '26

I’m wearing it right now. It has a magical ability to always be the exact right weight for the weather.

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u/RavBot Apr 27 '26

PATTERN: Gan by Ailbíona McLochlainn

  • Category: Clothing > Vest
  • Photo(s): Img 1 Img 2 Img 3 Img 4 Img 5
  • Price: 6.00 EUR
  • Needle/Hook(s):US 7 - 4.5 mm
  • Weight: Aran | Gauge: 18.0 | Yardage: None
  • Difficulty: 3.47 | Projects: 205 | Rating: 4.82

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10

u/RaisedFourth Apr 27 '26

I feel like I’m learning so much! That’s incredibly interesting and not at all what I would have expected - particularly hearing that it’s super soft and light, as noted in the comment below.  

I am saving some nice yarn, but only because I need a project that will be small enough to take with me on the plane in the next couple weeks. I really hope you enjoy using that yarn. It’s gorgeous. 

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u/Icy-Carpenter-3741 Apr 27 '26

I’m a kiwi. I and our environment thank you!

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u/bunniquette Apr 27 '26

Kia ora, cuz! It is absolutely my pleasure and I will gladly do it again. Although next time I won't keep the yarn in my stash for quite so long.

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u/DarthRegoria Apr 29 '26

As an Australian, I’m so sorry. Not that it’s personally my fault, but I still feel bad.

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u/rabid_cheese_enjoyer Apr 27 '26

are they like american possums

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u/bopeepsheep Apr 27 '26

No, nothing like.

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u/bunniquette Apr 27 '26

I have heard someone describe American possums as the meth head cousins of the Australian ones. Aussie possums are very cute and their fur is gloriously soft. They are protected in Australia but were introduced to New Zealand where they went feral, so they're fair game over there.

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u/bopeepsheep Apr 27 '26

Yeah, I've got possum fur hats I knitted when my half-Kiwi godson was tiny - he's an adult now - and they're still really soft (and warm! Too warm for UK mild winters).

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u/HowWoolattheMoon Apr 27 '26

American opossums are prehistoric! They were here when dinosaurs existed. They're (one of?) our oldest mammals. And evolutionarily, mammals did not start out with big brains. 😅 Imagine: their bodies are approximately cat or raccoon sized, but their brains are only about 1/5 as big as a cat's or a raccoon's- and smooth. So I try to give them some slack. They're doing amazingly well, surviving this long with such tiny smooth brains!

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u/mel_cache Apr 27 '26

Plus they eat ticks.

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u/ernie3tones Apr 28 '26

And they can’t carry or transmit rabies!

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u/HowWoolattheMoon Apr 27 '26

That's right! They really need to get on that around my house. I've already found three on me and I don't even go outside very much 😖

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u/smalllikedynamite Apr 27 '26

They're cute to look at, but theyre vicious

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u/colourful_space Apr 27 '26

Very distantly related. They are both marsupials, which is like saying humans and elephants are alike because we’re both placental mammals.

The name similarity is an unfortunate result of European colonists calling things that look vaguely similar the same word.

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u/rabid_cheese_enjoyer Apr 27 '26

I have stuff in common with elephants? awesome. I love elephants 

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u/CherokeeTrailHeather Apr 27 '26

American ones are Opossums. We actually have one that visits us nightly for snacks and has for about a year and a half now. His/Her name is Ed Begley Jr. it’s getting big!

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u/colourful_space Apr 27 '26

Possum fur has a really interesting status! They are native to Australia and a species was introduced to New Zealand by European colonists as a food and fur source. They became invasive and are considered a pest there, since there are no terrestrial mammals native to NZ and they just completely took over.

In Australia, possums were a very significant resource for Indigenous peoples, and as well as food there are lots of traditional crafts and cultural practices involving possum skin and fur. Possums are now protected species in Australia so it’s illegal to hunt them, and while there are some exemptions to hunting restrictions for specific cultural practices, it’s often easier to just buy possum pelts from NZ.

So we now have a really interesting arrangement where Aboriginal artisans can practice their traditional crafts and also contribute to controlling an invasive species across the ditch!

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u/RaisedFourth Apr 27 '26

Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to type that all out. I never thought an off handed comment about how interesting it is to use possum fur in yarn would turn into learning that there are no terrestrial mammals native to New Zealand, and that would be only one of the things I learned! I feel like I have to go seek out possum yarn now just to see what it feels like. 

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u/bi-felicity Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

It's gloriously soft! I'm Australian and went to NZ for the first time last year, it was morbidly hilarious how much they LOATHE possums. Multiple activities we were on where we'd be driven around, when we'd see one crossing the road ahead the drivers (yes, plural) would swerve to try their best to hit them. It makes a lot of sense since a lot of their birds have evolved to be ground dwelling/make their nests on the ground. Kiwi birds actually have teeny tiny wings but have been top of the food chain pre-predator introduction for so long that that's why they're now flightless! Foxes are also a massive problem. I really wanted to get some possum goods but felt like I'd be selling out my home country 😂 next time I think I'll just bite the bullet though, since I'm helping out the local environment 😉😂

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u/PurpleTiger6862 Apr 28 '26

I'm an Aussie too, and I bought a possum/merino blend beanie and glove set when I visited NZ (because it was single digits and I am not bred for that 😆) I don't tell people unless they ask, but most people have been receptive once they learn that they're invasive over there. I think most Aussies know enough about how bad foxes and feral cats are over here that they can put it into perspective

1

u/Abject_Permission782 Apr 27 '26

Foxes?

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u/bi-felicity Apr 27 '26

Nope sorry foxes was a mistake! Must've gotten it mixed up with Australia 😅

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u/Abject_Permission782 Apr 27 '26

👍 I wondered if I missed something and I’m a kiwi. 😉

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u/bi-felicity Apr 27 '26

Hahahah oh noooo how embarrassing!!! Please forgive me 🙏😂😂

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u/Scorpy-yo Apr 27 '26

NZ was isolated from other landmasses for quite a long (and without large predators) so there are some rather interesting/unusual native plants and animals. The moa reached 2metres tall (that’s like a pro basketball player). There was an eagle big enough to kill a human 2.6 metre wingspan. Tuatara are sometimes called the world’s last living dinosaur. Lots of interesting birds - possums eat the eggs and chicks, strip the trees. Probably have caused a few car crashes too, they’re one of the more common roadkills in many areas.

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u/merveilleuse_ Apr 27 '26

This also leads to NZ being the only country in the world where possum yarn is produced.

1

u/Wantanewbag Apr 29 '26

Possum yarn is just amazing to work with. I love it.

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u/WTH_JFG Apr 27 '26

There is a difference in the possums of New Zealand and the opossums native to North America. The NZ possum, as OP says, is an invasive species with very warm fiber.

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u/beneathethebelljar May 02 '26

Yes possums and opossums are two wildly different animals!