gail color dreams

It makes sense…we start planning designs for any given season or collection at least a year out from actually putting them out into the world. First, we agree on the design with the designer; then, we order the yarn and give them time to do the work of figuring out the details of the design, writing up the pattern, and knitting the actual piece; when we receive the finished sample and pattern from the designer, we put it through at least two passes of technical editing, run the patterns through a round of test knitting, and finally there's photography (which includes choosing and editing the photos), pattern layout, and a ton of proofreading…all before it reaches you, our dear knitters.

And so…sometimes, when we pick a color of yarn a year out (or more) for a design…there are instances where for one reason or another, that particular color has run out or gotten very low in stock by the time we publish the pattern. Fiber is a living thing, there are many moving parts, and if any one of them goes awry, there are delays that prevent us from getting the yarn color we chose for a particular piece to your needles.

Thankfully, we have over 65 colors in our luscious Osprey to choose from, so when we realized we were really low on Fjord for our release of Gail and wouldn't be able to get more for launch day, we set to work choosing other colors that we think would look equally fabulous for this pullover.

We made four swatches—in fiery Fox, green-gray Smoke, deep forest green Boreal, and mellow Sage—to show off Gail's cushy allover stitch pattern.

And, if you would so dearly love to knit your Gail (or Burl!) in the photographed color, Fjord, did you know you can simply sign up for a back in stock notification for a specific color right from Osprey's yarn page? You'll be the first to know when there's more to be had.

Enjoy!