The Outfitter Tour 

Welcome to the Outfitter Tour! We're outfitting you with kits that thoughtfully combine colorways with suggested patterns. Whether you want to knit or crochet, we have you covered! We're creating new colorways and re-envisioning patterns as we explore and share more wild places with you across the country.

Stop 5
Lake Superior

It's hard to appreciate the immensity and power of Lake Superior. Alone it accounts for 10% of the entire world's fresh surface water. It also encircles 450 islands, including the remote Isle Royale National Park. Few swim in the lake's perpetually icy cold waters, but its countless miles of surrounding rivers and waterways are ripe for canoeing and kayaking. The lake is well known for its stormy nature, fog and sudden squalls, which have strewn history with hundreds of shipwrecks, more than half of which are yet to be discovered. 

Millions of acres of National Forest surround Lake Superior, and help conserve native plants and animals including black bears, moose, gray wolves, loons, a wide variety of fish, and plenty more. An immense effort for decades has been managing water pollution and removing many invasive aquatic species. Perhaps the most notorious invasive animal is the sea lamprey, fittingly known as the "vampire of the Great Lakes" that nearly wiped out all native lake trout. It took many years, but thanks to the USGS in partnership with other organizations, the trout has finally been restored to the lake! The work is far from over though. It's a complex and ongoing effort, because the ecosystem is in a delicate balance and many invasive species, including the sea lamprey, can't be completely eradicated. It sometimes hard to appreciate, but we can't imagine the Great Lakes without this fantastic work! 

Preorder 

For this preorder, we have one colorway projects. Featured is Joji's Storm Shawl, perfectly fitting for Lake Superior! One single colorway will be created based on the inspiration photo below... 

**The inspiration photo(s) reflects what the colorways will be, NOT the featured projects. Patterns are NOT included.**

Options:

Choose the yarn base of your choice. Single skeins are $1.50 off retail price. 

Featured patterns:

This month we have the following suggested patterns:

• Knit Shawl: Storm Shawl 1 skein of fingering
• Knit Socks:  Speckled Socks 1 skein of fingering 
• Crochet Shawl: Down the River 1 to 2 skeins fingering 

Inspiration image photo credit: Max Bender

How it Works

Our inspiration photo guides us in creating new colorways and pairing with patterns. Preorders are open until mid-month. Preorder pricing is discounted from our standard retail prices. If colorways are popular, we might stock them at regular retail price after the preorder.

We dye the yarn, then post the colorways before your preorders ship. If you don't love it, exchange your preorder for store credit before it even ships out!  More happiness- zero waste!

Here's the preorder schedule:

• Preorder available until the 19th.
• Colorway created, and its photo posted around the 22nd of month.
• Preordered yarn orders ship near end of month.

Please know the colorway will be an interpretation of the photo, and not color-matched!