A match made in heaven, for sure!
Kelly (one of amazing dyers at The Unique Sheep) and I have been "talking" via email about putting together a simple kit to make Susan Pandorf's Strider Cowl, one of her offerings in the Fellowship of the Ring Collection.
The cowl is a stunning piece that is a perfect gift item -- or one to keep happily for yourself and ward off the chills of winter. If you follow the link below, you will see more data on the pattern itself.
All that is required for the shorter cowl is 250 yards of a worsted weight yarn. And The Unique Sheep carries as what they call their House Blend a yarn that is totally and absolutely deliciously scrumptious to hold and to wear and to work with (not necessarily in that order).
So Kelly put together for us special skeins, 4 ounces each with a full 260 yards, in this 50% Alpaca/ 30% Merino/ 20% Silk blend that is just marvelous! The yarn is classified as a DK/Worsted weight and one skein will make the smaller version of the cowl with yardage to spare.
(If you would like tow skeins to make the larger version, email me first for availability and I'll set it up with you if at all possible.)
We decided on almost-solid colors, with subtle nuances of hues that add depth and beauty but won't distract from the cable design or the lines of the piece (which can be a liability of many hand-painted colorways with a piece like this).
We have limited quantities of the following:
*Chocolate -- exactly what it sounds like. A deep rich dark chocolate. Yum!
*Moonshadow -- a soft and sophisticated gray-violet blend. Lovely!
*Velvet Teal -- this was actually 'copied' from a photograph of how the light plays on piece of velvet. A beautiful deep teal with slight variations of hue. Wonderful!
And so you have it -- a yarn that is fantastic, a pattern for a design that is lovely and fun to make, and a kit that has them both -- you just need to supply the knitting needles!
Yarn 
