Yarn Tasting – Page 5

Sweater Descent

Published on January 26, 2016March 11, 2019 by Jen6 Comments

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Descent is a word which takes many directions in meaning, most typically it means to ‘move down’ or ‘lower’ as in a physical place of going, as ‘down from a high place’ as from the peak of a mountain. It has metaphorical meaning to me as well, which I absolutely groove on, like ‘making easier’ and ‘moving into a secure low-ground of the known’. Of course there is the meaning of ‘lineage’ or ‘clan’, and far-off distant cultures or bloodlines one may have come from. But for me, primarily the relationship of the word refers to mountains, and walking, and in my case knitting while walking about the mountain on which I live.

Put it all together and I have myself a fun and meaningful project on hand to ~ finally ~ learn the knack of cardigan making, with focus on unique approaches and short-cuts, and designed for ease which one can actually knit-while-walking. My descent from a shaky high ground through the ‘scree field of mistakes’ into the known of a secure expanse of solid-ground of skill and know-how, to find place where the cardigan can be my ‘go to’ pattern when I want to throw something together and try a new kind of yarn. (hint, hint… I’ve been wanting to try Studio Donegal yarns from Donegal, Ireland… forever and a day, but more about that yarn and that place is another subject for another post). My favorite kind of clothing is a cardigan, so I am wondering why then is my wardrobe so cardigan-anorexic at this time in my life?

So as a picture tells a thousand words, I leave you fully introduced into my meaning & intent of Sweater Descent, and as there is now the first, that implies intention of a series.

Here forth the mystery will appear from the mist…

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Yarn Tasting: Shibui Twig

Published on May 19, 2015March 11, 2019 by Jen6 Comments

If ‘rascally’ could be a word to describe yarn, I would say linen yarn is very much so. Crisp, unyielding, stubborn, and relentlessly tough stuff, linen has a great appeal to me… oh such like rusty found things, or uncushioned old benches, or crackled old earthenware. I love this stuff, and wear it constantly, year round.

Even winding it off the swift, into a ball , it has a mind of it’s own…rather messy in appearance, not laying in unison with other strands, wrestling it into a ball, as it tried to be a cube, was a task in and of it’s own!

I will tame it. It may take ten cycles in the washer & dryer along with a load of white towels, but it will soften and be every bit as wonderful as my favorite linen shirts.

This yarn however, is only 46% linen. I bought it to dip my toes into the feel of linen, for I do have 3 skeins of navy colored 100% wet spun linen waiting to be knit up. It is also 42% recycled silk, and 12% wool. It is Shibui “Twig” , and there is 190 yards of it. I am going to be sampling this lovely summery linen blend with my Una Cosettina pattern , as I have gone quite on a tangent today.

I am putting down Snowmelt gaiters for a short while, let them sit on a table for a few days. What is the rush anyway? I am my own competition , I feel suddenly today like having a little play time, so here I am yarn tasting again, going to pour myself a tall one of what I consider the perfect Northern California yarn!

A New Love

Published on March 2, 2015March 4, 2015 by Jen5 Comments

Rowan Fine Tweed that is. This yarn is so fine, and so delicious to the fingers as can be imagined, and with lots of colorful tweedy bits spun into it . Talk about gorgeous! Especially the color palette, and the heathered tones spun together, it ranks with my favorites for color selection. But, RFT is a single ply yarn, and a little bit sassy (energized) from being so, and slightly heavier too than my fingering-weight favorites ~ Jamiesons Of Shetland Spindrift, and Virtual Yarns Hebridean 2-ply , and the other Shetland 2plies. Plied makes the yarn a bit more tempered and softer visual appeal in the knitted fabric, I think of single ply yarn as more independent in it’s feel, being that there’s no ‘unwinding’ against another ply, it is perky and assertive in the knitted look, especially if spun with decent twist. Maybe in the blocking process, from the warm soak & dry step, the stitches will melt together a little more.

Sometime at the start of the new year I decided to go in-depth yarn-tasting popular yarns of the like which are found in my local yarn shop. First on my list is Rowan. I’ve knit over half my life now not ever having knit with anything Rowan, some things just have to evolve, and that is one. I have knit and gotten quite lovely results thus far from my first projects in Rowan Felted Tweed DK, the yarn which I would like to make signature for Tartan & Tweed Mitts, and now that I’m designing a tam to go in this series, I would like a fingering weight option in addition to DK weight. Fantastic, and lucky, there is Fine Tweed by Rowan, and of it I have myself a fresh catch!

As this is a week of maximum preoccupation, I need to hold off on the pattern writing for another week or so. Just like sands in an hourglass, are my stitches on the needles, that is, when I finish this one, this Tartan & Tweed Tam in Rowan Fine Tweed, I will get back to the business of pattern writing.

All that aside, I am so excited to cast on … yes… one more tam.

A Vancouver Yarn Shop Experience

Published on May 26, 2014February 26, 2021 by Jen6 Comments

I dropped in on Urban Yarns in Vancouver BC this last weekend, being that we were visiting Jeff’s sister who lives very near. I have not visited all that many yarn shops in my few travels, but those who know me, knew this visit was completely and totally necessary, so I was escorted to Urban Yarns, and found myself wandering about in a lovely yarn shop, just a couple of blocks away from the home of my sister-in-law.

There I took in the atmosphere of a true Vancouver Yarn Experience. I got to see & touch yarns I’ve long been curious about as well, such as New Hampshire-made Harrisville Designs “Watershed” , “Highland” and “Shetland” yarns and of those there was a lot! The Harrisville Design yarns recently was on my hunting list, but when there at Urban Yarns my mind went totally blank and I had Yarn Shop Freeze ! After wading through some other mainstream yarn shop brands, the lasting thought to ponder before I left was . . . ‘which yarn is the single-most Vancouver Experience’ ?

I was led to rather large display brands of Vancouver hand-dyed yarns, many which I could have chosen, but the most of the most that I would take home with me (even though it is to be found in my own LYS) was a very Vancouver yarn ~~~ Sweet Georgia Merino Silk Lace. Not a thrifty purchase, not by a mile, but it was ‘hand-dyed’ only down the street, and sold right there at Urban Yarns, right there on Highland Boulevard.

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I must regret one thing if not spending more money on more truly Vancouver yarns, and that is I did not have time or fore-thought to visit the place ‘just down the street’ where the Sweet Georgia Yarn people are busy hand-dying & skeining up their yarn. However, Jeff did buy me a very luxurious gift of rabbity-soft 100g skein of Merino Silk Lace (omg, Jeff bought me yarn!) Here it is, untwisted and sprawled across a late afternoon sun-beam . . .

With all of this ultra fine smokey grey silky yarn, I am now on a mission of discovery of who and what a knitter becomes when introduced to such delicate stuff, 765 lavish yards of slate grey merino/silk lace yarn ~~ which by the way, I will be winding off into a ball soon, by hand, with only the help of the backs of two chairs. On to new lace horizons!!!

Yarn Tasting : Four Sock Yarns

Published on May 17, 2014March 11, 2019 by Jen10 Comments

I have sock yarn ‘on my brain’ and in recent many weeks have been trying different brands in a sort of comparison & contrast project ~~ in a Sock Yarn Tasting ! I even accidentally (well, almost) designed a new thing in the process of fiddling around with sock yarn (more on that later). Although my Sock Yarn Tasting has been a great source of entertainment for myself, and I actually do feel a sense of earnestness to convey my thoughts on the matter . At the very least, in the process of comparing I’ve settled on my favorites, and better yet, answered my curiosity as to why.

I have knit On The Trail , a whole lot (it’s what I do) , also while waiting for pots to simmer & the kettle to boil, while watching tv, while talking on the phone, while reading, and even sometimes in between sets at gigs, so my knitting is always hanging on the chair back. So, while my hands have gotten a bit sore from all of this knitting, I am pleased with the small woolly mountain of knitteds which I am producing. Soon I’ll be off to Vancouver for Jeff’s family reunion of sorts and you can be certain I’ll be packing up my menagerie of socks-in-progress to take along, and excuse myself for being entrapped by the knitting while in others’ company, returning hopefully with a pair or two to add to the growing stack of socks I am squirrelling away for the gift-giving holidays.

I am just am so filled with a sense of giddy & calm pride, as I have found knitting socks to be my meditation. Ahem, okay, so here’s my observations so far of the superstars of sock yarn market which I am sampling : Madelinetosh “Tosh Sock” , Malabrigo “Sock”, Shibui “Sock” , and Sweet Georgia “Tough Love Sock”~~~ all knit up with my Penny Candy Socks pattern with size 2.75mm – US 2 circular needles (two of them).

As Shibui Sock & Madelinetosh Tosh Sock seem to me about the same thickness, I knit them together in stripes because they feel nearly identical in thickness, though the Tosh Sock is a tiny bit more ‘firm’ , they are thicker, and even a bit fluffier.

Ginger Lime Chews Penny Candy Socks, details on Ravelry HERE

I observe that the fabric of Tosh Sock & Shibui Sock produced is more substantial, and would be great for a slightly thicker pair of socks but as this is so, I might only wear these socks with the roomiest of my shoes. Great for hiking boots, great for Dansko Clogs which tend to fit a little roomy anyway. (Note to self: get another pair of Dansko Clogs !) but not so great for my dressier shoes. Soft, plush, firm.

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Next in the line-up, Sweet Georgia “Tough Love Sock”. This yarn is indeed a tough yarn. So much in fact, that I suspect the slight lack of elastic properties of the yarn effected the gauge, as the same number of stitches on same needles as I knit the others, the Sweet Georgia socks turned out really very large by comparison ! I stopped at one sock, not sure how to proceed, for these would indeed be tough socks and big enough for a man, I just couldn’t think of any men I’d like to give orangey red lace-bordered socks to. No offense to you men who would love them, I just wasn’t in the mood to make the second sock, so I will post the photo of the one.

I think I might have to compensate with this yarn’s properties, to knit the next size smaller with them and see how that works. ((also notice that the two colors were so alike, melting into each other a little too much , that seeing the stripes was insanely difficult)).

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Finally, for the kind of socks that one would easily slip into one’s favorite shoes , that is, shoes worn regularly with store-bought socks, the finer fabric of Malabrigo’s fine fingering-weight “Sock” wins out. Mostly for it’s soft resilient and lovely elastic feel, but equally for the rich colors in each hand-dyed skein. I have to say also that I have a real penchant for “oh so fine” knitting these days, and it’s fine-fingering weight that I seriously am in love with.

My Penny Candy Socks and Pretty Little Things Gloves are designed with Malabrigo, and I’m more than happy with the slightly delicate character of the fine fingering yarn with its superwash easy-care and softness of touch. In fact, I feel like hoarding every ‘solid’ color of Peruvian-made Malabrigo yarn, and happily knitting Penny Candy Socks for everyone I know.

Blueberry Gumballs Penny Candy Socks, details on Ravelry HERE

It is a goal of mine to knit for next holiday season, as there’ll be no hitting the shops in a bug-eyed panic to find something meaningful. Because basically, it can’t get much more meaningful than hand-knit socks knit fresh only months previously.

I’ll end this yarn tasting with more Malabrigo yarn on the needles, in murky green and clear blue. This photo was taken early this morning, as the stripes began to colorplay . . .

Socks in progress, details on Ravelry HERE