Fiber Dreams

I don’t have much to talk about today. The socks are progressing, as socks will. Got a couple of repeats done on my cable one, a good number of rows on Mingus. After all that hard knitting yesterday—twisted stitches, crosses, and cables—my hands needed a break at lunch, so I knit swatches. Stockinette swatches. With larger needles. Much easier on the hands. This is yarn that I picked up to test at TNNA.

Let’s take these one at a time, shall we?

The pretty red one is Mission Falls 1824 Wool in color 011, Poppy. I’d never knit with this yarn before, so was eager to try it. It’s 100% superwash merino wool. And it’s divine. The label says to knit it up with size 8 needles. I tend to knit a little loose, and had size 7s handy, so that’s what I used. If I were to knit a sweater with this yarn—which after this I definitely hope to—I would want to use size 7s, though even going down a size I’m way over gauge (label gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch; my gauge 3.5 stitches per inch). The resulting fabric is fabulous with just the right give and stitch definition. Did I mention how soft this yarn is? It feels soft when it’s in the ball, but my. It’s even better after it’s been knit up. I love this yarn. And this isn’t the only fabulous color it comes in. You should see all the wonderful colors in real life. Divine.

The blue yarn is also a superwash Merino. This one is Crystal Palace Merino 5, in color 2305, Jeans. It’s a lovely yarn. Really it is. But I wish I’d knit it up before I knit up the Mission Falls merino—compared with that last yarn this one almost felt like plastic. It doesn’t actually feel like plastic at all. Not one bit. It’s nice yarn, and if a finer gauge is what you want, then this yarn could be just what you’re looking for. Part of my impression may be due to the colorway. It’s nice. It’s pretty. But it’s extremely unlikely that I’d ever knit a sweater out of a yarn like this. Give me a nice solid color any day of the week. This yarn is supposed to knit up at 5 stitches per inch. With size 6 needles (no needle size was recommended) I got a gauge of 4.5 stitches per inch.

The last yarn I picked up to swatch with this afternoon is also from Crystal Palace. It’s their Bamboozle yarn, a 55% bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon blend that’s supposed to knit up at 4.5 stitches per inch on size 8 to 10 needles. Hm. I used size 6 needles again, and got gauge. I told you I knit loosely. Yes, that’s a flaw in the yarn you see in the middle of the swatch. Since I wasn’t knitting a garment, and wanted to get the most out of my mini-hank I let it simply fall where it would. Naturally it fell front and center. Again, I’d prefer the yarn in a solid colorway. It does come in a variety of nice solids. I like Dutch Blue and Jade the best, but that’s just me. I think the sample I got is color 0412, Dreamy, a new color for spring 2008. I think that’s what the colorway is. It’s the closest I can come to the way the colors look on the web site. The yarn is very soft, and has a nice drape. I think it would make a lovely garment. I might consider making a sweater for my wool-allergic husband out of it some day. In the Dutch Blue. That color would look fabulous with his blue eyes, and I don’t think he’d mind wearing it. Of course, he’d probably prefer the Jet Black. The yarn might have too much of a sheen for him, though.

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