Awesome Yarn
January 31st, 2007
I really love working with good yarn. I’m talking about the expensive stuff that is usually made of 100% natural fibers, with beautiful vibrant colors, often hand-dyed. OK, I’m a yarn snob.
Malabrigo – If you haven’t used this stuff, you really should. It’s an amazingly soft merino single, and the colors it comes in are wonderfully bright. I just finished a simple neckwarmer using this yarn in the Oceanos colorway. I love how it sort of spirals up the neckwarmer. It’s a whole lot of k2,p2 ribbing, and I don’t know how I got through it all so fast. I’m generally not bored with repetitive stitches such as ribbing or stockinette. However, I find ribbing hurts my hands a little.
It’s soooo soft and warm. I found it really hard to fight the urge not to steal this from him, but since I told him it would be his from the beginning I’ve been unable to do so. Since I have at least one more ball of spare Malabrigo in this color, I cast on right away for a second one.
I have so much Malabrigo in this house, it’s ridiculous. Granted I’m using most of it to make a blanket.
Socks that Rock – Corey splurged on me (and him) a bit and bought two skeins of lightweight Socks that Rock. One for a pair for each of us. The colors are more amazing than I thought they would be! This yarn is so soft, and comfy to knit with. That’s the best word I can find for these expensive yarns, comfy.
I decided that I really didn’t want to waste any of this yarn, considering how much it cost. I am knitting the socks toe up so I can stop when I run out of half the yarn. I know I’ve run out of half the yarn because the yarn has been cut in half. It took me for-ever to split the first skein into two relatively even balls. I wound it into a center pull ball, then took both ends of the ball and wound them together around my swift, then I unwound that splitting each end into its own ball simultaneously. Phew what a lengthy process, but I’m really glad I did it.
I’ve already started Corey’s socks, and so far I’m loving the way this stuff knits up. It feels great in my hands, and the colors are just fascinating to watch. Even though Corey just wanted shades of grey in the Stormy Weather colorway, I’m still finding it really interesting to watch as I go.
I used the short row toe that I found from the Knitty article Tiptop Toes (a very handy article showing toe-up toe techniques). I’m still not sure what I’m going to do for the heel, because I really don’t want to do a short row heel. I’ve never done it, but I’m sure I can. I’m hesitant to do it because I’ve heard that the heel flap method is more fitted, and although Corey couldn’t care one whit, for some reason I do. Perhaps I should just do the short row heel on Corey’s socks, and experiment when I start mine.
Speaking of mine, aren’t the colors in that yarn (Pucks Mischief) just amazing? It took me a while to decide what colors I wanted, and when I did I still wasn’t sure I chose right. As soon as it arrived I was sure it was perfect!
I’m so glad to hear you love the Malabrigo yarn! I had my first trip to the yarn store a couple days ago and got a ton of it in a gorgeous dark green with streaks of yellow. I’ll post pictures on my blog soon.
Ohhh, can’t wait to see! What do you want to make out of it?
Well, in my dreams where I know how to make a sweater, it’s a sweater. But I need to find a really easy pattern!
I’m sure you could find an easy pattern! Have you checked out knitty? I’m sure you could find a nice pattern, then google the name of that pattern to see what other bloggers who’ve knit it have to say.
You’ll be far ahead of me, as I haven’t knit a sweater yet.