I purchased this yarn at the Woolery a few weeks ago. I am using color 109 for the leaves and vines shawl, and 105 (aptly named watermelon) for the free pattern I put up the other day.
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| greeeeeen (progress shots on the re-knit in a later blog post) |
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| piiiiiiiink (watermelon, doing interminable picot edging, progress shots later blog post) |
I know I sang faint praises of this yarn earlier, but let me break it down.
I usually HATE working with cotton yarns. I find them heavy, splitty, and usually not soft enough to work with for long periods of time.
That being said, I love this yarn. I don't know if it's the inclusion of the silk, or the tightness of the twist, or if it's something magic that I can't put a finger on; this yarn has been a pleasure to work with. It is soft, light, and it moves well through my fingers. It does have a very faint halo. Not something really noticible until you work on this without making sure your nails are 100% split free. I had a nail split a little bit while working on the shawl. Before I noticed, I had caught a tiny bit of the halo in my split nail (naturally). A quick nail filing later, and I was no longer in danger of snags, but it's worth noting that the halo is there. Personally, I find it pleasant.
The knitted fabric of both of the shawls is soft and springy. The silk content gives it a bit more silkiness than I'm used to in my cottons, and I find myself randomly fondling the knits when I think about where to go with it or evaluate how many more repeats I should do before I need to switch patterns or bind off. The fact that my inappropriate touching of the knitted fabric hasn't caused pilling or any kind of wear speaks well for the durability of the yarn.
The color depth that is achieved in this is nice. I love both of the colors I have on the needles so far, and I have the luxury of a sky blue, a copper, and a purple waiting for me. I look forward to working with all of them.
I will update this post with information on how well this yarn blocks in roughly 2 days. I don't suspect knitting on cold medicine would go any better than knitting on wine, opiates, or a pack of 2 year olds on sugar. That last one is pretty devastating on knitting, for the record.
All in all, I would recommend this yarn. My local yarn shop is not currently carrying this, they have moved to their autumn and winter weight yarns. However, you can get it from this direct link if you like the sound of it. They are a good online shop, and I have heard that their physical store is something that blows knitter minds. They're too far for me to go to without making a special trip, so I can't comment on their physical shop, but I do know that their online presence and customer service are excellent.
Tomorrow: this is the picot edge that never ends.....
Updated to add:
Blocking this, it is definitely a cotton/silk blend. It doesn't stretch as nicely as a wool, but it has incredible stitch definition. This is a stiffer fabric than the other shawls I've knit to this point, and that's thanks to the cotton content. It's just not as fluid as alpaca... but then a lot of fibres are not as fluid as alpaca. On the other hand, it's by no means a stiff fabric once knit up. It does block well, but it takes more coaxing than an animal fibre will. All in all, I'm pleased with it even after blocking
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