Dawn Brocco's Life & Design Blog

Well, despite fulling that yarn yesterday, it still isn't getting the right gauge well. Ah well, back to square one.

I got the hank of Fine Merino in today's mail and immediately began swatching. It is soft, as one would expect, but some soft yarns feel like dry like cotton when you knit them, as does this one. It softens even more upon washing, but I don't like the feel while knitting, especially at tighter gauges, and as knitting *is* an investment of time, one shouldn't work with yarns that don't please. So, I'm not sure about this yarn. I may or may not use it. It wasn't inexpensive and the UPS shipping on 1, 4 oz hank was atrocious, but this is the only way to try out a wide variety of yarns. I can write it off as R & D, but it's been adding up lately, so I can't go on much longer like this. Besides gettign more and more frustrated.

So, I pulled out the hank of plain Rambouillet - with no kid mohair in it - and swatched - and it does get gauge for some of the designs that need this heavier worsted gauge (about 4 sts/1" with US size 9 (5.5 mm) ndls. The necessary yarn though, must do well at 4.5 sts/1" with approx. US size 8 (5 mm) ndls, as well.

After washing it, it is heavenly, I must admit. Though Fine Merino *should be* softer and finer than Rambouillet Merino, the other yarn has nothing on this Rambouillet yarn. I can see that one will need to be careful with washing to avoid any felting, and it will likely pill, but it is so soft, squishy, buttery and doughy! It gets both gauges well, where I couldn't get the Fine Merino to go higher than 4.25 sts/1", even with a US size 7 (4.5 mm) ndl. The dryness just impedes stitch flow.

I had been concerned about the surface pills on the Rambouillet - those loose fiber bits not caught into the spinning and plying - and yet, the Fine Merino, which costs $4 a hank MORE than this yarn has the same loose fiber bits along the yarn's length. So, I guess this is just something to live with. So, this may indeed work for at least one design - now just to choose a good "work" color.

The other yarn I'm needing needs to be a bit thinner and slinkier and yet still be a heavy worsted by yardage and gauge. Worsted wt. yarns do 5 sts/1" well, but get cheesy at 4.5, so heavy worsted wt. it is. But it needs to be soft as well, as substitute for the cashmere yarn in the exclusive kits I'm working up. I think I am near a final choice. I love the Frog Tree Alpaca - the colors are delicious, the yarn is soft and , and the sport wt doubled *does* give the required gauge, but, as it is alpaca, it *is* much heavier than wool or cashmere and so, has many fewer yards per oz. This won't be a problem with hats or scarves or other small accessories. It's sweaters that would end up weighing a ton!

The doubled strands pull through the beads I'm using in one design, so that's good. What is not as good is that some knitters don't like using doubled yarns. Well, according to the sales rep, Frog Tree now has a worsted wt version. Again, alpaca is heavy, so the 69 yds/50 grams it supposedly comes in doesn't *sound* like it is worsted wt., but it is, I'm sure, and will surely beat using 2 strands of the sport. It doesn't come in the same great color range, but I don't know yet, which colors it *does* come in. I've got 2 emails in to the rep, as I've googled and googled and I guess this new wt. is SO new, that NO-ONE has any info online about it. When I want to know something, I don't want to have to wait my life away for the info. It often feels like the rest of the world moves at a snail's pace, but I'm an Aries, I can't help it, I work quickly. There's a lot to do and I like to *get on with it*!

So, the alpaca is an option. The Rambouillet and Kid Mohair yarn is the right wt., just not the right feel for these particular kits. It needs to feel luxurious, yet be far less costly than cashmere! - which means a certain drape, a certain weight, and a silky softness, not a light and airy wooliness. Honestly, it's like being on a search for the Holy Grail of yarn! Je ne sais pas.

So, I spent the entire day swatching and washing swatches, and checking yarn colors against bead colors. Now the weekend's here and I'll be doing more painting, for *sure*! but I also have 7 hanks of a nice teal yarn to use for something - just not for what it was intended for.