Dawn Brocco's Life & Design Blog

Emma asks about Peace Fleece.

Peace Fleece is not a next-to-the-skin yarn, but then not all the sweaters or accessories we knit are for wearing next to the skin!

I love Peace Fleece. It has more mohair than Lamb's Pride, but gets far less hairy, as it's a 2-ply yarn. It's warm, the colors are great, and I'm designing another sweater with it as I write.

As for buying a sweater's worth, why not get 1 hank and swatch?

When I try a new yarn, particularly a new millspun/farm yarn, I always swatch 2 ways:

I wind off (going around my bent elbow and palm) enough yards for a swatch, tie it to secure it, then soak it in detergent and warm water, add hair conditioner to the rinse water, squeeze out and lay flat to dry.

This is to see how much the yarn blooms when washed and if I'll prefer to knit with it after washing, rather than before.

I then knit a swatch with the pre-washed yarn and a swatch with the washed yarn, compare gauges, hand, etc. then wash them both - yes, a 2nd bath for the pre-washed yarn).

What I usually find is that I prefer working with the pre-washed yarn, as it removes the spinning/carding oils which can make a yarn feel harsher than it is.
One would think the opposite is true, but I've not found that to be the case. Even a lanolin rich yarn will feel harder/stickier than it is IF the lanolin is cold within the yarn. Unlike days of yore, we don't usually knit right by the fireplace, which softens the lanolin.

If you still don't like the yarn, you're only out 1 hank's price and can use it to make a pair of socks for CIC or mittens for Akkol, or one of the other charities, or swap it.
HTH.