What do I do with this yarn?
Yarn porn!
Okay, perhaps not. One looks like yarn porn, but would probably only qualify as such if it were silk and not nylon. The other is more like yarn teasing, because it's gorgeous, but there isn't enough for a sweater. I got this yarn at the lunch get together our knitting group had this weekend. We did a yarn swap, where I got rid of my extra Lamb's Pride, and tried to get someone to try my leftover Clasgens. I ended up taking more than I brought, but mostly because I was strongly urged to take the nylon stuff by someone who was really trying to get rid of it.
This yarn is just described as "slubby nylon", though it's not really slubby. There was also some weaving designation, but as I don't know what any of those numbers stand for, I didn't happen to memorize it. It was on a cone, but I spun it off to get a better idea of how much there was, and because I wanted to see what condition it was in. The outer layer was a little ratty looking, probably from the cone hanging out and banging around in boxes for years and years. Underneath, it's all shiny and brilliant. I have 5 big skeins of it, plus a smaller skein. I didn't weigh it very carefully, but based on what one average skein weighs, I think I have about 900 grams of it. Lots and lots. The colorway is really pretty, and if it were silk, I'd be in heaven. But it's nylon, and I'm kind of regretting taking it. (There's another smaller cone that I didn't take, but could have if I ask.)
This is the good stuff. I know that the reddish stuff (more orangey in real life than the pinkish red in the photo) is Harrisville Highland wool, worsted weight. It was also coned, but I wound it off to see how much there is. I'm trying to remember how much there is of it - I think it was 200 or 250 grams. I don't remember what the smaller skeins are. I know they're 100% wool, and I think they may actually be Harrisville Highland, also. They look a lot fluffier, but I think they're also 2-ply (like the coned yarn), and the difference in loft might just be because the coned yarn was tightly wound on there, and most likely oiled for machine knitting. The light grey skein is about 50 grams, and the blue one is more like 25 grams.
So what do I do with this stuff? I was actually thinking that the nylon would look great in a Clapotis. But would I ever use one? Maybe, but not a nylon one. What about other shawl type things? Does nylon even block? My cursory googling hasn't told me, yet, but I'm guessing not. I'm leaning towards giving this to A's mom for Christmas. I don't mean that to sound like I'm offing junk yarn on her, but I know that she likes bright colors, and I have faith that she'd find something really cool to do with this yarn. I'm a yarn snob. She's not.
I'm also not sure what to do with the Harrisville yarn, though I'm definitely keeping it. If I were a virtuous knitter, I'd use it to swatch for various projects that I may want to eventually knit in that yarn. I don't want to felt it, because it's too nice for felting. I've been thinking of making a hot water bottle cover, because I actually need one. Maybe I should use half of it for that, and half of it for swatching. And the scraps of the other colors could probably be used for those little Knitty handwarmer creatures that I fell in love with yesterday. Whatever I use it for, I'm happy to have this instead of the Lamb's Pride.
I also picked up a ball of Lion Brand Fun Fur, for A's mom (she likes the fuzzies), and a ~40 gram ball of leftover Cherry Tree Hill supersock, that could be used for contrasting color toes/heels in some pair of socks. As soon as I saw that little ball of CTH, I knew exactly who brought it. It was while M. was knitting her CTH socks in that colorway that I really started drooling over the stuff. Now I have her leftovers. Yay! (She was not at all surprised that I ended up with that ball, either.)
And my lesson learned at the lunch: if you wear Dale Baby Ull socks, everybody will pet your feet. This is a good thing. Free foot massage!
Okay, perhaps not. One looks like yarn porn, but would probably only qualify as such if it were silk and not nylon. The other is more like yarn teasing, because it's gorgeous, but there isn't enough for a sweater. I got this yarn at the lunch get together our knitting group had this weekend. We did a yarn swap, where I got rid of my extra Lamb's Pride, and tried to get someone to try my leftover Clasgens. I ended up taking more than I brought, but mostly because I was strongly urged to take the nylon stuff by someone who was really trying to get rid of it.
This yarn is just described as "slubby nylon", though it's not really slubby. There was also some weaving designation, but as I don't know what any of those numbers stand for, I didn't happen to memorize it. It was on a cone, but I spun it off to get a better idea of how much there was, and because I wanted to see what condition it was in. The outer layer was a little ratty looking, probably from the cone hanging out and banging around in boxes for years and years. Underneath, it's all shiny and brilliant. I have 5 big skeins of it, plus a smaller skein. I didn't weigh it very carefully, but based on what one average skein weighs, I think I have about 900 grams of it. Lots and lots. The colorway is really pretty, and if it were silk, I'd be in heaven. But it's nylon, and I'm kind of regretting taking it. (There's another smaller cone that I didn't take, but could have if I ask.)
This is the good stuff. I know that the reddish stuff (more orangey in real life than the pinkish red in the photo) is Harrisville Highland wool, worsted weight. It was also coned, but I wound it off to see how much there is. I'm trying to remember how much there is of it - I think it was 200 or 250 grams. I don't remember what the smaller skeins are. I know they're 100% wool, and I think they may actually be Harrisville Highland, also. They look a lot fluffier, but I think they're also 2-ply (like the coned yarn), and the difference in loft might just be because the coned yarn was tightly wound on there, and most likely oiled for machine knitting. The light grey skein is about 50 grams, and the blue one is more like 25 grams.
So what do I do with this stuff? I was actually thinking that the nylon would look great in a Clapotis. But would I ever use one? Maybe, but not a nylon one. What about other shawl type things? Does nylon even block? My cursory googling hasn't told me, yet, but I'm guessing not. I'm leaning towards giving this to A's mom for Christmas. I don't mean that to sound like I'm offing junk yarn on her, but I know that she likes bright colors, and I have faith that she'd find something really cool to do with this yarn. I'm a yarn snob. She's not.
I'm also not sure what to do with the Harrisville yarn, though I'm definitely keeping it. If I were a virtuous knitter, I'd use it to swatch for various projects that I may want to eventually knit in that yarn. I don't want to felt it, because it's too nice for felting. I've been thinking of making a hot water bottle cover, because I actually need one. Maybe I should use half of it for that, and half of it for swatching. And the scraps of the other colors could probably be used for those little Knitty handwarmer creatures that I fell in love with yesterday. Whatever I use it for, I'm happy to have this instead of the Lamb's Pride.
I also picked up a ball of Lion Brand Fun Fur, for A's mom (she likes the fuzzies), and a ~40 gram ball of leftover Cherry Tree Hill supersock, that could be used for contrasting color toes/heels in some pair of socks. As soon as I saw that little ball of CTH, I knew exactly who brought it. It was while M. was knitting her CTH socks in that colorway that I really started drooling over the stuff. Now I have her leftovers. Yay! (She was not at all surprised that I ended up with that ball, either.)
And my lesson learned at the lunch: if you wear Dale Baby Ull socks, everybody will pet your feet. This is a good thing. Free foot massage!
posted by Rebekkah at 8:31 AM
4 Comments:
Nylon does not, in fact, block. Well, you can fix your stitch definition, to make seaming easier, but it really does not stay put, it's like blocking really slippery acrylic.
~schizospider
I wouldn't discount Clapotis yet. I thought I'd never want one, thought I'd never use one, and definitely thought I'd block it if I did make one. Then when I broke down and made one recently, I didn't want to block it because I love the way it rolls in on itself, and I wear it all the time. I made mine skinnier to be more "scarflike"
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Fun stuff! I don't know how the nylon feels but it may be nice for an over sweater - something in an open stitch to wear over tanks and t's in the summer. It is such a pretty color combination I hope you find something nice for it.
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