Favourite Yarns?

**tulloch** · 26th February 10, 01:13 PM

I think my favorite yarn is the one about the Scot who fell asleep under the tree and two women came a-walking ...

**ThinBlueLine** · 26th February 10, 01:27 PM

guitarmatt,

They also have a "discount store" in their mill where they have spools and cones of less than perfect yarn at roughly half the standard price. The people in the mill are fantastic people to talk to and I think they enjoy having new people to speak with.

**sockknitter** · 26th February 10, 01:48 PM

For socks, love, love love the Blue Moon Fiber Arts - Socks that Rock lines....light wt, med. wt, and heavy wt. As well as Cascade Yarn's Heritage yarns. Brown Sheep's Wildefoote has also been fun, as are Regia and some of the Opal yarns. Some sock yarns have a tendency to "bloom" or relax after they are washed the first time? So I have heard...don't really think I've had 1st hand experience w/ them.

I'm not a big fan of the self-patterning, or varigated yarns, regardless of wt. Their color pooling drives me bonkers, and I don't really find the end result too appealing. Love most heathered yarns, tho, plied w/ more than one color together.

For larger projects, I like Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride worsted wt....love the haloing effect the 15% mohair gives it, tho some people don't care for it, and their colors are rich, rich, rich. Like it better than Cascade's 220, but have used both in different projects and they both felt really well. Also love the Shetlands...Jamieson and Smith? Especially for any kind of fair-isling.

For spinning, I like any combination w/ Merino or BFL (Blue-faced Leicester). YUM! And silk and cashmere are kind of fun to spin, as well....very luxurious. And I loved this stuff someone gave me...I think it was a Merino/yak blend? oh mama!!

Sock yarns are as forgiving as wool. There's generally an 80/20 blend, or sometimes a 70/30 blend of wool/nylon. The nylon's for added strength and doesn't really have an effect on the wool properties. Unless you throw them in a dryer and over-heat the nylon? Maybe? I have so many handknit socks, now, I can't honestly remember which are hand wash vs not, so I hand wash all, and line dry them. My husband's, on the other hand, are all machine washable, so that's where they go, and they seem to be doing just fine.

**guitarmatt** · 26th February 10, 02:35 PM

I have a couple balls of Regia 4 ply that I'm going to use for some lighter weight socks. The weather here demands thick wool at the moment. I actually chose colours to match the tartan of the kilt I'm planning to buy...

The Shetland I'm working with now is from K1 yarns in Edinburgh scappa yarn at k1 The undyed yarn I bought isn't listed online, and is considerable cheaper than the small dyed balls. I'm thinking about dying it myself. Anyone have experience dying a finished knit item? I've heard it can be done with good results.

**sockknitter** · 26th February 10, 02:47 PM

what kind of yarn(s) can you buy at your shops? Anything fun? or available stateside?

**guitarmatt** · 26th February 10, 03:00 PM

There's a lot of fun stuff available, esp at k1. Check their site in the link above. I don't really know how it compares to the states. The only time I ever looked for yarn in the states I was always going for the cheap stuff. My tastes have, erm, matured since then, so I'm shopping in a different price bracket than I was. Patons and Rowan are in every shop here, other than that it varies.

I'm considering ordering some undyed BFL and British Merino from these folks: http://bluefaced.com/ Like I mentioned, I'm trying to buy British where I can. I know the British wool industry in particular is hurting in the face of worldwide competition.

**Pleater** · 26th February 10, 03:13 PM

I use an undyed unbleached cotton yarn which I make up myself from 'singles' - they are the first spinning of the fibres and are put together and twisted back, against the first twist, to make a finished yarn.

There is no elasticity in cotton, no memory either, so you make it to the size you need - no negative ease, and use a knitted in elastic for the ribs, or add sheering elastic as you knit or wear them with garters or some other means of support.

When knit on small needles the yarn does make very comfortable socks for hot weather as it is so absorbent.

It would be very easy to dye the yarn, or a garment - as long as the correct type of dye was used, and a large enough container so the dye can reach all parts of the article or skein.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

**guitarmatt** · 26th February 10, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by Pleater

When knit on small needles the yarn does make very comfortable socks for hot weather as it is so absorbent.

What size qualifies as small needles? I use 3.5mm or 2.5mm depending on the yarn. So far I've been using mostly light DK weight, not real sock yarn.

**Pleater** · 26th February 10, 03:54 PM

I think I used English size 14 - that is about 2mm, for the last ones, for a three fold yarn (I twisted together three threads) - I have used finer - size 16 and a two thread yarn, but they did take a long time to knit.

I think 16s would be about 1.5mm, and the yarn half the thickness of double knitting, maybe less, as cotton yarn is rather dense.

Anne the Pleater

**guitarmatt** · 27th February 10, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by Pleater

I think I used English size 14 - that is about 2mm, for the last ones, for a three fold yarn (I twisted together three threads) - I have used finer - size 16 and a two thread yarn, but they did take a long time to knit.

I think 16s would be about 1.5mm, and the yarn half the thickness of double knitting, maybe less, as cotton yarn is rather dense.

Anne the Pleater

That doesn't seem too outrageous. When I first started knitting I was pretty scared of those little needles, but I've been working my way down in that direction. I'll have to add a pair of cotton hose to my queue, which has become quite long at this point.