Yarn Review: Skeindalous Eartha Sock

So, this company's logo is really entertaining to me.

It comes in really nice colors too, and is super soft.  At 65% merino, 35% bamboo, that's not surprising, and it is lovely and shiny too.  The thing that surprised me is how well it is standing up to my usual ridiculous amount of frogging.  Still knits up just as pretty on the third go!  It is however a little on the splitty side, which is not super surprising as the twist is light for a sock yarn.  Not terrible - but you have to be careful if you're doing crazy decreases or dropping down to fix something.  It would make quite a stunning shawl, as well - nice and durable, but with the softness and drape of a yarn with a less firm twist.  It is also on the lighter end of fingering weight - you might want to knit at a slightly smaller gauge than usual.

Speaking of crazy decreases:

The next pattern in Home State Botany: Colorado - Columbine - is currently in testing, and came out really nicely.  It is also in preorder, and the final pattern should be ready early November!

Yarn Review: All For Love of Yarn Luminosity Fingering

First of all, can I express my amazement that Angela has managed to get pink, blue, purple, and green into one ball of yarn, and have it be such a lovely tonal?  Everything from All For Love of Yarn comes in these special limited pooling colorways, and they are a delight to work with.  You can have festive yarn and festive stitches, and be able to see both at the same time!

This specific yarn (Luminosity) is 70% superwash merino, 20% bamboo rayon, and 10% nylon.  It has great drape and a lovely sheen to it (so great stitch definition!), and is holding up to all my frogging beautifully.  It would make a really luscious pair of socks.  One thing to remember about it is that bamboo rayon is still rayon, so it tends to squeak a bit on plastic needles/hooks.  If that's the sort of thing that bothers you, you should use tools in a different material.

Also, that's the swatch for my upcoming Tea Party Stole, which is included in my book.  It's turning out really pretty, isn't it?  I love star stitch for showing off nice yarn.

Suddenly I'm glad I didn't tell you about this last night like I was going to (instead choosing to veg out in front of junk tv).  I just found out that tomorrow is Angela's birthday, and so you can get 38% off any in stock purchase with the code BDAY38.  Tomorrow only!  Buy yarn!  (I'm probably going to!)

Fiber Thoughts: Rayon

Rayon from sugar cane.

This post will contain information on all kinds of rayon -- bamboo, sugar cane, the regular wood pulp kind.  I can hear a few of you out there saying "ka-whaa? bamboo is rayon?!"  I feel relatively certain of this because of how frequently I see threads on yarn and fabric forums announcing the "secret" of bamboo fiber.  Yes, that silky soft stuff is, in fact, rayon made from bamboo.  There is a non-rayon bamboo fiber out there, however it is more like flax, and doesn't really resemble the more common rayon from bamboo at all.

So, what is rayon?  Rayon is a manufactured fiber made from cellulose.  You can make rayon from just about any plant source, but there are three that I've seen.  The regular old standard rayon that has been around forever is made from wood pulp.  Rayon made from bamboo has been enjoying significant popularity due to it's purported environmental friendliness and antibacterial properties.  I have recently found several yarns made from rayon made from sugar cane, as well.  "Bamboo viscose" and "sugar cane viscose" mean the same as rayon.

All rayon has some properties in common.  It is a smooth, silky fiber.  Rayon has excellent drape, but not so much memory, so it works extremely well for lace applications.  It is also extremely durable, so it works well as a substitute for silk in blends that need that soft silky sheen, but also need to be easier to wash than silk.  Rayon is also (surprisingly) highly absorbent.

The main differences in the rayon types are, quite frankly, questionable.  Bamboo rayon in particular is touted for being environmentally friendly, and it is indeed more environmentally friendly than regular rayon, as bamboo can be grown very quickly with little or no pesticide or fertilizer use.  However, the chemicals used to process the bamboo into rayon are pretty toxic, and the process requires large amounts of water and energy, so it really isn't the Gift to Gaia that it's occasionally billed as.  Bamboo rayon is also claimed to have antibacterial properties.  While bamboo, the plant, is indeed naturally antibacterial, the amount of processing involved in making rayon makes it fairly unlikely that those properties make it to the final fiber.  It is possible, however I have searched extensively for the supposed study showing that bamboo rayon is antimicrobial, and have not been able to find it anywhere.  The best I can come up with are references to a Japanese study... however, the study itself does not seem to be available anywhere.  And I can read and search in Japanese.  Given that the majority of bamboo fabrics are made in China, I deeply suspect that the study is the invention of a manufacturing company.  I could of course be wrong, and if you know of a reference, please point me at it!

So, is there any difference between the types of rayon?  I like to think there is.  It feels to me that bamboo rayon and sugar cane rayon are smoother and more silk-like than wood pulp rayon.  Sugar cane rayon, in particular, has a delightful sheen to it.  This may, however, merely be a manufacturing difference, and not a material difference.  So seriously?  Know the basic properties of rayon, then use your own fingers and eyes to pick an individual yarn.  That will probably serve you better than knowing the plant source of the fiber.

Review: Panda Cotton

In all honesty, I think I like every Crystal Palace Yarns yarn I've tried.  Panda Cotton is no exception.  It is a fingering weight 59% bamboo, 25% cotton, 16% elastic nylon plied yarn.  I think it's an excellent choice for wool-free socks -- it is soft and springy and durable.  I freely admit that my Panda Cotton socks aren't very old, but they seem to be showing wear at a rate comparable to any of my wool socks.  It also comes in 50 g (as opposed to 100 g) balls, which I think is a perk.  The smaller put up makes it easier to get exactly how much you need if you are doing a larger project, yet isn't so small that it causes problems in smaller projects.  The yardage is pretty good at 182 per ball.  This is slightly less than most comparable wool yarns, however I've found this to be pretty standard.  Cotton just weighs more per yard than wool does, as far as I can tell.

Do you have something you want me to review? Needles? Yarn? Notions? Drop me a line! marusempai at gmail dot com Put "Maru reviews" in the subject line.

Broomstick crochet is making me mad.

Super duper slow progress, but progress none the less.

But it's not the pattern's fault, or the technique's fault.  It is entirely my own dang impatient self's fault.  First of all, none of the stores around here carry knitting needles big enough, so I had to make a makeshift tool out of a dowel.  I sanded it carefully and rubbed it with oil.  It is still way too grippy, even for my very slippery bamboo blend yarn.  So that's frustration number one.  Frustration number two: the loop row is SO FREAKING SLOW.  I'm sure it's a matter of practice.  I'm sure I will get faster.  But right now it's slow and I'm frustrated!  My other issue with it is if I screw up either the loop row or the crochet row, I have to rip out back to the beginning of the loop row.  I can't get the loops back onto the stick to save my life.  Sigh.  The result is so pretty!  I guess I need a break from it.  Maybe I'll work on those colorwork mittens that have been sitting untouched on my desk for so long.

And this is how I ended up with so many random WIPs lying around the house.  And to think, I WIPed down once already this year.  I'm doomed, but in a fun way.

Yarn review time!

Yarn support is the BEST part of being a designer.  It is like Christmas early!  My most recent batch has been Panda Silk from Crystal Palace Yarns.  It is a fingering weight, 52% bamboo, 43% machine washable merino wool, 5% combed silk blend.  Also, I might add, delightful to work with.  This time around, I'm designing a crochet shawl in it:

 It's lovely and soft, and that silk gives it a nice sheen.  I've had no problems with splittiness, either, and it has excellent stitch definition.  Wide range of colors.  Admittedly I selected this yarn myself, specifically for this pattern, so I may be a bit biased, but I love this stuff.