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: Sheared Bliss Fibers Superwash Merino Sock Yarn

It's superwash.  It's merino.  And it is hand dyed in Colorado, using natural plant dyes.

This particular ball was dyed with indigo and onion skins, in a two step process.  This yarn totally geeks me out - local, hand dyed, AND plant dyed?  Sign me up!  It is super soft, but still holds up to all my ridiculous frogging, which is always a good sign.  It's nice and round, with a tight twist, which is great for stitch definition.  Look at those cables pop!

The one downside I found is that it turned my hands blue, and made my tension hand itch.  That being said, I've used lots of other colorways of this stuff, and this is the first that has bled or made me itch, so I really think that both are just the indigo.  That being said, the finished socks didn't bleed in the blocking bath, and when I wear them they don't turn my feet blue, so the bleeding is not horrible, and again... if it bothers you pick an indigo free color.  On a related note, I may be allergic to indigo, and that pisses me off.

These socks (Aspen) are currently available for preorder in my Ravelry store!  They are also included in my new ebook, Home State Botany: Colorado.

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!)

Mmmm, cashmere...

I have two yarn reviews for you in the next week, and both have on thing in common... CASHMERE! Cashmere, the god of fibers! Well, I've got a personal soft spot for silk, but come on... cashmere!

Today's review is on Knitpicks Capra. It is 85% merino, 15% cashmere and all soft and fluffy. It just feels luxurious... and at a very reasonable price, to boot! It is round, plied, and oh yeah, did I mention fluffy? It is listed as a DK weight but because of the poof factor, I find it works better when worked at a worsted gauge. I haven't had any problems with splittiness, and it does ok with frogging.

It's also perfect for next to the skin wear - I'm designing a cowl of it. It is also incredibly warm, so great for winter gear. Seriously, I put the cowl over my neck, didn't even button it, and my first thought was "wow, I'm warmer than I was a second ago." Really snuggly. Because it is so round, it also shows complicated stitching really well.

All around, this is really nice yarn, for a good price. As with anything Knitpicks, are there better cashmere blends out there? Yeah, probably. But they're freaking expensive. This is an excellent "workhorse luxury" sort of yarn. Seriously, I want to make the whole WORLD hats out of this stuff, because it is so great to work with and so great to wear. My ONLY complaint is that I wish it came in more colors. The palette is overwhelmingly bright. But as it's a fairly new addition to the KP line, I'm sure there's more to come.

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.

Wool, part 3 -- sheep breeds

As I said in my first post, there are lots and LOTS of breeds of sheep.  Today I'm going to talk about some of the most common breeds a knitter or crocheter might encounter, as well as some rarer ones that you're more likely to encounter only if you're a spinner (or in one case, a weaver).

Merino:  Merino is the most common breed of sheep to see on a yarn label.  The reason is fairly obvious - merino sheep produce the softest wool of any breed.  In my experience it is most common in sock yarn.  Merino is also a delight to spin.  One warning, though.  If you like to wash your own fleeces, be prepared for a greasy, greasy mess.  Merino sheep also have the most lanolin of any breed.

Blue Faced Leicester: Also known as BFL (which is good for me, because I can't pronounce Leicester to save me).  Not quite as soft as merino, but has a longer staple (the length of the individual fiber) and isn't as greasy.  Because it isn't quite so fine and has longer fibers BFL is also more durable than merino.  It is often touted as a fairly ideal first fiber for beginning spinners, and is one of my favorites to work with.

Navaho Churro: These are the sheep that the Navaho raised in the Southwest United States.  They are rugged little things, highly resistant to pests, drought, and disease.  They are a double coated breed - they have long guard hairs mixed in with their wool.  Navaho Churro wool is rare in commercial yarn, with the exception of some weaving lines.  The gaurd hair is very coarse, so when both layers are spun together it wears like steel.  When the fleece is dehaired, it is much softer, but still not next to the skin soft.  I have a Navaho Churro fleece that I'm planning on spinning for a sweater for my husband.

Shetland: Shetland sheep come in two styles, double coated and single coated.  In my experience, the single coated variety of fleece is more common, but you're probably not going to encounter it unless you spin.  This is the wool that was around in the same area as the fairly famous Shetland lace, and (understandably) does very well in lace applications.  You have to be careful not to over twist it, however, or it feels like string.  Other than that, it is fairly soft - I'd say maybe a little coarser than BFL.

Peruvian highland wool: I'm seeing this one more and more often.  It refers to a cross between BFL and merino, so far as I can tell, and is softer than BFL and more durable than merino.  I've found it to be something of a mixed bag.  Sometimes it's very soft, sometimes it's not so soft.  It seems to matter very much how it's spun.  If you have your heart set on either very soft or very durable (and not so soft), it's probably best to either touch before you buy or talk to somebody who has experience with a specific yarn.  I've yet to see anything in it I don't like, however.