What can I do with these yarns?

[Nomad]

I actually found a yarn shop in town today! Very exciting - it was behind a door that I'd never tried before since it had no sign. Luckily my Russian teacher's mother is a knitter so she told me where it was.

But, this being Ukraine, you don't get to wander around picking yarns up & feeling them... no, they're all behind the counter & you have to ask the lady for what you want. Since my attempt at the Russian for 'wool' & 'cotton' didn't seem to work very well, I just pointed randomly at a few balls to see what the labels would say. Turns out they're in Polish anyway :rollseyes:

But, what I got & what I'm thinking of are:

Cotton with Elastane: dishcloths
70% Acrylic, 30% Wool: scarf
72% Wool, 28% PAC (what is PAC?): Booga bag (it's a very thick yarn)
80% Wool, 20% Polyamide(?): I'm stumped. It's a very fine yarn
100% Acrylic: Hooded scarf

Does that sound like it would work? Now I have the labels, it'll be much easier next time. Oh, and I'm not planning to work on everything at once, just trying to get my stash started & figure out what different yarns I can get, and what they'll work for.

Thanks!

[margie]

I have sock yarn that is wool/polyamide. When you say fine yarn, do you mean thin? If so, maybe it's sock yarn. As far as the PAC- I don't know. Everything sounds nice- the projects sound wonderful!

What an odd LYS experience!

Polyamide is nylon, I believe. And that yarn with PAC--it could be polyamide and acrylic; I'd do a test swatch to see if it felts before making the booga.

The projects sound lovely, though!

[Nomad]

Thanks.

I'll definitely felt a test swatch - since I have a front-loading European washing machine, and no dryer, I figured I'd have to experiment anyway to work out how to felt.

Hmm, sock yarn, huh? I hadn't thought of that but yes, it could be. That'll have to wait a while, socks seem a bit complicated for me at the moment.

The projects will probably take me all of 2006 between work & studying & yet another move coming up in the Summer, but that's OK - it's nice to have something to look forward to in my rare moments of free time.

[Jan in CA]

The suggestions/hints you've been given are good and I'm too new to know much yet, but I have to tell you that I found your experience fascinating! It's always so much fun to hear stories from other parts of the world. I can't imagine a yarn store with no sign! Here the signs are large and bright, plus there are usually windows with yarn and knitted items to give you a clue should you not speak english. Plus the yarn is all in bins or shelves that lend themselves to the touchy feely yarn ho's! Haha! Thanks for sharing what it's like in your part of the world.

[punkhippiemom]

No touching the yarn???


Somebody wake me up, I'm having a nightmare!!! AAAAHHHH!!


Sorry, it's just so odd...


The cotton with elastane (I assume that's like lycra?slightly stretchy?) would be okay for washcloths, but I'd check and see how springy it is... it might work really well for some gloves, something that you want to give a little...

I just made a scarf with a mohair/polyamide blend, from what I can tell the polyamide is probably there to soften the feel of the wool... is it slightly fuzzy?? Almost like an angora? That sounds like it would be good for another scarf or a hat...

Do you have pictures??

We loooooove pictures...

[Nomad]

I live in the town that was built to house the workers from Chernobyl after the accident meant the original town had to be deserted. It was therefore a 'closed' town in Soviet times - so everyone knows everyone else and there was no need for signs! Things are changing, we got our first supermarket in 2005 which has made life here as a non-Russian speaker a whole lot easier.

Now I have some labels showing wool, acrylic etc. I'll be able to get what I need fairly easily I hope.

Oh, I should probably also note that I got all 5 balls of yarn for less than $10 total so I really can't complain too much if one ends up not being as useful as I'd hoped.

Gloves sound waaaay beyond my ability for now - I'm using the dishcloths to practice stitches before trying something bigger.

Nothing is finished yet, so no pictures, or did you mean pictures of the yarn skeins? :thinking:

[punkhippiemom]

Erg ... yes, pictures of the yarn itself... I was up early this morning and am a little out of it today LOL

[Nomad]

No, it's me - getting used to the norms on this forum. I'll try & dig out my camera...

[Ingrid]

We call it yarn porn.