YIKES, that's a lotta yarn

schrodinger · 02-14-2006, 08:03 PM

Okay, I thought it was time I actually bought a decent amount of yarn (no excuses not to knit the sweater that I promised myself I would do). So with that in mind, I went to ebay and started looking at cones of yarn, I found this and thought was a lovely color - there was the mystery of the type of yarn (they said it burned to ash, so intrigued by what sounded like a natural yarn). I won the bidding and got myself a bargain - or did I just bite off more than I could chew?!?

The yarn arrived today - all 8lbs of the stuff!!! As you can see from the pics, it's a fair amound (enough for 3 sweaters I think!). The WPI makes it fingering weight, although slightly thick/thin and my burn test produced little to no ash - but I was unable to determine what fiber, I suspect it's a blend, possibly both man-made and natural. I will be swatching tonight to get a feel for it and to work out gauge. Then I will have to pick out a pattern - I'm pretty sure that I've made this a lot of work and done this all the wrong way round, so I can guarantee that I will be back with questions later.

Anyway, enough from me - here are the pictures...

Jenelle · 02-14-2006, 08:34 PM

what a pretty color!!!!

Good find

carollovesyarn · 02-14-2006, 08:40 PM

That is pretty! You could knit a good-sized swatch, measure and then subject it to different washing and drying conditions to check out shrinking and felting properties. Maybe you can tell from the wet aroma what kind of natural fiber it is.

KellyK · 02-14-2006, 09:23 PM

You could knit a HOUSE-sized swatch!!

I cant even imagine knitting a fingering-wt sweater...

feministmama · 02-14-2006, 10:09 PM

Did you at least get it for a bargain!!!

Ingrid · 02-14-2006, 10:12 PM

Play with it. Try it doubled if it's too thin as it is. You certainly have enough of it! :rofling:

schrodinger · 02-14-2006, 10:22 PM

Thanks everyone for the compliments and advice, the color is lovely isn't it? Okay, I made a swatch (measuring gauge etc). Then decided to to give it a wash.

First of all the yarn is slightly 'hairy' and feels a little sticky, not sure if I should be grossed out or not - anyone have any ideas on what the stickiness is?

Okay, on to the wash test. There was absolutely no sign of felting going on, in fact the swatch could not be more bouncy, and feel less 'natural' when wet, no shrinking (or growing) going on here. On the bright side, machine washing is my favorite way to wash.

I'm still waiting for it to dry completely to figure out if it feels any softer (or less sticky) and will keep you updated if you want.

Ingrid, thanks for the suggestion on the doubling, exactly what I was thinking - although I'm a little loath to cut what could be a "sweater knit in one piece". Maybe for the second (or third) sweater - LOL.

Fem-M - Yes! It was a complete bargain, including shipping (which was expensive since it was so heavy) it was less than $30... ya get what ya pay for eh?

Kelly - House sized swatch!!!