Unwrapping a Treasure

When preparing to wind one of the new skeins into a ball, I encountered something I’ve never seen before.

Manufacturers have various ways of tying the loops of skeined yarn together. Sometimes they use thread or fine yarn. Often they use the yarn ends from the skein itself. This does double duty, keeping the skein together and securing the ends.

But there is always a knot. Sometimes they’re nice enough to make a slip knot, but most just tie a generic knot tightly, which is very hard, sometimes impossible, to untie. I usually spend the effort to untie the knot, sometimes spending ten minutes prying it loose. But I have been defeated occasionally, and had to resort to cutting especially recalcitrant knots.

When I opened the skein of Quebecoise from Schoolhouse Press, I found this:

Unique skein-tying

It is self-tied, using the ends of the yarn and not any added-on string, but THERE IS NO KNOT! It’s wrapped in an extremely clever way so that the loose end is held by the wrapping. It is every bit as secure as an ordinary wrap-with-knot. But all I had to do was find the end, work it loose, and pull. Genius! I wish they would all do this!

Another Cable Swatch

Swatch of three simple cables from Barbara G. Walker’s Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

3 simple cables

 

Close Braid (p. 249)

Six-Stitch Cable Crossed Every Eighth Row (p. 242)

Plait Cable (p. 244)

 

 

Wheels of Glory

I have now swatched two of the skeins I got from Schoolhouse Press.

Wheels of Glory — yarn is wound and ready to knit

They are strong and tough, just what I’d envisioned. But somewhere in the middle of my swatching, I came to my senses a bit.

I’ve already bought two full sweaters’-worth of yarn. I really should stop this never-ending quest for The Perfect Yarn and just get on with it. If the Wool of the Andes sweater turns out too light, then I’ll have a nice indoor sweater. In the meantime, with all this dithering about yarn, I’m not making any progress, and will have to wear the craft-fair sweater again next year.

I’ll make the current sweater in WOTA, make my next one in Cestari Bulky, and then after that, I’ll make something nice with something from Schoolhouse Press. And maybe I’ll finally get around to making things with my odd-lot stash, as well.

Sheepswool 2-ply & 3-ply; same needle size on both

Cable Swatch

Just a small swatch of four small cables.

Small swatch

 

Cables are from Barbara G. Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

 

Four-Stitch Cable Crossed Every Fourth Row (p. 241)

Simple Slipped Cable, Left Twist (p. 108)

Simple Slipped Cable, Right Twist (p. 109)

Little Plait Cable (p. 245)

(Picture is upside-down.)

That’s More Like It!

The yarn came today from Schoolhouse Press. I plunged my hands into it, and breathed a sigh of relief. This yarn feels dense and tough. I wouldn’t want to wear it next to my skin, but it feels exactly like what I had in mind for my outerwear sweater.

The yarn came today.

I have not swatched it yet, nor even rolled it into balls, but I am very excited about it, and am looking forward to experimenting with it. I’ll have to wait until my swift is available, and then can dive in.

My favorite swift

Until then, I will continue making cable swatches.

Another recent cable swatch

Maybe this will be *The One*

As I mentioned in What’s in a Name? and other posts, I’m not totally happy with any yarn I’ve tried so far. I settled on the WOTA, but the more I work with it, the more misgivings I have about it. Like the Cascade 220, it will probably make a very nice sweater, but it might not be right for this sweater.

As I’ve been writing these posts, I’ve inserted credits wherever possible. As an occasional creator of intellectual property, I try to be sensitive to this, and do it wherever possible. So, when I’ve made reference a few times to books published by them, I inserted links to  Schoolhouse Press. (See? I just did it again! 😀 )

When I needed to get the links for the books, I went to the Schoolhouse Press website. While there, I was reminded that they sell yarn, too, and good quality yarn, perhaps the very yarn I’ve been looking for. I am sorry to say that I’ve never bought yarn from them before. This is why I didn’t remember them until now.

I wanted to buy their yarn (back when I was buying yarn, before my stash got so big), but it seemed so expensive to me back then. I don’t know whether they’ve lowered their prices (does anybody ever do that?), or if I’m just remembering wrong, but when I went there and looked around, they seemed very reasonable.

So, because this sweater is very important to me, and I want it to be done right, I ordered one skein each of several promising-looking wools, the ones which looked tough enough for outerwear. Their descriptions of the yarns were helpful in this regard. I’m holding my highest hopes for the one that is undyed, natural sheep-colored wool.

I can’t wait for it to get here!!

What’s in a Name?

There seems to be a great variation between what different yarn companies classify as “Worsted” or “Bulky” these days.

The Cascade 220 seems a little skimpy compared to other worsteds in my stash, such as Plymouth Galway. Now, the Wool of the Andes Bulky (WOTA) seems to be just barely thicker than the Cascade 220. While the Cestari seems gigantic (super bulky), the WOTA doesn’t seem bulky at all — more like worsted or heavy worsted.

Cascade 220, Galway, WOTA Bulky, Cestari Bulky.

I want this sweater to be somewhat sturdy. That was why I rejected the Cascade 220, which had a lovely soft, pliant feel which might be perfect for an indoor sweater, but didn’t seem thick or tough enough for outerwear.

Now, I’m going with the WOTA Bulky, but it doesn’t feel bulky or tough enough, either.

In the picture, the Cestari doesn’t look much bigger than the WOTA. The difference is in the density. There’s a lot of wool in the Cestari, while there’s a lot of air in the WOTA. The Cestari is as thick & dense as a tree trunk, while the WOTA is just feathers.

 A few years ago, I acquired a healthy-sized stash when three yarn stores in my area closed, so I haven’t been buying yarn. Nothing in my stash suits this project, though, so I’m forced to buy yarn. I’ve discovered that several of my favorite online sources are gone, and my lys* doesn’t carry some of the yarns they used to. So, my choices have narrowed considerably, and I seem to be limited to the three already mentioned.

* lys = local yarn shop

Cascade 220, WOTA & Cestari

The difference can be seen more plainly in this picture. The thick-looking strands of the WOTA were compressed a lot by the braid pattern, while the dense strands of the Cestari couldn’t be compressed by anything less than a steamroller. When I make a sweater with Cestari, it will be as dense and protective as any coat I own. But I want the sweater I’m currently making to be a little less dense, while retaining some strength.

Several years ago, I made Meg Swansen’s Shawl-Collared Vest.**  Cash was tight, so I made it with Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool, which looked as nice as a lot of more-expensive natural wools. But, like the WOTA, it seems to have a lot of air in it. It looks ok, but it’s flimsy, and not nearly as warm as it could be. I never wear it.

I am concerned that I’ve now made another bad decision, and will put a lot of work into a sweater which won’t be worth the effort.

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**  Swansen, Meg, Handknitting with Meg Swansen, Schoolhouse Press, 1997-ish

I can’t lay hands on the book right now (for the same reason I didn’t have access to Myrna Stahman’s shawl book in 2014 (1st Project: The Rail Yard Shawl) ), and can’t find the publishing info on their website. Will update this when I can.

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Test Swatch Trio

Re: Photo of the three test swatches: At the time I took the photo, I’d misplaced the label, but the one on the left is the Cascade 220. I could PhotoShop the label in, but I cannot re-take the picture, since after I took it, I ripped out the WOTA swatch so I could start my sweater with it. The other two swatches still exist, in case I need them later.

Feline help

Buttercup thought the swatches looked lonely. Notice how artfully she obscures the Cestari label.

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On Needles and Stitch Pattern

I am not crazy about garter stitch (sorry, EZ!) because it is too likely to stretch out of shape. And I am afraid that when the garter stitch stretches under its own weight, making holes between the stitches, it will let out the heat. Since I want this shawl to be warm, I am picturing it in a relatively solid pattern which, while still draping as a shawl should, won’t be too loose. So, I was thinking a nice Fabric Stitch or Linen Stitch would give a solid, woven-looking fabric. Then I realized that it probably wouldn’t have enough drape for a shawl.  So I got out the stitch books, and swatched a little, and came up with one from BGW’s Treasury* which I think will work. On the right side, it looks a lot like garter stitch. And on the wrong side, it looks like a different right-side pattern, so I never have to worry about fussing with how I put the shawl on — either side will look all right.

The needle size recommended on the ball band is US6. I am having trouble deciding between a US6 and US8 for this project. On the one hand, I want the fabric to be solid and warm, but on the other, it can’t be so firm that it doesn’t drape properly. I know, that’s what swatches are for. Except that swatches lie. So I will just make a guess and see how it goes. Excuse me a moment…

[Soft background music playing…]

Decision made. I just went and examined my needle supply. I have two sets of 60” circulars in size US7. All my 6s and 8s are in use in other projects, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have any of those longer than 29” anyway. So, US7 it will be.

 

* Barbara G. Walker, A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Schoolhouse Press, 1998

Edit: If you want a link to this book, that would be here. Scroll down the page a bit (their website is a little low-tech). This book is the blue one.