It’s that time of year again (apparently time for me to actually post something…), time for the Booger’s annual birthday sweater. This year she picked the Bed & Breakfast pullover from the winter 2003 issue of IK. Great. I can do that, no problem. Right?
HA! Seems that yarn in that gauge is a might tricky to find (well, yarn that doesn’t SUCK at any rate), unless you’re willing to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars for enough to make a sweater out of. GRRR.
After much searching, I ended up ordering some Peruvian Highland Chunky from Elann. Great color selection, crazy good price, and fast fast fast shipping. All well and good. The yarn showed up yesterday, and I busted out a skein to swatch.
Soft! Nice! Hmmm… Maybe not so wonderful.
For starters, it untwists as I knit, so I have to keep remembering to check and adjust the twist, which is a pain in the arse. Fine. Swatch done. Soft, nice. Into the basin to soak, onto the blocking foamy thing to block. I got up this morning and checked on it, and it was all dry, so I unpinned it and walked from the living room to the computer room, which is all of… 30 feet? And that includes a detour into the kitchen to pick up my coffee cup. While I walked that short short distance, I had folded the swatch in half and was rubbing it against itself to see how the abrasion resistance was.
30 feet, 90 seconds, GIANT SWATCH EATING PILLS. Almost as bad as the DB Cashmerino (and by this point, y’all *know* how I feel about Debbie Bliss yarns). See?
I have said many bad words, which I will not include here.
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?
GRRRRRRR. I really really really was hoping to not have to spend $120 on yarn for this project. Really I was.
9 Comments, Comment or Ping
That swatch looks *terrible* after such a small amount of wear. It’d look awful in a sweater, I can just tell.
I found the pattern and they’re calling for an aran/fisherman weight yarn – 4sts/in. A little poking around on the website I’ve been drooling over turned up this: Beaverslide Dry Goods – it’s their Fisherman weight yarn, the right gauge. Depending on what size sweater you’re making, you could get away with as few as six skeins of that – lots cheaper and much nicer than the Cleckheaton stuff. They’ve got some colors on sale, too, so it’d be even less.
Shoot, now I’m going to have to go buy some yarn.
Nice to see you posting again, by the way!
January 8th, 2007
Aren’t you glad you swatched? Same thing happened to me with Patons SWS. Worsted weight, pretty colourways, soysilk in the blend; what could be better? Giant dreadlocks hanging off it after daughter wore it for one day. (To be fair, she did sleep in it, but still, dreadlocks!) Here’s a trick – knit, block, shave. I have hair clippers, so I use those, but any battery powered beard trimmer thingy will work. Not those so called sweater shaver things, they’re crap. After you’ve washed and blocked the sweater, but before it’s worn, take the clippers to it and shave off the bloom. You’ll only need to do it once and it is easy to do when the pieces are flat. Nice to hear from you again.
January 8th, 2007
send the rest of the yarn back.
January 8th, 2007
If it were me, I’d buy yarn I liked and knit a bigger size. I hate how all her beautiful gorgeous designs are knitted on size 9. Who needs a polar weight sweater anymore??
January 8th, 2007
what vanessa says, and go with comment #1 suggestion on yarn. aren’t you glad you did swatch?
January 8th, 2007
Isn’t the Booger teeny? You will probably want it smaller than the smallest size.
Try swatching that melon coloured All Seasons Cotton you have…
January 9th, 2007
good luck with this project. it’s gorgeous. i was hoping to make it at one point and gave up on it due to the yarn weight (it would be so much more reasonable in a light worsted or dk IMO). if it weren’t for the cables i would suggest doubling Cascade 220 or something like that.
January 10th, 2007
A bought a bunch of Rowan’s Calmer to make the B&B sweater about a year ago at a yarn sale. I think it will be nice because it is lighter and a little stretchy. I got about halfway up one side and realized I had screwed up a cable about 4″ below — set it aside and haven’t picked it up. Hrm. I’ll get back on it here!
January 16th, 2007
Yeah, the highland wool chunky isn’t really a chunky – it holds up beautifully if you knit it a tighter gauge.
I second and third the Beaverslide recommendation. I’m knitting in their aran weight right now and had to rip and reknit the first 3 inches 4 times – held up beautifully and the McTaggert tweeds in the fisherman’s weight are gorgeous colors and very affordable.
The Araucania bulky nature wool is on close out at Webs too. Or the Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky, also on closeout. I don’t know how hard the last 2 will wear – but they have great colors at great prices.
January 20th, 2007