Yarn crazy

Ok.  So, you know I can have a bit of a yarn addiction.  Well, ok, maybe more than a bit.

I received the latest update from Black Sheep Wools (a fantastic yarn store near Washington, Cheshire) which was showcasing this yarn from Debbie Bliss; Lara.  It’s a blend of 52% merino and 48% superfine alpaca.  It is super chunky and needs 12mm (US 17) needles.  And there is only 100g per ball giving you 65 yards or 60 metres, depending if you prefer metric.

Anyway, I was hooked (excuse the pun) the moment I saw it and the colour range.  Some of the patterns look really nice too.

The big weakness for yarn addicts like me?  It is on special; just £4.99 or 64% off (normal price £13.99).  I mean, come on!  Crazy to pass up that price, right?

Click, click, click and tappity tap and all purchased.  10 balls in Simonia, Pavel and Marya colours; two shades of blue and a lovely mix of browns.  Two days later and it’s here.

Tell me these are not gorgeous looking, soft and squishy balls of yarn.  I dare you 🙂

So, tonight I had a quick test of some swatching and frogging to see how it holds up and how it’s knits or crochets.  First up, crochet.  Yeah, that ain’t going to happen.  Don’t get me wrong.  It glides off the hook nice and easy, but it’s not easy to see the stitch construction, so any normal crochet would have to be simple such as granny type, where you go into chain spaces.  Think chunky boucle yarn and there you have it.  I didn’t save the swatch.

Next up, Tunisian crochet.  I thought, it might be easier.  And to some degree it was, but only if you do TSS (Tunisian Simple Stitch).  Anything like knit or purl will be slow going as you need to look for the hook/stitch placement.  It did make a nice, thick fabric.  You will need to count stitches as it smeasy to lose some.  As I did.  I used an 8mm hook and it seemed fine, if dense.  Going up in hook size will make it more airy.

It would make a nice lapghan, baby blanket or scarf and hat in Tunisian crochet.  Looking at the label, it does not show a crochet hook, so there could be a clue there; knitting only.  Meh!  Rules are made to be broken sometimes.

It frogged fine if you are careful.  Always a concern with these fluffy yarns.

Well, on to knitting.  I would suggest a cast on using a simple and easy method.  Don’t bother doing a knit cast on.  Once on the needle though, it was not too bad to knit.  You do need to watch you don’t split the yarn, but on the whole, it was good.  I only did a knit stitch, but it came out fine.  This swatch ain’t pretty, but I was not looking for finesse, plus it was destined to be frogged.  I used my 10mm needles, simply because I don’t have any 12mm, and it came out fine.

Verdict?  Best would be knitting, second, Tunisian Crochet.  But forget straightforward crochet unless granny stitching a blanket.  If knitting, you might want to watch your tension as it is springy.

As mentioned, the knitting patterns look lovely and pretty straightforward.  If you fancy this yarn, get it now whilst on a fantastic discount.

By the way, I am not getting commission or anything like that for this review.  Yarn purchased fair and square, out of my own pocket.

Disclaimer: All views expressed on this site are my own and do not represent the views of any entity whatsoever with which I have been, am now or will be affiliated.