Read Clara Parkes’  The Knitters Book of Yarn, yet? Well, how about her Knitter’s Review blog?

After having hoarded quite a load of yarn, I realized maybe I should do a little research on what exactly I’m buying and perhaps know what to expect from certain types of fibers. I also wanted to know if some of the more expensive yarns really could be justified in their exorbitant prices.

Much of the info I already knew, thanks to the wonderful world of internet. But I did learn something new as well.

I’ll keep it short and sweet for you.

1. White wool will not felt unless you specifically buy ones that were not bleached.

2. Alpaca and silk will stretch

3. Alpaca and cashmere does not hold cables well. Use sparingly or go for stockinette stitch

4. Angora goats and angora rabbits are not related. The goat hair is mohair and rabbit hair is called angora

5. There’s a specific use for those scratchy-as-hell Lopi type yarns — steeking!

6. Worsted spun yarns tend to pill less (but these are hard to find. Do not confuse with worsted weight)

7. All silks are not created equal – spun silk is the good stuff. Noil silk is the nubby leftover scraps.

8. Handwashing is best for all handknits (except those with a lining) Save your $ from the dry cleaners. Bad for your wallet, bad for your fabrics, and bad for the environment. Boo! Hiss!

And I’m sure I’ve left out a whole bunch of stuff (my memory these days is really going. Time for some Sudoku I guess) but that was the gist of it. There was an entire chapter on types of wool but I kinda just glossed over it because I don’t really care for scratchy wool and aside from merino and MAYBE peruvian highland/cormo I was just not interested. (shetland wool…I had no idea this was a scratchy type of yarn until I began knitting. No wonder my J.Crew fair isle sweater itched like hell.)

And I think there was something about dyeing too but I got in depth info regarding this topic from Yarn Lovers Guide to Hand Dyeing and Teach Yourself Visually: Hand-Dyeing. I also read two other books regarding the topic of felting. All this, just to learn more about the properties of yarn. Well, that kept me busy….not knitting!

Yes, I am a yarn snob (and proud of it!)

I suppose I wasn’t always this way but for the most part I stick to what I consider to be high quality/good fiber content. I try to stay away from cotton because honestly, there are a ton of well made cotton knits on sale at your local Gap/Ann Taylor/J.Crew/Banana Republic etc that I just can’t justify paying good money for. Face it, knitting your own sweater usually costs more than buying a machine knit one and if I’m going to be paying good money for it, I might as well get something that’s merino/cashmere/alpaca/silk.

Now what I don’ understand is all those crazy people paying upwards of $45 for one hank of hand dyed sock yarn. It’s just wool-nylon yarn. I just don’t see what the big fuss is all about. (I bet if the dyer for Wollmeise was Chinese or from some 3rd world country, people would scoff. It’s a European thing)

Speaking of Europe…Ever notice where your yarn comes from? You know, Made in ____. Many of the more expensive yarns are spun in Italy and I figured whatever. But lately, I’ve noticed that the Made in China ones are shoddier than the Made in Italy ones. (not 100% but many) Southwest Trading Company has most of their yarns spun in China and didja notice the drop in quality? Not all European ones are of high quality either. Ever see the Made in Romania (the go to cheap labor for Europe) labels? Not exactly top notch stuff.

Back to fiber content. I don’t do rayon (too fragile), viscose, mohair (too damn hairy), angora (sheds), acrylic (often times too squeaky), polyester, microfiber, tencel, linen or hemp(stiff), or Shetland/Icelandic wool (too scratchy). I see them sometimes blended with wool or alpaca and that won’t kill me. But 100% of any of these is a big no no in my book. Yeah, I’m a snob.

Ever wish for a room that is all your own, where you can knit to your heart’s content, dig through your yarn stash, sit at your craft desk and use the sewing machine right away without having to dig it out of the closet?

Yep, I got my own craft room. (Don’t be jealous!)

My brother finally moved out (he went away to college in New Jersey) so that room became mine. And my sweet hubby decided that should be my craft room. In a normal household, that extra room should have gone to my younger son, who doesn’t have a room (Does a 18 month old baby really need his own room?) I think the decision had something to do with the fact that I was hogging the hallway closet (aka The Yarn Closet), using the kitchen office area as my unofficial sewing machine/laptop/books/clutter area, and using the kitchen island as my yarn winding station. (Hint, hint: I need my own space!)

While I was away for almost 4 months in Korea, my husband took all the yarn that was in the closet and moved it upstairs, along with my crafting knitknacks and my sewing machine. When he told me that over the phone, I cringed. (I didn’t want him to know I had THAT much yarn) Yeah well, he gave it to me pretty good. (Woman, are you spending all my money on yarn?!! Holy crap. Do you know how many times I went up and down that staircase? It just didn’t end!) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks. Didn’t ask for the help but whatever.

This past weekend, he went to IKEA and got the bookshelf I had been pining over for the last 2 years and yes, it’s finally coming together. I still haven’t finished organizing things but I like the way things are looking. Will post pics soon. Now, all I need is a mannequin and it’s a studio!

 

So it’s been a while since I last posted. Ok, I’ll admit I totally slacked. As much as I hate blogs that putter to a dead end (you know who you are, “Last Posted xx,xxx 2006″) I suffered the same dreaded disease – procrastination with a sprinkling of losing interest. Not in knitting and yarn shopping, but just blogging and the web in general.

But nuff of that! I’m back and I’ll be more fervently blogging about my yarn addiction so you can shake your head in utter disgust. Are you ready? (Is it possible to have any more humor and wit? Add scoff here)

My summary of the past 4 months include the following yarn/knitting exploits:

1. I left for South Korea around late June to visit family and packed a suitcase full of yarn to destash and knit. Turns out, I’m a very slow knitter and Korea has better yarn availability than I thought. So I ended up giving some of the sock yarn away and left behind a good 30 skeins of yarn at my mom’s house. She doesn’t know how to knit so I guess I’ll have to think of what I’m going to do with those.
2. Went yarn shopping at the Mall-of-America sized Dongdaemun Market in Korea (where I was able to snag a 2 pound cone of wool-cashmere blend yarn for $6 and $4 Addi needles. Yeah, you heard me!) It took so much willpower to resist buying everything in sight. Good thing I could only buy enough for me to carry or else I might have ran up some ridiculous bills.
3. A sizeable yarn gift from fellow online knitters I met in Korea. One lady sent me 40 skeins of Ornaghi Filati Merino Kind. That’s worth like $400 retail!
4. Knitted a sock and a half while vacationing in the Philippines (ever sat on a completely empty beach and knit in your bikinis? I have!)
5. Loaded up on some cheap cashmere from goodsil.com, which carries some of Lineapiu’s yarns. (if you’re unfamiliar with the name Lineapiu, they have a joint partnership with Zegna Baruffa to supply Brooks Brothers with their cashmere and Merino wool. So, pretty high quality yarn but at mind blowingly ridiculous prices. Here’s an example: a 100g skein of Lineapiu’s Griffin, a 70% cashmere 30% merino blend for $7. When most yarns of that caliber come in teeny 25g skeins and cost at least 2-3 times as much.) I totally splurged and bought a good $150 worth of yarn from them. And the best part is, they giveaway free yarn as a bonus. (and free shipping within Korea) I bought a total of 25 or so skeins and ended up with 40 cuz they gave me all these free yarns (so, ok the free yarn wasn’t cashmere but hey, who cares?!)
6. Finished knitting my Ella Rae Shibu bolero (95% silk 5% viscose blend) and it fits!
7. Elann Sampler pack time again: bought 7 and acquired 49 more credit vouchers. I think Elann has me hooked until 2040. Hated the Super Kydd (I can’t stand mohair!) so I swapped with a Ravelry member for Needful Yarns London Tweed (I think I have like 60 skeins of London Tweed, I swear!)
8. Little Knits sold Skacel Collection Adagio and Divine for something ridiculous, like 75% off. So I bought a bunch of those. (who am I kidding: I’m a yarn sale addict!)
9. About 90% done with my father-in-law’s cardigan, my Philippines socks, February Lady Cardigan, Knitty’s Yosemite, and Sirdar Leaf Yoke Top. Yes, I’m so sick of all them and can’t wait to start a brand new project. I find myself dreading the seaming and finishing. But, I must. Or I’ll have nothing to show for all those hours at night, hunched over the chair trying to knit just one more row.
10. Bought Classic Elite Johns Bay from a Raveler thinking I got a really good deal until I realized I bought the wrong book. The patterns I liked were in Classic Elite New Harbor. D’oh! So much for that.
11. Frogged the entire back portion of the sweater coat I was making my mom. That’s the second time I did that. Countless hours of boring stockinette for nothing! The reason: I was sure to run out of yarn. Not realizing it until I had finished the back, which was insanely long, by the way, I ripped that baby back in anger. How can this be possible? I ALWAYS buy too much. But alas, 2 pounds of alpaca still wasn’t going to be enough. Sheesh. What do I do now? It’s like that particular yarn is cursed, so I’m not gonna touch it til next year. So there!

I thought I’d post an idea for anyone who wants to try dyeing yarn at home using ingredients readily found in your kitchen.
It’s more of a staining method rather than an actual dye but it works all the same
Check it out!

You only need some simple ingredients and 1 hour of your time:

Ingredients:
Yarn in hanks (preferrably animal-based. Mine were 100% superwash merino)
Distilled vinegar or alum (it’s a pickling powder found in your grocery spice aisle)
Main ingredient listed on each ball (see below)
Coffee Filter
Shampoo or dishwashing liquid

How-to:
1) Prep yarn by soaking it in a water-vinegar solution for 30 minutes to an hour
2) While the yarn is soaking, put main ingredient in a blender or food processor and liquify
3) Pour blended liquid into a small pot and add water (just enough to cover the yarn)
4) Boil for 30-40 minutes until the color of the water becomes dark and the solids sink to the bottom. Let it cool
5) Drain the whole thing through a coffee filter.
6) Place yarn in the colored water and heat the pot at the lowest setting possible. Stir occasionally but very gently (so it won’t felt)
7) After a good 30-40 minutes, turn off heat and let it cool
8)Drain, rinse and wash it in a gentle shampoo/dish detergent solution
9) Rinse again until water is completely clear
10) Roll it in a towel as to remove all traces of moisture and hang to dry.

Ta-dah!

EDIT ok, the tomato leaves are from my backyard and the cactus pears & kimchi are a little out there but still totally non-toxic!

Cotton yarn: I’ve never been a big fan of it because it’s hard on my hands yet here I am currently knitting 3 garments out of cotton yarn. The sunshine and warm weather somehow makes me forget how much I disliked them the first time around. That, and the fact that I can’t imagine trying to carry around a sheepload of a half-done project in the sweltering heat of summer. (Hey, let’s face it. I’m never gonna finish a project in record time so summertime seems about right)

My current yarns-in-use include:

Cascade Pima Melange: Hate it. Splits like nobody’s business and feels like twine. No wonder it’s discontinued

Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine: Soft and lovely (only applies to Ivory-Beige-Natural colors because the thing bleeds like a mofo)

Katia Bamboo – A wee bit splitty but quite nice. The 60% bamboo content offsets hardness of cotton

And then there are the swatch samples I made so far with some other cotton yarns:

Rowan Cotton Glace

Rowan 4-Ply Cotton

Queensland Collection Cotolino

Reynolds Garden Tweed

and a few others that I’ve forgotten.

I’m still having issues with keeping an even tension, especially in stockinette. But then again, I’m not a machine. If I wanted smooth all stockinette stitch garment, I’ll just pay $20 at The Gap.

I think my first yarn purchase ever was a cone yarn. What’s a cone yarn, you ask? It’s just yarn wound on a cone instead of a ball or skein. This might seem like a weird thing to buy for a newbie knitter but my reasoning was quite simple: I didn’t know how to join yarn once one skein ran out. I learned how to knit on my own without the helpful videos that are available today on YouTube and Knittinhelp.com and no book would tell me how I was to go about joining yarn. So what did I do? Buy enough yarn so I didn’t need to join ends. Ha! Plus, I didn’t really know how to weave in ends so this worked out quite well. (considering I was just making scarves and more scarves….did I mention I only knit stockinette stitch scarves for the first 3-4 years of my knitting life? Increases, decreases, yarn overs, short rows, cables, these are fairly new to me!)

Well, as you might have guessed, cone yarns also come in HUGE quantities and are usually laceweight so I was never able to use up these cones (it doesn’t help that I bought like 15 cones…all weighing 2-3 pounds each) And the fact that I only had three needles didn’t really help the situation either. I tried knitting scarves using 3-4 strands held together. It worked out well for the most part but really, you get sick of doing this quite quickly and once you make a mistake, ripping it back is a bitch to deal with. On more than one occasion, I was left with a giant tangled mess and I got so fed up that I chucked the whole thing in the trash. Yes, I threw away yarn. (GASP!)

Fast forward 10 years and here I am stockpiled to the brim with every kind of yarn imaginable and with every size needle (size 0 – 18, straights, circulars, interchangeables, metal, bamboo, etc) and 50+ pattern books, I feel safe to go back to cone yarns once more. I still hate joining yarn, I still hate weaving in ends so it’s quite natural that I would want to work with yarns on cones.

So I bought some off Ebay and have been experimenting with different number of strands and various needle sizes to try to find the “perfect” gauge. (oh, did I mention cone yarns are dirt cheap compared to commercially available skeins? 2.3 pounds of soft 100% merino for a mere $20, that’s with shipping included. Yeah, cheap)

Well, I had the brilliant idea of trying to mix sock yarn with this cone yarn because I can achieve similar gauge and I think variegated sock yarns look totally hideous knit up as socks. (yeah, that’s right. F-U-G) Used as a trim on a pullover or a cardigan might actually look better so I’m trying to come up with my own design for a top down yoke sweater with the yoke knit out of variegated sock yarn and the body in a solid color, knit with the cone yarn. Wish me luck on this, cuz this is going to take me a good year (try knitting a sweater out of size 1 needles. sheesh!)

Many knitters are willing to pay a premium for beautiful colorways handdyed by indie dyers or native artisans in foreign lands. Normally these are sock yarn and they usually go for a cool $20/skein or sometimes much more (check out Wollmeise or Sundara). I am not one of those people. There’s so much great yarns I can buy for that kind of money and honestly, if I really wanted to, I can dye the colors myself so for a hank of blanks that probably cost something like $3, this price seems absurd to me. And these handdyed yarns look great in the skein, but once knitted into an actual garment, they don’t look all that great. The end result kind of screams “weird-hippy-granola-loving-homemade” look that I certainly don’t want to pay a lot of money for. Even the self-striping/variegated colors don’t look all that great. (you like that Missoni look? I always thought it looked a bit too Cosby Sweater-eque)

So, I’m all about textures and wearability. If it sheds like mad or pills like no tomorrow, most likely I won’t buy it. (Malabrigo was just an experimental purchase. I wanted to see what the big fuss was all about and to see how bad the pilling would be. Plus at 50% off, I didn’t spend that much anyway.) You can call me a yarn snob, but for a next to skin garment, I can’t stand anything less than extra fine merino. That’s a recent discovery since it was all cashmere or nothing before. Angora, prickly. Alpaca. Prickly. And those people who proclaim Cascade 220 as soft….are you insane? Those things are like brillo pads. Have they been knitting with sandpaper before or something?

But many will say that if it’s soft, it probably won’t be very durable. True. But I would rather make something soft and wearable and have it last me 5 years than try to make some item that feels like a thornbush just to have it last a lifetime. (I’m looking at you Lopi!) I’m sure if I don’t wear it because it’s itchy, they’ll all last a life time and then some.

It’s a difficult line I walk when trying to buy yarn: soft, cheap (heavily discounted), and preferrably machine washable. Not a whole lot out there but as you already know my stash is bigger than most people, so there must be a lot out there.

Since my last moratorium (see previous post) on not buying anything online, I’ve been good for the most part and I was able to withhold my urge to click-click-click-purchase. It lasted a good two months and I’m rather proud of it.

Now the weather has started to resemble spring (sunny but still freezing cold out) and I feel it is safe to venture into the online shopping world again (uh-oh). What I learned from my shopping-diet was that I didn’t need to buy every damn sale yarn. That’s a good thing. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t buy anything.

Yarns Purchased: Plymouth Royal Merino and Rowan Baby Alpaca DK (Little Knits 70% off sale), Karabella Aurora 8 and Louet Gems Sapphire (Your Stash or Mine auction and sale on Ebay), and Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky (on sale at Cucumberpatch UK on Ebay).

Yep, I’ve been busy. I didn’t mention the Spring/Summer yarn sample pack from Elann that I ordered yesterday because it wasn’t really a purchase. What, you say? Well, I had used my $50 credit voucher (that’s for having spent $500 at Elann. This is my second? third time I’ve gotten this so you can imagine how much I already spent on that site) and the Sample Packs come with it’s own credit vouchers so technically, it’s free yarn. With free money. So it’s really not a purchase (how’s THAT for justification?)

On to pattern booklets. Now, I have to confess that I’ve made a total of 1 item from the patterns I actually purchased. This includes all booklets, books, magazines, leaflets, and individual patterns. And I have a ton of them. It’s a shame really because I spent so much money on them and I have almost nothing to show for it. I keep finding great free patterns online or from books I borrowed from the local library. And I figure if I ever run out, I can always go back to my stash of patterns. What I’m afraid is going to happen is that by the time I actually knit some of them, the design will be obsolete and totally outdated-looking. Better get cracking.

Where was I? Oh, yes pattern purchases. Ever heard of Phildar? It’s a French company that sells yarn, patterns, and has actual retail shops that sell the very clothing in the pattern books. Kind of like the GAP or J.Crew that also sells the patterns and yarns along with the clothes. So if I decided I don’t have the time to knit something but I like the design, I can just pop into the store and buy the damn sweater. Wouldn’t that be fabulous? The French are so clever. Anyway, Phildar’s American distribution ended several years ago, which is why you no longer see them sold in yarn shops. One might be able to buy some from Canada, but they’re pricey (think Rowan prices). Well, the designs are totally fabulous and well fitting (none of that ugly-boxy-LOOK-I-made-it-myself!-granny-sweater look. I’m looking at you Knitter’s magazine!) and the back issues just happened to be on sale. So after playing around with the shopping cart and discovering that the Phildar site calculated shipping cost based on purchase price and not weight, I proceeded to purchase 5 booklets. Mind you, these are all in French and despite my having taken 7 years of French in school, I barely knew any knitting terms (tricoter=to knit. That’s all I knew. Seriously) I was so desperate to have the patterns that I was willing to sit down and do some heavy duty translations with my collegiate French-English dictionary. After one page, my head was hurting and I didn’t want to do it anymore. So I went back to the Phildar site and just ordered the English version. Sadly, there are only 9 English versions vs 56 French ones. But at least a few were available in English. Maybe after reading through some of them and comparing similar words, I’ll get the hang of it. And the funny thing is I paid 4.5 Euros (that’s like $6) for postage and the package arrived with a 14 euro stamp. I paid less than that for the whole package including postage. Phildar’s losing money by selling me these pattern books. I hope they realize their mistake and change their system because the second order I made arrived with a 29 euro stamp and I only paid 5.5 euros. Someone’s getting jacked here and it’s not me. (Shrug)

As a knitter, one of the most annoying things when knitting is to have delicate yarn snag on one’s rough fingers. Sure, a good scrub will exfoliate all that roughness off or you can always opt to rub some hand cream on.

I, on the other hand, am a nail biter. Actually, I’m a finger biter. It’s a dirty, disgusting habit I’ve had for over 25 years. Now, you’re wondering, “what the hell is finger biting” ? Well, it began as nailbiting, which you may know as the constant gnawing, chewing, and ripping off nails and spitting it out left and right like chewing tobacco. Most nailbiters never need nail clippers because their nails are gnawed down to the quick, occasionally drawing blood. Yes, it’s gross and I’ll admit to doing quite often, especially when nervous. (You had to see my bloody mutilated fingers after taking the SAT exam. Talk about a horror show) Then, one day, I decided I wanted to stop this. I wanted to wear nail polish like other people and I wanted to open soda cans without having to ask for help (this may be one reason why I don’t drink soda) So, the nails are finally intact and I actually have normal looking nails now. EXCEPT…like an addict who shifts from one addiction to another, I now have gone to gnawing on the skin surrounding the nail. The sides of the nail, the tip of the finger and at its worst, the folds of the fingers. This makes for some really rough fingers and a heck of a time trying to knit without having yarn stick all over my fingers. (to understand what kind of state my fingers are in, get this: I was rejected for fingerprinting at the civil hall for IDs three times because I didn’t have fingerprints in 6 of my 10 fingers. I was told to come back when the skin grew back and had fingerprints.) I will spare you a photograph of my fingers because it’s quite gross. (if you peel away three layers of skin on your finger, that’s what it looks like – think, a skinned rabbit)

Now, I’m writing about this because I’m trying to stop and make my fingers normal again. I don’t know why I do it and it’s gotten so bad that I can’t bend some of my fingers. (it hurts too much) Can you believe I was squeezing lime juice the other day with my bare hands? It hurt more than going into labor. The ends of my hair were standing stick straight.

I just can’t seem to stop picking at the hanging pieces of skin. Like an annoying hangnail that you yank and instantly regret doing it, I go on day after day picking at the skin, drawing blood, and yelling at myself for being so gross. Argh!

So here I go again with another resolution:
NO BITING FINGERS! Every time I find myself doing it, I’m giving away a skein of yarn. And if I succeed in getting my fingers to look normal, I’m treating myself to some online yarn buying. (That oughta do the trick!)