Really boring post about yarn
Posted under Crochet
Admit it, the title really drew you in didn’t it? Yes, this is a Really Boring Post About Yarn. I’m going with ‘yarn’ not ‘wool’ since ‘wool’, the generic British term for stuff that is used for knitting/crocheting caused confusion on a previous post. In the US it is called yarn, which is all things knitty/hooky. In the UK it is called wool, which means wool, cotton, mohair etc etc. It’s confusing. Let’s just go with yarn.
This is a post for me to remind me which yarn I’ve used for which pieces and whether I liked them. At some point I plan on a journal, of the old fashioned kind, with a swatch of each of the colours used, number of balls used, total cost (written in invisible ink so MrSpud can’t see), time taken etc etc. But for now I’m recording my entirely tedious love affair with yarn here. Sorry about that.
First up, above, the Giant Granny. I made this as a break from the Giant Granny Bertie Blanket, and to use up various bits of yarn knocking about. This was my first foray in to working with cotton. I love how it feels once it’s been worked, but I didn’t much enjoy working with some of it. It’s a mix of Rowan handknit cotton and Debbie Bliss cotton dk. The Debbie Bliss wins by miles in terms of how it feels to work with, but the Rowan colours are better. And Rowan is a bit cheaper. Also, I learnt that if you don’t like a colour…no amount of fiddling with it and ‘just using it up’ will ever change that. Worked with a size 4 hook.
Mmmm, the Big Daddy of Spud’s crochet….the massive blanket for Bertie made of granny squares. This feels like it’s a life’s work, although I actually only started it in late February. I had a couple of false starts; first I did the squares in 4 different colours before deciding I like them with a white border. Then I realised I was making them all wrong. I’ve wasted a lot of wool making this. A pity as it’s pricey and I’ve used so much of it. The method I’m using to join it is lovely, and easy (found on Carina’s Craft Blog). But it’s a yarn guzzler. And I’ve still got to put the last row on it and then granny around the whole thing a few times. I am so happy I’ve not attempted to calculate the cost of this baby. It’s very, very expensive. I just hope it turns out to be the ‘heirloom piece’ I planned it to be.
I didn’t plan this at all. I just bought a few balls of Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran and merino aran (now discontinued) at the local yarn shop. I picked it for colour, without thinking about how chunky the yarn is or the cost, or what other colours I might want to use. So it’s a pretty ‘organic’ piece (ie randomly made up as I went along). The colours are quite muted, but the yarn is gorgeous. Well the cashmerino is, the bit of merino in it is on the scratchy side. Bit of a lesson in pre-planning and, when tackling a new craft, don’t go for a super pricey raw material. Oh well. I’m really loving how this is turning out though. Worked with a size 5 hook, using the Summer Garden Granny Square pattern by Attic24.
Very boring picture. Baby blanket in cream, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Work in progress, gorgeous yarn…so soft with a slight twist to it, worked with a 3.5 hook. I think my favourite yarn thus far. I don’t espeically love the end result of working in one colour but it’s a fast, easy pattern to work and very soothing. Pattern is from the book ‘Crochet Unravelled’.
I’m yet to take a good photo of this blanket and yarn. It’s a 50:50 mix of silk and merino by Mirasol, a range called Tupla. It’s so beautifully soft and shiny, and silky of course. I just picked all the colours in the range that I liked and made a stripey ripple. With hindsight I might have picked the colours and mixed them a bit more carefully. I’ve used the turquoise to make a Queen Anne lace scarf too. Interestingly, (well not really) I ended up having to mix two dye batches for the scarf. The colour is a good match, but the texture isn’t! Half of the scarf is silky smooth, the other has a tangible ‘roughness’ to it. Worked with a size 4 hook. The pattern is the Neat Ripple from Attic24, well not so neat in my case. i just couldn’t seem to get the first row ‘right’ and thought I’d fudge it. Urgh, the whole thing is a pickle although it looks ok. I’m planning a Baby Ripple in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for a friend and am determine to make a Right Ripple, not a Wrong Ripple.
Finally, the ill-advised hexagon project. I just really wanted to learn how to crochet hexagons and used the Attic24 pattern. I’m really not that struck with them to be honest, bit of a faff to make and not helped by using some experimental yarn and Diggy making off with the orange ball. I’m trying to find the ‘perfect’ shade of greens, yellows, turquoises for a Big Daddy Granny Blanket for Diggy’s room but I am struggling. These are a few balls Debbie Bliss EcoAran, plus a couple of Rowan Cotton. I like how it turns out but it’s a pain to work with, lots of strands which keep unravelling. Urgh. I will be happy to see the back of this project. I also threw in a ball of Rowan Lenpur linen which is a gorgeous turquoise, but is utterly vile to work with – like a brillo pad. Worked with a size 4 hook.
Thus ends my Really Boring Post About Yarn. I ‘would’ show you my stash since, ahem, there’s quite a lot left over a quite a bit waiting for new projects. But then MrSpud would bust me. So it will be Our Little Secret? Ssssshhhh….don’t tell….
you know what I did get sucked in by the title… and i love the pictures and as much as I love to read you’re posts I only read the beginning and then fell asleep!!! LOL… just kidding… when are you going to send me a totally awesome blanket for me to wrap myself up in in my old age!!! it’s not far off…. sniff sniff.
oooh, yarn porn. yummy. have you tried any mercerized egyptian cotton? it’s got that silky quality of the ones in your last pic – i’m knitting (very slowly) a stripey scarf for sabin in it. it was a bit splitty at first, but i got used to it and really like it.
somehow, in my head, it seems like granny blankets have to be wool. maybe because the one my grandma made me is.
and didn’t you mention bamboo the other day? that’s deliciously softy.
and what does “aran” really mean? i thought it was those rather norwegian-looking sweaters. :-)
Photos are nice, colours are nice but I didn’t have the energy to read it. X
i love posts and even more photographs of yarns, colours and stiches. more!!!!
But they are all such pretty colours (love the orange – haven’t seen that shade before)
I am so tempted by a ripple but probably need to sort out my yarn stash first… actually this afternoon I will do that and than I can create !
[...] There have been a few other little projects on the go, but the main one has been a baby ripple blanket for a friend’s newborn. I loved making this, so nice to finally do a ‘right’ ripple after my first attempt (the ‘wrong’ ripple). [...]