Malabrigo Merino

I’m in love with this yarn. I know, I’m a yarn bigamist at this point, but whatever. This yarn would felt great, too, although I havn’t tried that yet. My first knitting adventure with this yarn was knitting the Central Park Hoodie (in the Olive colorway), and it’s turning out beautifully. I guess I initially got a little worried seeing how small the skeins looked when I got them, but it DOES have great yardage (215 yds) and turns into a decent size ball once you wind it. I haven’t had any issues with this yarn as of yet; it doesn’t break, it doesn’t split – it’s just wonderful!

Rowan Tapestry

I’m completely in love. I’m working on Wicked with this yarn right now, in the Antique colorway – I LOVE it. Keep in mind this yarn is AWFUL to frog (I tried on my swatch), but I still love it. Self striping and all. It has a beautiful sheen, which I’m guessing is the soy in it - it’s a single ply wool/soy blend. I’m a fan!

Debbie Bliss Aplaca Silk DK

This is almost worsted yarn, or at least very close. A dream to touch, and knit. It’s a bit fuzzy, but I’ve forgiven it for that because it’s so lovely. I’m using US 7 needles with this yarn, and it’s turning out pretty good.

Tilli Tomas Aspen/Flurries

This is like knitting with butter – seriously! I could have mistaken the Aspen for cashmere – it’s THAT soft. Although, Flurries (beaded wool) is a little more coarse, it’s cosey, too. I’m knitting the Simple Knitted Bodice in Natural with this one…

Tilli Tomas Pure & Simple/Asteroid

I cuddled with this yarn…a lot. It drapes beautifully, too. I knitted both the Simple Knitted Bodice and the Sahara with this yarn (in Morroccan Blue and Gloxinia, respectively), although I’ll probably rip up the bodice (turned out too big, but then I wasn’t trying it on as I knitted – beginner’s optimistic mistake, lesson learned). You get great stitch definition with this yarn and the yardage is one of the most generous out there when it comes to silk yarns.

Now, I was trying to save a buck (or many, in this case), by substituting Asteroid  (also beaded) for Rock Star, but I’ve now learned my substitution (yarn) lesson, too. This yarn was so much thicker than the Pure & Simple, that it only worked to use it for the purl rows. Beautiful yarn, though. Next time I can afford it, I’ll use Disco Lights (because of the yardage) instead.

Now, the only problem for me will be blocking it, since I don’t want to ruin the yarn (and I’ve never blocked before), I’m extra apprehensive about it (or getting it right, rather).

Lana Grossa Royal Tweed

How awesome is this yarn! Super soft and easy to work with. Of course, I got a little worried when I saw how “squiggly” this yarn was, but it knits up beautifully with great stitch defenition. I knitted the Fitted Tunic with this yarn (in color 34, a mellow yellow), and it’s my favorite knit so far.

Casade Magnum

This has got to be the fluffiest and softest yarn I’ve touched in a gauge this big. And all the colors! Super easy to knit with, but WILL break if you tug too hard on it (I did this several times). I initially got this in the darker brown, to make the Better Sweater, and I got some more yellow later on to make a chunky winter sweater – lovely. The sweater didn’t turn out as shapely as I would have liked (fitting), but that obviously has to do with my knitting and not the yarn. This has not been blocked yet either, so I’ll be back updating my reviews as I block the finished knits.

Cascade 220 Quattro

I got 10 skeins of this yarn at Knit Happens for $1 a piece, in the color Fiji (red/pink/beige mix) - what a steal (that’s 2 sweaters right there)!

So far, I’m almost done knitting Stefanie Japel’s Boatneck Bluebell with this yarn, and it’s gone fast. I was initially afraid this yarn might split because of its constuction (several different colored plies together), but it didn’t. It’s not the softest wool, but I could easily wear it on my skin without problems. My only complaint is the pink in this yarn, but at $1/sk, who cares?!

This will also be the first sweater I’ll be blocking (ever) and I’ll be able to review the EZ sew blocking board, too, at that point.

Now, keep in mind that I’m a fairly new knitter (or rediscovered, if you will), so I’m still a bit cluesless about how things SHOULD be when it comes to yarn and fibers. Meaning that, if it’s easy and nice for me to deal with, it has to be almost fool proof for the majority of knitters out there.

More yarn!

I have gone completely insane and aquired an insane amount of yarn. Well, maybe not, but I suspect it IS an insane amount for the normal person – unless you’re a yarn addict like me, and a yarn store like Webs is completely yarn porn to you. I will be putting up reviews as I knit with them…

Cascade 220 Quattro (color: Fiji) 10 skeins ($1 per sk at my LYS)

Drops/Garnstudio Inka (color 4) 28 balls total (got an insane dicount from Knitty Noddy – I LOVE Evelyn!!!)

Drops/Garnstudio Ull Flame (color 16) 14 balls ($2/ball on sale!!)

Drops Muskat (color 24 – I think) 13 balls – lovely cotton!

Filatura Di Crosa Brilla (color 127 or 414, I can’t tell) 12 balls

Du Store Alpakka Faerytale (colors 712, 715, 717) 5 balls ea color – can we say “shawl”? This is SO soft!

Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK (colors 1 – 15 balls, 4 – 10 balls, 7 – 8 balls, 8 – 2 balls, 9 – 1 ball) about 36 balls total (mostly black and orange), which was 70% off at Knit Happens – I LOVE this store!!! (I could possibly live there) So soft!

Debbie Bliss Pure Silk – 10 skeins in turqoise (on sale at Little Knits)! Can we say “heaven”?

Araucania Pomaire (colors 2 – 5 skeins, 10 – 8 skeins, and 11 – 10 skeins) Also 70% off at Knit Happens! Great cotton, feels great to the hand.

Araucania Nature Wool (colors Yellow and Turqoise)

Araucania Magallanes (colors 305 & 307) Coarse wool – don’t quite know what to do with this yet.

Rowan Tapestry (colors Antique, Rainbow, and Rust) 10 balls ea. Very soft to the touch indeed.

Valley Yarns Berkshire: colors Coffee Bean, Dark Teal, Wine, Red Purple, Turqoise, and Navy. Soft to touch

Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in Peat mix, Cranberry mix, and Blueberry mix, 6 skeins ea. Very soft to touch

Berroco Peruvia in Aquamarine, 8 skeins. Soft to touch

Cascade Pima Tencel in 9516 (dark blue?) 13 balls (for the dress in Fitted Knits). Very soft!

Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in beige (03) 10 skeins

Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL in Midnight Blue (3), Garnet (6), Pine Green (12), and Purple (14), 10 balls ea. Soft to the touch.

Cascade 220 in Burgundy (2401) and Yellow (7627), for my HP scarf and Quiddich sweater.

Cascade 220 Tweed in Evergreen (7602) and Navy (7630), 6 skeins ea.

Cascade Eco Wool Plus in various colors 2 skeins ea. – for the short-sleeve cardigan in Fitted Knits.

 I’m sure there’s more (or maybe not?), but I’ll add it once I realize what it is. I may have to come up with a softness scale or something, to describe the yarns accurately…stay tuned…

Hee!

I couldn’t be more giddy right now…I just got a hold of some Drops Inka yarn, which is beeeeutiful! I’m planning on making a Fitted Tunic with what I have, but I might splurge on some more and try to make a long duster coat and a sweater for my mom. Yarn porn indeed….sigh.