Swatchy

Anniversary!
Last week's post was the 200th post to the Swatchy Blog.

Gotta love a good value statement. Apologies for the tear. Does Sears even sell yarn under it's own brand anymore?


FWIW, this is the white in the PIS sweater.

Notes on yarn; all of the yarn used is vintage wool from E-bay. You know about the white now. The rest is Bear Brand, or Fleishers 95% virgin wool and 5% Shetland wool purchased in odd lots. I fusted before starting this piece because I had a total of four 2 ounce skeins of the darker blue. I didn't have a clue if it would be enough. The sleeves don't give a yardage. I have been very impressed with the yardage of the older wools. I really liked how the colors worked on, so I decided what the heck, I've made bigger messes before this. My plan was to evaluate my progress when the first skein of dark blue pooped out.

Well, I made it to the armhole steek on my first skein and I feel better now. Somewhere, I learned that 1/3 of the material went into the sleeves, and 1/3 each for the front and back was a reasonable estimate of usage. Understanding that the sleeves are the same amount of work as a front or back significantly reduced my "sleeve angst". Those things get big. But I digress. From my measurements, I should be able to finish the body with the second skein, or just a little from the third. That gives me just less than half of my available dark blue for the sleeves, which should be plenty. I wanted full length sleeves, and now I can have them. I may even have enough for dark blue I cord edging instead of the light blue. But I'll decide that later.

For what its worth, I love this stuff. It knits into a light fabric with a spongy springy feel. It makes great cables too. It feel more elastic than the "basic" yarns on the market today such as Lambs Pride or Cascade 220. I've not tried the Elann Highland Wool, so no comment there. I find that when knitting becomes "popular" a lot of effort goes into "novelty" type yarns, and it's actually harder to find the basic wool. This went on in the 80's when I first got "into" knitting and seems to be going on again now.

I bought quite a lot of "vintage" wool when it was available on e-bay a few years ago. When my entire guest room closet was full, I recognized that I had a real problem, and put a stop to that activity. Since I'm making an effort to use it now, I'm interested again. I've notice that it's just not as available, and what does come up goes for more than I'm willing to pay. This could be a good thing, preventing me from filling up the attic as well.

Oh well, the current project is rocking, and I'm happy.