In an effort to keep up and kick start my blogging with some more readers I am participating in the
second Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. Each day there will be a different subject that knitting and crochet bloggers will be typing about.
The first subject being a "Tale of Two Yarns."
Yarn is one of my favorite things...well...in the world. I love yarn store. I love the variety of fibers that I get to experiment with while doing needle work. I was talking with a student about fibers and we agreed that we all start out with very commercial, often times acrylic, yarn. Then, the artist grows, as well as their skill, and all of a sudden you want to good stuff. What exactly is that? It depends. I find that I am either looking for yarn and then finding something to do with it OR finding a project and then looking for yarn. But with the queue that I have on
Ravelry, I often have an idea of yardage floating around my head so generally for me...yarn first.
One such instance is Cascade Eco Duo+. If you love neutrals at all, you simply have to touch it. Then, once you have touched it, you buy it. It wasn't one of those instances that I would buy yarn just because I love it then stash it. This yarn I used immediately. I made a hat out of it and tried my hand at my first cables. The hat is so incredibly soft. I often tell people to touch it because it feels like a kitten. For the sake of being critical and subjective- I will say that while I love the yarn for the hat that I made, it is not an everyday yarn. This is the kind of yarn that you would use for a specific project. A sweater would be wonderful, but it would pill a lot. A cowl would be soft and glorious. But because of the fuzz, I don't recommend it for long term wear and tear.
The next yarn that I am going to highlight is
Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK. Frankly, I love a lot of their yarns. I chose this one in particular because I prefer to work in DK vs. fingering. The other reason I chose Tosh Merino DK vs. Tosh DK is because what I am learning about myself is that I love single ply yarn. I find that I am drawn to that over a plied yarn. I have plenty of plied yarn, but majority is single ply. While I am not generally a fan of superwash yarn, this is indeed superwash merino. I think that lends itself well to making it an absolute favorite, versatile, everyday yarn. The first project was a hat. The next project with it will likely be a shawl.
You may notice a trend hat, hats, hats. I find that hats are a good way to test out a new yarn. And then you can build up a supply of last minute gifts while you are at it.
