No posts as yet, but dowdy Blogger is annoying me, so in future, check out my blogging at
http://thelumpysweater.wordpress.com/
I love the new name.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Broke Knitter Dilemma
I shouldn't start whining about how broke I am, especially since I know there are people who can't even afford a $3 skein of acrylic, but I'm going to whine anyway, because I am evil. Ha. Anyway, so I wasted my inheritance and now I have 420 yards of worsted weight yarn that I don't know what to make with. (This is naturally undyed merino from Marr Haven, btw)
I don't want to make a boring hat with it. I don't want to knit a scarf with it. Or handwarmers or mittens. What I really want to do is knit a sweater with it, some simple mindless stockinette, OR, some intricate cabled affair. Here's the problem, I'm not a midget, and 420 yards, less a few swatches, isn't going to make a sweater. I am also broke, so unless I wait and save, 4-5 more skeins of yarn isn't going to arrive on my doorstep.
So, I am pleading you, my readership, to give me ideas and suggestions. Anything!
I don't want to make a boring hat with it. I don't want to knit a scarf with it. Or handwarmers or mittens. What I really want to do is knit a sweater with it, some simple mindless stockinette, OR, some intricate cabled affair. Here's the problem, I'm not a midget, and 420 yards, less a few swatches, isn't going to make a sweater. I am also broke, so unless I wait and save, 4-5 more skeins of yarn isn't going to arrive on my doorstep.
So, I am pleading you, my readership, to give me ideas and suggestions. Anything!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Wool Hypocrites: The Great Acrylic Debate
Why not acrylic?
Wool bad for babies?
Why do people insist they are allergic when...
If you're on Ravelry, you probably recognize at least one of these phrases---thread titles for Yet Another Acrylic Debate. Some begin as simple questions, such as someone who wanted to know if they could knit with wool for babies. All quickly descend into a maelstrom of "wool this, acrylic that"; those who are allergic to wool sing the praises of soy or corn fibers. Woolaholics nearly collapse the server with their lengthy posts extolling that wool is fabulous and perfect and cheap and the perfect fibre for everything, including lingerie. A few timid people suggest that a nice washable acrylic might be nice for a mother of triplets. And ALL have hundreds and hundreds of posts.
Before I start calling names, let me state that I love wool. I buy wool and natural fibers 99.9& of the time. I don't know when I last bought acrylic yarn, which I must admit, I avoid chiefly because the melting factor scares the carp out of me. Anyway, so, just so you know that this post is aimed as much at me as anyone else.
Many of the arguments used by wool lovers against the Red Heart squad usually consist something like this:
1. Wool is breathable, acrylic is not
2. Wool self-extinguishes, acrylic doesn't and it melts and sticks to your skin (this is BAD, for the less bright)
3. They used acrylic once, and their favorite cat died
4. Wool is natural and acrylic is a petroleum product of some kind, don't quote me on what goes into the stuff.
5. People have used wool for thousands of years because of all its awesome qualities and they're carrying on the knitting/crocheting tradition by using only wool.
It's the last point that has bothered me, simply because of this: knitters of the past used wool because that is what they had to knit with. Got that? They had needles, and they had wool, and there was no LYS nearby with Debbie Bliss Cashmere, and no Walmart with the yet-to-be-invented Red Heart. Ergo; knitters have traditionally used wool because wool is all that they had to work with! Wool was the cheapest and best quality material that they could work with. It also washes nicely, yadda, yadda, yadda. They knit practical items for their families and they knit fancy Aran sweaters for the gullible tourists.
When acrylic became available, it had three immeadite advantages to wool. One, it is much easier to wash. Yes, I know there are superwash wools. However, most wool cannot be tossed into any washer AND dryer without worrying over the settings. Two, those who are allergic to wool can normally wear acrylic, AND there are some very soft synthetic yarns while much wool of the past was quite rough.
At this point, wool advocates will say that those who use acrylic are breaking with the past and THEY are carrying on traditional knitting. I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. The knitter who is spending over $100 on Malabrigo for a sweater is much farther from tradition than the knitter who spends $20 for a sweater from washable acrylic or synthetic. Malabrigo isn't practical. Malabrigo is a soft merino that will pill much faster than many other yarns, and it is expensive, and I don't really hear about knitters just happily throwing their Malabrigo darling into the washer. The acrylic knitter is choosing the most economical and practical bang for her buck, and that is really the tradition of knitting. Not hand-dyed short staple merino yarns, not a $30 skein of indie sock yarn, but using the most practical option available to them.
In a word, knitters who use acrylic are probably much closer to the heart and mindset of the 'traditional' knitter than many people (like myself) who prefer to use wool and other natural fibers. I may not use acrylic, but I don't want to be a wool hypocrite, and I wanted to send a shout-out to those who heart Redheart.
Wool bad for babies?
Why do people insist they are allergic when...
If you're on Ravelry, you probably recognize at least one of these phrases---thread titles for Yet Another Acrylic Debate. Some begin as simple questions, such as someone who wanted to know if they could knit with wool for babies. All quickly descend into a maelstrom of "wool this, acrylic that"; those who are allergic to wool sing the praises of soy or corn fibers. Woolaholics nearly collapse the server with their lengthy posts extolling that wool is fabulous and perfect and cheap and the perfect fibre for everything, including lingerie. A few timid people suggest that a nice washable acrylic might be nice for a mother of triplets. And ALL have hundreds and hundreds of posts.
Before I start calling names, let me state that I love wool. I buy wool and natural fibers 99.9& of the time. I don't know when I last bought acrylic yarn, which I must admit, I avoid chiefly because the melting factor scares the carp out of me. Anyway, so, just so you know that this post is aimed as much at me as anyone else.
Many of the arguments used by wool lovers against the Red Heart squad usually consist something like this:
1. Wool is breathable, acrylic is not
2. Wool self-extinguishes, acrylic doesn't and it melts and sticks to your skin (this is BAD, for the less bright)
3. They used acrylic once, and their favorite cat died
4. Wool is natural and acrylic is a petroleum product of some kind, don't quote me on what goes into the stuff.
5. People have used wool for thousands of years because of all its awesome qualities and they're carrying on the knitting/crocheting tradition by using only wool.
It's the last point that has bothered me, simply because of this: knitters of the past used wool because that is what they had to knit with. Got that? They had needles, and they had wool, and there was no LYS nearby with Debbie Bliss Cashmere, and no Walmart with the yet-to-be-invented Red Heart. Ergo; knitters have traditionally used wool because wool is all that they had to work with! Wool was the cheapest and best quality material that they could work with. It also washes nicely, yadda, yadda, yadda. They knit practical items for their families and they knit fancy Aran sweaters for the gullible tourists.
When acrylic became available, it had three immeadite advantages to wool. One, it is much easier to wash. Yes, I know there are superwash wools. However, most wool cannot be tossed into any washer AND dryer without worrying over the settings. Two, those who are allergic to wool can normally wear acrylic, AND there are some very soft synthetic yarns while much wool of the past was quite rough.
At this point, wool advocates will say that those who use acrylic are breaking with the past and THEY are carrying on traditional knitting. I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. The knitter who is spending over $100 on Malabrigo for a sweater is much farther from tradition than the knitter who spends $20 for a sweater from washable acrylic or synthetic. Malabrigo isn't practical. Malabrigo is a soft merino that will pill much faster than many other yarns, and it is expensive, and I don't really hear about knitters just happily throwing their Malabrigo darling into the washer. The acrylic knitter is choosing the most economical and practical bang for her buck, and that is really the tradition of knitting. Not hand-dyed short staple merino yarns, not a $30 skein of indie sock yarn, but using the most practical option available to them.
In a word, knitters who use acrylic are probably much closer to the heart and mindset of the 'traditional' knitter than many people (like myself) who prefer to use wool and other natural fibers. I may not use acrylic, but I don't want to be a wool hypocrite, and I wanted to send a shout-out to those who heart Redheart.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Working with Marr Haven
Marr Haven merino is easily the most unusual wool that I have ever worked with.
Now, don't take that as a negative statement---by unusual, I mean just that. Most yarn that I work with, is very processed. Even Cascade Ecological wool is a very clean, commercial feeling yarn with just a crisp woolly scent that I enjoy. Marr Haven merino isn't scoured clean of dirt and lanolin like most wool is---it's put through a more gentle cleaning process that leaves in lanolin and some bits of veg. I was interested in getting my hands on some more Mother-Earth type wool, so I ordered two skeins in natural, undyed white.
When I pulled out the yarn skein, I was surprised at how much there is. 210 yards doesn't sound like *that* much, but it is. Anyway, so I stuck my nose into the wool and inhaled. Whufff---I pulled back, a bit surprised. I don't know how to describe the smell of lanolin. It's very faintly greasy, but with a different twist. The yarn has an interesting feel---very bouncy, and soft. You can feel the lanolin when you touch it, and especially when you work with it. There are little tiny bits of vegetation stuck in the yarn, too, which I didn't bother to pull out because I think it looks kind of nice---like I said before, Mother-Earth yarn.
I washed my swatch, and the water clouded immeaditely, but a few rinses seemed to get it clear. The color of the yarn lightened to a much lighter white color---an unwashed swatch looked rather greyish next to it. It made it softer, too. I tried what the Vogue Cable book called a "Drunken Cable" and I thought it looked a little flat.
I'm toying with the idea of a Zimmermann percentage sweater, maybe the Aran sweater from the Almanac, with this yarn, but I'm not sure yet. I'd have to order more yarn and the book. The idea---of natural wool, natural knitting---is appealing, but I'm not sure how an aran would show up in this soft yarn. It certainly would make a comfortable sweater.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)