Recent Acquisitions

Soooo....I said my biggest goal this year is to knit entirely from stash. No buying. No spending. No fun.

Well, I already failed. Honestly, now that I think about it, I don't know what came over me. Inspiration struck, I suppose. I bought 6 enormous skeins of Cascade Ecological Wool in the Natural (un-dyed) colorway.

8.8 oz. of Yummy Yarn

I had a moment of weakness. I've been having car trouble which is stressing me out, it's a certain time of the month, which may or may not have an effect on my will to resist things I don't need (yarn, mocha lattes, Pokémon cards), and is stressing me out, and I had an important certification test for my job last Friday (which may or may not be the day that I purchased said yarn), which was stressing me out.

The solution? Buy yarn and drink lots of delicious coffee. Good news: I passed my test, my car will be fixed today and I really really love the yarn so far.

Umaro - Photo © Jared Flood/Brooklyn Tweed

My plan is to knit the Umaro blanket.  I've had this baby in my queue since I started knitting back in 2011. Now that I am planning to move out, I think this throw will be great to have for decorative and functional purposes.

I hesitated to buy this yarn because I read mixed reviews on Ravelry. I have quite sensitive skin around my chest and neck so that is the first thing I look for when buying a new yarn. I typically stick with soft merino yarns. Being that this yarn is 100% Peruvian Highland Wool, I had my concerns. Many reviews gushed about how soft it was, some noted an itchiness, and there was a disagreement about the weight of the yarn. Bulky? Aran? Who knows.

I speculated about the possible itchiness. I would really hate to spend the money, knit the blanket and never use it because it's itchy. But the reasonable price, and my need to buy yarn, was too great to resist.

I received the yarn from Eat.Sleep.Knit. on Monday (free 2 day shipping!) along with my prizes for the first 2 Yarnathon Candylands, and 2 yarn lotto tickets (won 50 yards). Just what I needed. And oh my gosh, the box was so heavy. My dad was lifting it up trying to guess what was inside. I told him it was a blanket with some assembly required. Ha.

The yarn is gorgeous. It has been minimally processed which gives it a more distinct sheep-y smell than most yarns I've used. Being un-dyed, it also doesn't have any sort of nasty vinegar smell like most Malabrigo yarns have. I can't say I enjoy the sheep smell, but I don't hate it.

The feel of the yarn is amazingly soft on my arms and hands. Pressing it to my neck, it feels slightly itchy but no more than a sweater I made from Malabrigo Sock. This makes me so happy! I was very very nervous about the yarn being too itchy. I had a blanket crocheted by my Aunt when I was younger and it was the nastiest, most stiff and itchy blanket I've ever used. That was my worst fear. As much as I love Ravelry and the plethora of information it provides, I just cannot take another person's opinion on how itchy yarn is. Everyone is different.

But I am totally satisfied with my purchase and after knitting the blanket, I may consider purchasing more for future projects. The yarn comes in such comically large skeins, I love it! And it's pretty cheap compared to other yarn I've purchased.

Candy Colorways from Squoosh Fiberarts

One problem, though. I failed to take note of the required needle size for the project. Looks like I'll be making another purchase soon! I don't have a spare circular size US 15 needle. I think the largest my interchangeable sets come with are 10 or 10.5. I will buy the needles next month. Probably HiyaHiya or Chiagoo metal fixed circulars. And....well, another skein of yarn could just fall into my basket as well. I'm thinking this lovely set of Squoosh Fiberarts Beefcake Minis in the exclusive candy colorways for the Yarnathon.

Stay tuned.