When I and other members of Association of Knitwear Designers (AKD) are asked to knit swatches for TNNA’s Great Wall of Yarn (GWOY), we can make anything from plain to fancy — whatever our design creativity leads us to in showing off the yarn well.

Over the past few days, I posted about the swatches/mini-projects I made in the 4 yarns I was sent to work with. All you saw in those posts were the final ‘swatches’ I completed for display on the Wall. However, what I did not initially mention is that before I dove into the creative swatches, I did the zen-type of thing by knitting some plain stockinette stitch swatches just to get a feel for how the yarn handles while I let the yarn ‘speak to me’.

Just for fun, yesterday I turned those plain swatches into bunnies! Since I will not be able to go to TNNA this time, I’ve mailed the bunnies to my designer friend Jennifer Hagan (Figheadh Knits), who will be attending TNNA for the first time and offered to deliver these additional ‘swatches’ to the yarn company booths.

So if you will be at TNNA, be sure to stop in at the booths of these 4 yarn companies to pet the bunnies:  ShibuiKnits – booths 363/462 Colinton Australian Angoras – booth 2243 Kaalund Yarns (Jumbok) – booth 360 Jarbo Garn – booths 1026/1028

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Tropik by Jarbo Garn (distributed by Swedish Yarn Imports) is the last of the 4 yarns I was sent to swatch for TNNA’s Great Wall of Yarn. Here it is made up into a swatch of 2 multiples of the stitch pattern used in the Elegantly Simple Baby Blanket and Flowered-Crown Preemie Cap (from my 1989 Itty Bitty Circular Workshop).

Tropik is a brand new yarn for January 2008. I received the color white — not too exciting, but you can see from the samples I knitted that ‘baby’ came to mind.

The yarn came in a 50g/135 yd ball and is 50% bamboo, 25% combed cotton, 25% acrylic. Ball band needle size recommendation is 4mm (US 6) at 23 stitches and 30 rows over 10 cm (4 inches). However, I used 3.5mm (US 4) on this preemie cap to achieve that gauge after washing and drying. For the baby blanket swatch, I used 4.5mm (US 7) as I usually go up a few needle sizes for lacy items.

The warm white is soothing and the yarn is soft. The fabric is fluid and yiedling; definitely something that will feel good to wear and have next to even the most sensitive skin.

I feel that Tropik will be better used for special items that do not require intensive laundry care. However, with the ability to machine wash using moderate temperatures and tumble dry on low heat, items even for a special ‘going home’ baby hat and blanket such as these would be possible.

p.s. I’ve had some requests to republish the preemie caps that I designed in 1989 as part of my “Itty Bitty Circular Workshop”. I am putting reworking the models and instructions on my 2008 schedule of to-do’s, so stay tuned if you are interested. I chose preemie caps as the hands-on projects for that multi-part workshop because these small items are wonderful candidates for practicing and learning the techniques. And there are always babies in need if you don’t have one of your own. Visit in case of emergency.

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Out of the 4 yarns I was sent to swatch for TNNA’s Great Wall of Yarn, two are from Australia. I posted yesterday about the Australian kid mohair yarn yesterday. Here is the other one — Kaalund Yarns Classic Two 100% Australian wool in the color Wisteria. This is a relatively fine 2-ply yarn hand-dyed in closely-toned touches of blues, purples and greens.

This Classic Two yarn arrived already wound into an overly tight ball. The compactness might be planned this way so that the balls stay neat and tidy on store shelves rather than possibly falling apart, but I am concerned that the yarn might be unduly stretched out. So the first thing I did was to rewind into a soft, cushy ball to let the yarn ‘breathe’ and rest for several days to restore some of its natural elasticity.

Both the yarn grist and color name worked on my subconscious mind to ‘tell me’ that this yarn wanted to be knitted in my pattern #A26 Hanging Vines Lace Stole. Using US 6 / 4mm needles, I knitted a 10″ by 10″ swatch (after blocking) using the 45-stitch Narrow Neck Scarf version of the pattern instructions.

I liked the way this yarn felt in the knitting. There was no tendency to split, and the stitches flowed easily. I do want to mention that the ball band indicates a 2.25mm needles (i.e. US 1), but I was using a US 6 since I was making a lacy accessory fabric, not a sweater-type fabric which would require a firmer hand.

After hand washing my swatch and laying flat to dry under the tension for lace blocking, the yarn remained soft and retained good stitch definition. The resulting fabric has good drape and feels silky — not at all like wool!

The ball band of Kaalund Yarns Classic Two indicates a 50g/356m put-up, so that should be enough for a good-sized scarf, smoke ring, etc! I did like this yarn (after it was re-wound), and since I have a good amount of yarn left after my swatch, I will be thinking about what else to knit later with the remaining yarn.

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The second of the new yarns I was sent to swatch for TNNA’s Great Wall of Yarn is Colinton Australian Angoras 100% Kid Mohair in natural white. The yarn ‘told me’ it wanted to be worked in one of my favorite reversible eyelet patterns based on HeartStrings pattern #A7 Reversible Lace Cables Scarf. I knitted a 6″ by 8″ swatch using the minimum repeat of the main section of this scarf pattern for an overall cast on width of 28 sts rather than the 48 sts of the fully-sized scarf.

This 100% Kid Mohair yarn was a soft caress as it ran through my fingers for knitting. The yarn is not highly brushed like so many mohair yarns on the market, but finely worsted spun with low halo into a substantial 2-ply coming in at 133 yards per ounce — not exactly lace weight, but because of the density of mohair gives a grist that is definitely on the much finer side of fingering weight. It also has a slightly uneven look to the plies similar to having been handspun. Not drastic, but just enough to give added character over the more common mechanically produced non-100% kid mohair yarns that are spun around a binder thread. After hand washing and laying flat to dry under the moderate tension for lace blocking, the yarn remained soft and with only a slight halo to retain good stitch definition.

The softness is such that I could see this yarn being used in a next-to-the-skin garment — assuming someone would want to knit a sweater on small needles. Even at the light weight of this yarn, however, it would definitely be a warm garment (especially for my south Louisiana climate!) I did make a 6″ swatch of plain stockinette on size 2 needles for a gauge of 7 stitches per inch which has a nice hand and stable fabric for a garment. I’ll post an article about what this swatch becomes later, lol.

There was not much more in the ball than this to work up as I was supplied with just 100 yards (22g). I am not sure if this will be the standard put-up of this new yarn (the yarn was merely labeled with a general business card hang tag for Colinton Australian Angoras listing Julie Parnes in Salem, OR as the distributor for inquiries) with hand-written information about the yarn on the back.

Although this yarn is not nearly as fine and luminous as the lace mohair I viewed in Kaethe Kliot’s vintage collection of European knit laces, it brought to mind when I had the distinct fortune to view those finely spun luminous mohair yarns of that era. In fact, I have had for some time now the finest 100% Kid Mohair fiber in my stash that I plan to hand spin into a special project. For those that don’t spin, or even someone like myself for whom my spinning wheels have been very lonely, this Colinton Angoras yarn could meantime become one of my favorites.

p.s. Do not be confused by the name Angoras. The fiber for this yarn, which is mohair, comes from the Angora Goat, not rabbit.

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In the holiday spirit, I began with the bright red yarn in my sample box of yarns sent to me for TNNA’s Great Wall of Yarn (GWOY). Knitting samples of new yarns and colors to be released at the next TNNA Show is just one of the many benefits in which Association of Knitwear Designers (AKD) members, such as I, can participate.

This is ShibuiKnits Sock, 100% Superwash Merino, 50g/191 yds(175m), color #1797. The color is subtle variegations of warm red tones. At the ShibuiKnits website, the color is described as Chinese Red (S1797) – Medium true red. The yarn feels very soft yet has a sturdy, defined 2-ply twist. Here it is, knit into a sandal style adaptation of my HeartStrings pattern #A36 Heart Socks.

This Heart Sandal Socks adaptation is

• a shorter-legged sock with naturally scalloped cuff (this results from the bias structure of the lace heart pattern. I cast on 48 sts and started immediately with round 2 of Chart A in the original pattern instructions),
• lace heart pattern brought down into the heel (because this area will not be covered up when worn with sandals), and
• heart pattern ended sooner on the foot than the original (since the lower foot area is likely to be covered with a sandal strap).

I just used some of my old-time Boye aluminum size US 2 double point needles. Green, in this case, to carry out the holiday spirit, lol.

If you are making this adaptation, be sure to cast on very loosely so that the distance between stitches is adequate for the up-and-down shaping along the fancy edge. For tips, read my article Cast On for a Good Finish.

The original instructions were to decrease the gussets to a 54 stitch foot, and that is what I also used in this sandal sock version. The sock was originally designed this way because the lace heart pattern expands quite a bit compared to plain stockinette.

I am pleased with this Shibuiknits Sock yarn and how it worked up into this sandal sock. The feel of the yarn and stitch definition is very nice. When washing, there was no dye run-off either.

I happened to notice that one of our other AKD members, Dawn Brocco, had sampled for the same color in another of ShibuiKnits yarn – their 100% Shibuiknits Merino Kid. Stop by Dawn’s Life and Design Blog to see the cute mini red stocking cap she came up with.

Over the next few days I’ll post pictures and info on the other yarns and sample “swatches” I made. ‘Til then …

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