Friday 6 January 2012

Candy Skein Yarns

I've been enjoying knitting lately. I've dived into stash with delight and glee and loved everything on the needles. One of the things making me very happy was this:

This lovely bit of business is Candy Skein's Yummy Worsted, a delightful 220 yards of Superwash Merino. The colourway is Blackberry and according to Tami, the lady behind the Candy enterprise, it's one of her most popular colourways. I can see why. Some of you might recognise Tami from her blogalongs- WIP Wednesdays and FO Fridays. I got chatting to Tami and was lucky enough to receive some review yarn.

The yarn is soft to the touch and has a really nice bounce that I wasn't expecting from superwash. It was more variegated than I'd imagined from the picture so I pondered the pattern choice for some time. Eventually I settled on Molly, a slouchy hat design by Erin Ruth. A third of the way into knitting I had a crisis- is this TOO variegated for cables? However, I was knitting with some friends over new year's and was met with oooo's and ahhh's and decided to keep going. 

Half way through the decreases, I realised I was going to run out of yarn. I was horrified and ripped back to start them 3 rows earlier. The yarn held up well. There was a little fuzzing but no more than I've come to expect from other yarns and with a little knitting, everything looked good to go again. 

I like the end result, especially the textured stitches in the body of the hat. I think if I was to do this again, I'd leave out the cable and have just the texture to really showcase the colourway. OR add 2 extra purls either side of the cable to really make it stand out. 

Either way I'm pretty pleased. And warm :)


17 comments:

Carmela Biscuit said...

Super cute hat, just love everything about it - form, yarn variegation, texture! And IMO the cable is just enough noticeable to finish the sophisticated look of the hat.

Sarah {The Student Knitter} said...

pretty! I'm a sucker for cables too. Did all that with less than 220 yards?! I'm in!

Anonymous said...

Oh your hat is gorgeous and the colors spectacular!

Sam Findlay said...

Gorgeous hat, I really love the yarn! I am dying to get my hands and needles on some of Tami's yarn!

Nicole said...

What's not to love about this project and yarn, it is beautiful and you did a fantastic job! :)

Isaida said...

Love the hat and the color! Awesome!

Estella said...

Fantastic hat - looks great!

Minding My Own Stitches said...

Great review. I tend to rip back a fair bit so it's nice to know the yarn will hold up for that. Your pattern choice looks perfect for the yarn and even wit h a few rounds less, it's very nicely slouchy!

Gracey is not my name.... said...

Love the hat! And I love that colorway, always have, but am trying not to buy any more yarn at the moment...but oh so tempting!

Unknown said...

Lovely! And I can see why that colorway is popular!

Tami Klockau said...

The hat turned out beautiful! Thank you so much for the awesome review of the yarn!!! I'm so happy you liked it!

Paula said...

Lovely! Blackberry is one of my favorite colorways, too. And it doesn't obscure your cables at all. Bonus!

Julie said...

that hat is So pretty!! I love the yarn, the colours are great.

MaryjoO said...

forgive me if the comment shows up 2x ... can't tell if my computer swallowed the comment I just wrote or ...
anyway! Great hat, and thanks for the review and the pattern suggestion. I don't have a ton of worsted and then when I reach in the stash I often wonder what I might do w/1-2 skeins. the color is also great! I'm finishing up listening to your latest podcast -- it seems we are all thinking about our stashes right now w/the New Year ... yep. Just must knit MORE ROFL ... Happy New Year!

Ness said...

So many times I've almost snatched up her yarn! This year...when my stash is gone....

Genki said...

Love that hat! The colours are so pretty and I love the slouchy shape.

Anonymous said...

That is a sweet yarn - the name blackberry suits it. I'm joining the FO Friday from Tamis Amis and am starting to look forward to more knitting projects this year.