we aim to please

Hi, Ted,

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get frustrated when having to choose yarns for projects, especially yarns like the ones used for heirloom pieces such as Princess.  Generally the only way to acquire them is via the internet, and sometimes you just want to look at them, touch them, maybe knit a small sample before you invest in a whole project's worth, especially if the project is going to take rather a chunk out of your life.

It's helpful that Sharon includes some samples with her patterns, truly helpful.

Recently the Knitting Beyond the Hebrides list held a virtual lace conference, and I was thrilled to read the piece by Lark Burger, a "Comparison of Lace Yarns".  Lark has knitted up samples of a wide variety of the available gossamer type yarns out there, and she has provided some excellent photos of the yarns and samples before and after blocking, as well as some useful commentary on each.

Lark is sampling specifically with the Wedding Ring Shawl in mind, and I know that there are rather a number of folks out there, yourself included (heck, myself included) who are planning on working this shawl. 

I already know I'm going to be working with Sharon's own gossamer silk (a seemingly impossibly small cone of which is tucked away until that far off day when Princess finally comes off the needles, a day that is moving farther and farther off into the mists of time as I struggle with the damn stitches over the needle join issue).  But I was interested in Lark's comment that she would use a smaller needle for the silk, and her swatch would certainly seem to bear that out.

(And I went right out and bought a 120cm Inox in the 2.0 mm size.  Just in case.)

I have to say that the swatch that appealed to me most was the Treenaway silk/wool blend.  Had I seen that before I got my impossibly small cone of gossamer silk, I might have been tempted to try that out.  Though the pure silk is absolutely exquisite.

Let's hope it slides over that damn needle join more easily than the gossamer merino does.

Comments

[Mar]

I will be using HK's gossamer merino for my Wedding Ring shawl. Lark's article is really invaluable though. I was sorely tempted by the silk but in the long run, I wanted something with a bit more loft to it.

I don't see myself knitting anything but shawls for the next year. I'm doing the Melanie now and I have a number of Sharon's shawls, plus a design I'm working on for my own handspun. Will we all ever make sweaters again?

[Zooks]

k, I am working on the Wedding Ring Shawl using Sharon's gossamer silk. My "step down in intensity" project is a shawl using Skacel's merino laceweight so I have a nice compare/contrast going on despite the thicker nature of the merino.

The silk is smooth and slick and cool to the touch and I haven't had any problems getting the stitches to move over the join on my Inox needles. Also, I am very pleased with the drape -- such that it is through row 45 of the center section. I won't hesitate to use Sharon's silk for another project (and have stashed away another cone just for that purpose).

The Treenaway caught my eye too!

[k]

Mar, the "loft" factor was one of the reasons I chose the merino for Princess -- since it had been a long time since I'd worked lace this fine, I wanted that to help things out in the end.

But I was sorely tempted when I touched the gossamer silk. I think after working Princess, I'll be up to the silk. I hope.

Zooks, I'm pleased to hear you're using it and enjoying it. I'm a little intimidated by the silk, so I'm glad to hear of good experiences with it.