This is sort of cheating since a large portion of the book is dedicated to patterns but I'm counting it as I now have read a lot, dare I say far more than the average person, about yarn. First, I knew wool was cool but I didn't realize how cool until I read about it in depth. Can you say "hygroscopic"? Wool is hygroscopic, which means it is able to "absorb up to 30 its weight in moisture while still feeling warm and dry against your skin". When set on fire "wool extinguishes itself without a peep" because it is naturally flame-retardant. And wool can be stretched "a third of its length, or two-thirds when wet, and it'll recover to its original shape". Awesome.
Want to pamper yourself? Try knitting up a pair of cashmere socks. (They'll be the most expensive socks you ever own, but the author notes if you're feeling a bit under the weather, "a pair of handknit cashmere socks is like chicken soup, only better.)
Also, some aspiring yarn producers have developed a new yarn called cashgora - the result of cross-breeding the cashmere and angora goats. So we don't confuse ourselves here, let me add that angora goats produce mohair. Angora rabbits produce angora fiber. This fiber is so clean, many manufacturers don't process it at all before spinning. But, wait, there's more... Angora fiber "keeps you eight times warmer than wool" and can hold "twice as much moisture as wool." (Damn, I was just thinking wool was all that.) Please note, no bunnies were killed to make the skein of angora at your local yarn store.
3 down plus 49 to go.
5 comments:
You know waaaaay more about fibers than I do now! I just ordered an mcs yarn for a scarf for Megan - merino, cashmere, silk. I don't understand why one would choose mcs over mcn or mcn over mcs (n=nylon). Mcn yarns seem to be very popular but the color I wanted was on an mcs yarn, so mcs it is.
Love the title selection. And love the Facts! Wish that I was not sensitive to angora or cashmere. . . . Because everyone knows cotton kills! Any good patterns in the book?
Ashleigh - I found several patterns in there I'd like to try but as I checked out the book from the library and it is now overdue I have to return it and get back on the waiting list. The baby cardigan pattern in it is super cute.
have you tried online renewals? when I checkout a book, first thing I try to do when I get home is go and renew it. I guess that doesn't work if there is a waiting queue, though.
Also, on ravelry, you can see all the patterns that are in the book (not sure if you knew how to navigate to this):
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/the-knitters-book-of-yarn/patterns
You can't get the actual pattern, but you can click on each one to see the yarn recommended, the yarn weight, the needle size, etc. And you can look at people's projects to get some inspiration for modifications and get an idea of how long it took.
All a long way to say that you can do some advance dreaming/planning/procurement without the book in hand, so that when you get the book, you can hit the ground running.
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