Marie asked for my opinion of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino yarn that I'll be using for my next project.
I hesitated before buying this yarn and briefly looked for a substitute. First off, this yarn contains 33% microfibre. If I'm going to hand knit a sweater, I usually try to avoid yarns that are not 100% wool. Perhaps it is an unreasonable bias but I just prefer to wear and knit natural fibers. Another reason I hesitated was because of its strange twist. I think this twist causes the "V" shape of knit stitches to be out of whack and I'm not sure if I like this effect. Despite these reservations I decide to go ahead and give it a try.
So far I like it, but won't have a truly informed opinion until the sweater is finished. The swatch is very, very soft which is due to the merino (55%) and cashmere (12%). No wonder Debbie Bliss calls it baby cashmerino. I think it would be perfect for baby clothes.
The pattern for the pullover mentions that this yarn tends to relax so it is really important to knit a swatch and wash it just as you will wash the sweater. I followed this advice and found that my swatch did indeed grow a bit. I would venture to guess that the microfibre causes the yarn to relax.
Wow! That twist is quite strange. Nothing have seen before, but the swatch sure looks great. Good tip about washing ones swatch before starting a project. That's amazing discipline!
Posted by: Marie | December 01, 2003 at 06:19 AM