A Tale of Two Yarns - 2KCBWDAY1

It's Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day One, 2011!

Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

There are so many yarns and just not enough time in which to even begin knitting them all. In the spirit of fairness, I have taken a good look over yarns I have used, lusted after, stashed and tossed, in order to answer today's prompt.

I would have to start any discussion of yarns I love with Malabrigo.

An early love affair, I have always been taken in by the softness and color options. When they expanded their yarn line to include sock weight and lace weight I was over the moon. Interestingly though I don't constantly knit with Malabrigo (wish I could!) I have not knit even a whole lot with Malabrigo - a cowl, a scarf, a girl's dress (test knit for the company!), longies, and a shawl... otherwise I have taken to collecting it here and there. Malabrigo was also the reason I met a whole bunch of knitters at Webs - we're all part of the "Malabrigo Junkies" group on Ravelry! Recently my malabrigo mojo was reignited when I test knit Anansi - since then I have also worked up a headband and over the weekend I have finished a shawl, Chandra (it needs a block, but the heart-ish picture is Chandra when I was beginning). Malabrigo has further expanded their yarn options - I am looking forward to trying them all!

A "go-to" yarn is for my second choice for a yarn I love. I really adore the Encore line from Plymouth, especially the Colorspun. It is a wool-acrylic blend with an impressive amount of color choices and really reasonably priced. Makes great washable baby / kid things that I have made for my own kids and as gifts. It is soft and not squeaky. I do have those projects up on Ravelry - check out Lorelai's Blanket (in progress), Babysquared blanket, Willie sweater, and Presto Change-o.

I have been fed up with plenty of yarns in certain projects (too splitty, to fuzzy). I have adored many yarns when they just clicked with the project into which they were being knit (Cascade 220, Cascade 220 Superwash, Tahki Cotton Classic come to mind right away). And then there are yarns I am so curious about - Wollemeise, Bugga, Shelter, Madelinetosh, Quince & Co.... And then there are yarns you loved when you bought them, but they have only sat in the stash since then and you still don't know what to do with them. I do know this though, life is too short to knit with yarn you don't like!