OhSewCrafty Blog

I was most excited to try “Lustra”, a wool/tencel blend.  My yarn was a dark royal blue, perhaps the “Provence” color (color identification was not included).  The yarn is soft with a subtle sheen, but I’m not crazy about single-ply yarns and the swatch looked a bit uneven; my gauge was 20 st/24 rows on US 7.  I expected some growth after wet blocking, and got 19st/26r/4″ after soaking and drying flat.  Blocking improved my swatch; it bloomed and evened.  The patterns in the Lustra booklet are written at 18 st/24 rows/4″.  If my experience with Colrain (another wool/tencel blend) applies, then the yarn’s tendency for growth will be much more apparent in the whole garment, as opposed to a small swatch.  I would probably knit this yarn on US 7’s, and trust blocking to resolve the gauge.  I don’t want to go up a needle size, as I like the fabric density on 7’s.  

I love tweed, and “Blackstone Tweed” is soft and lofty.  This is a lightweight blend, 65% wool with 25% mohair and 10% angora.  The yarn is dark bluish brown, with red, gray, and green flecks, I think this is the “Atlantic” colorway.  The ball band gauge is 18 st/25 rows on US 7, but the sweater patterns in the booklet are written at 19 st/24 rows on US 7…. well, I got 19 st/25 rows preblock, and after a soak and drying flat, my postblock gauge was 18.5 st/24 rows… I think.  Though blocking did not change the gauge (much), the yarn bloomed and the swatch became cohesive to the point where it’s hard to identify the individual stitches.  The fabric is soft, drapey, and lovely.  

“Vintage Wool” is wool blended with 50% acrylic and 10% nylon.  I couldn’t feel the synthetics in the yarn, it’s soft and bouncy like a fine merino, but feels more durable.  I think this is the “Sunny” color.  Following the suggestion on “Ready Set Knit”, I decided to swatch this on US 7’s for worsted gauge (20 st/ 26 rows/4″).  The ball band says 20 st/27 rows…. close enough.  The yarn didn’t bloom, grow or shrink, after blocking.  The fabric is soft, with nice body, and I’d definitely recommend it for people who don’t/can’t hand wash (ball band says to machine wash cold inside out, dry flat).  For me, I’ll probably stick with 100% wool, but this does come in a number of lovely heathered colors….

Last but not least, “Sundae”, a bulky wool/acrylic.  On size 15 needles, I got the suggested gauge, 10 st/12 rows/4″, both before and after blocking.   I’m not generally one for bulky yarns, but I love this stuff, it’s soft with gorgeous heathered color and the knitting is practically instant gratification.  I think this is the “Jam” colorway.  The single ply bloomed and evened out after its soak.  The fabric is soft and lofty, and would be quite warm, I’m sure.

 

As for the patterns, I think they are fabulous.  The Lustra book is awesome, I could wear every garment in there.  My favorite is Listeme, leftmost above.   I liked the Blackstone Tweed book a lot too, my fave is Nonpareil, second from left.  From Norah Gaughan Vol. 5, I love Anhinga, second from right.  I don’t have the Sundae book yet, but I’m definitely going to get it as I want to make Rickie, rightmost above.