A few weeks ago I splashed out on two skeins of hand-dyed Malabrigo yarn. It doesn't come cheap but it does come in beautiful colours which I couldn't resist. I ordered it online as I've never spotted it in a shop (not that we're spoilt for wool shops here in Cheltenham – but that's a subject for another time). Ordering new yarn online is a bit of a risky business but I was confident I'd love Malabrigo… and I did.
I'd never handled hand-dyed wool that comes in a proper twisted skein rather than a nice neat ball before. But I learnt exactly how not to handle it and ended up with two tangled up messy heaps of yarn that took me no less than six evenings and a lot of patience to unravel. I wish I'd taken photographs of the sheer horror of it, but sadly I was too busy getting mad at it to bother.
I decided to make something nice and simple since the wool itself is so lovely, and went for a simple circle scarf with random stripes of the two colours – Arco Iris and Prussia Blue. In hindsight, I wish I'd ordered a heavier worsted weight as the sport weight wasn't quite thick enough for my liking… but that's the risk you take when ordering online.
Still, with spring and summer around the corner (eventually), I will still be able to wear this as the weather improves. It fits nicely around my neck twice to make a snug almost cowl-like shape. And I still might fork out for some worsted weight Malabrigo to make something a little more snuggly. It's a good excuse to try out some more of the lovely colours if nothing else.
For more, visit http://katescrochet.wordpress.com.
I'd never handled hand-dyed wool that comes in a proper twisted skein rather than a nice neat ball before. But I learnt exactly how not to handle it and ended up with two tangled up messy heaps of yarn that took me no less than six evenings and a lot of patience to unravel. I wish I'd taken photographs of the sheer horror of it, but sadly I was too busy getting mad at it to bother.
I decided to make something nice and simple since the wool itself is so lovely, and went for a simple circle scarf with random stripes of the two colours – Arco Iris and Prussia Blue. In hindsight, I wish I'd ordered a heavier worsted weight as the sport weight wasn't quite thick enough for my liking… but that's the risk you take when ordering online.
Still, with spring and summer around the corner (eventually), I will still be able to wear this as the weather improves. It fits nicely around my neck twice to make a snug almost cowl-like shape. And I still might fork out for some worsted weight Malabrigo to make something a little more snuggly. It's a good excuse to try out some more of the lovely colours if nothing else.
For more, visit http://katescrochet.wordpress.com.
