For Christmas, my mother sent me a strange box (it is shaped like a hat box - that might even be what it is) filled with 3 small stuffed doggies and 3 balls of dark turquoise blue Patons Allure.
I've never really worked with a yarn that bulky, though I have worked with a yarn that hairy. I figured that the extra fur would trap warm air, using the same principle as down jackets, making a warm scarf for the Dulaan Project. They're looking for more garments for adults this year, so I took my three 47 yard skeins and cast on 15 or so stitches. My 3x3 rib doesn't really show up, which is perfectly acceptable because my mistakes don't really show up either.
One of the nicest thing about this scarf (aside from contributing to Dulaan) is that using these three balls of yarn (OK, and the pink when I get around to Argosy) will mean I have used more yarn than I've bought. I don't normally manage parity in my yarn purchases, so it is always a welcome bit of relief to at least the closet space when I manage to use up about as much yarn as I have recently bought.
Pros to weirdly hairy novelty yarns:
- Mistakes are pretty hard to spot; and
- The finished product is surprisingly warm.
Cons to weirdly hairy novelty yarns:
- You probably won't notice a dropped stitch until its done its damage;
- It is hard to get your needle fully into the loop; and
- Mistakes are pretty hard to spot (if you want to fix them).
I don't recommend the novelty yarns to beginning knitters. I find the fuss and bother getting the needle into the loops makes it less fun when you just to make something pretty and quick. Probably why I keep buying Malabrigo as beginning knitter gifts.
I figured out what I can do with my Jaeger Pure Silk DK. I can make Argosy out of the leftovers. It will be a little smaller than normal, but I can give it to the bridal shower girl for Christmas (though she doesn't really need a scarf to match a thong). She loves pink, and it will probably work a lot better for her than the last pink scarf I made her (fun fur anyone?).
