Blackstone Tweed

When it comes to yarn, I admit that I am the biggest snob around.

I avoid synthetic fibers like the plague.  I appreciate wool, but only for certain types of projects.  Cotton, also has it’s place, but I prefer to use linen.  I find fibers such as banana silk, nettle and flax, intriguing to work with. These fibers can add a lot of texture in a fiber art piece.  I enjoy working with silk.  It has great strength, is soft, and I like how it looks.  It has a nice drape, and is comfortable to wear in warmer weather.  Yarns like angora, and cashmere are extremely soft, but I find them to be lacking in strength and durability.

For most of my projects, I reach for my hand spun yak down.  I still think it is the best yarn around ( but, I may have a biased opinion).

However, another yarn that I have enjoyed using a lot is this Blackstone Tweed by Berroco. It is made of 65% wool, 25% mohair 10% angora, so it is quite soft, and durable.

I knit my daughter a ballet sweater with matching leg warmers when she was 4.  It was fabulous.

I also worked for years on a sweater that I called my anniversary sweater.  I had only worked on it while my husband and I were away celebrating our anniversary.  It was the only time I could relax and concentrate enough to follow the color charts without interruption from my little ones.  Once, I got the sweater to a place where I could try it on, I discovered that I had made it WAY to large.  Over those years I had been knitting the sweater, I also lost a lot of weight.  I should rip it apart and start again, now that my children have grown more and I can easily follow a color chart at home.

Do you have a “go-to” yarn that you reach for time and time again? What is it?