Monday, July 27, 2015

Earmarked for Annika

I saw this pattern when I was paging through magazines and thought of my granddaughter Annika. I put a little label in the magazine so that I could come back to it. It's Annika's third birthday next month and this bolero will be just the thing for the occasion.

 I decided to buy yarn for the project rather than spin wool, mainly because I've finished all the wool that has been treated against felting. I went to a little wool shop in town last week, took advice from the owner and bought three balls in this lovely turquoise colour. But when I got it home and started knitting swatches with it, I was annoyed myself for not looking more carefully at the label. The wool shop lady had told me that it's expensive because it's good quality. Really? It's artificial, stiff and thicker than the double knitting it claims to be. Horrible, in short.

So I spun one of the samples that the wool factory gave me. It hasn't been treated against felting and will have to be washed carefully, but Annika's mum can cope with that! The swatch knits up according to specifications and is much softer than the turquoise. I suspect I've been spoilt, working with natural fibres for so many years.

4 comments:

  1. The only baby acrylic I like is Sirdar Snuggly - it's the softest by far and washes like a dream. Heaps of colours. Some of the Peter Pan colours are not too bad, but they aren't nearly as soft.

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  2. How disappointing! The turquoise is such a pretty color, but I'd rather have a nice soft touch than a pretty color.

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  3. The bolero is so cute ! There will be plenty of other projects you could use that blue yarn, right ?

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    1. My neighbour suggested I take back the two balls I haven't touched, but yes, there will always be a use for it!

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