Blackwater Abbey Yarns
I received my tiny order of three 1 oz. balls of Blackwater Abbey yarn a few days ago. I’m test driving the yarn for the future St. Brigid from Alice Starmore’s Aran Knitting (I just managed to buy a copy — for way too much — on Ebay!). This yarn comes in gorgeous colours but is really, really scratchy. Much scratchier than Jamieson’s Soft Shetland. In fact, it’s like exfoliating your fingertips when you knit with it.
I’ve heard it’s often difficult to get gauge with AS patterns and it was funny, I got 20 sts/34 rows for the St. Brigid double moss stitch swatch where the pattern requires 21 sts/27 rows. I’m also using 4mm as opposed to the suggested 4.5mm needles to try and get a smaller gauge, but it’s made my stitch gauge bigger! In any case, I’ve also heard that there’s quite a bit of flexibility with blocking and that you can resize up or down quite a bit.
Ah, decisions decisions. Which yarn? BWA or Soft Shetland? Which colour? Pink Heather (almost the same as Jamieson’s Raspberry) or Iris (almost the same as Jamieson’s Iris). Agh. I don’t even have the energy to write about my “Meg’s Fair Isle Cardigan” angst.
What pretty colors. I love the cabled swatch, but then I’m partial to purples and burgandies. You’re far braver than I am to tackle a whole Aran project. Good luck!
I think you should go with Jamiesons, as it sounds like it’s easier on your hands. It would probably also be nicer to wear!
Can I ask you a favor? Can you tell me the width of your plait swatch? I’m planning to resize Brigid by taking out the plaits on the far sides of the front and back panels, as I would swim in a 45″ sweater. I measured the cables on my Coronet hat (conveniently the same exact cable) to get an estimate of how much width I’d be losing, but I would LOVE to have a more accurate measurement, as the gauge I got for Coronet is a bit different than what I might get for Brigid. (I’d swatch, but I don’t have Brigid yarn yet.) Thank you so much!
the colors are lovely. but if it was my choice for my project, i’d go with the softer (jamieson’s) since it will be nicer to work with and most importantly to wear. a friend and i are planning to tackle rogue this fall and are “yarn shopping” for that just right yarn. nice to see someone else taking their time and enjoying the entire process rather than just cranking out another fo! if i’m going to spend that much time on a project, i want it to be as perfect as possible before i factor in the error of margin for my own errors!
I think all the colors are quite lovely.
I can’t remember if I wrote this to you earlier, but it’s worth a second mention
If you’re getting a tighter row gauge than AS then you’ll need more yarn since you’ll be going thru more yarn in order to knit an inch in length (make sense?)
Ugh, scratchy yarn… you sure you want to knit with it… though the colors are very pretty indeed.
Go for the Jamieson…..I suffered thru knitting a celtic vest with the BWA and I hated every moment of it. I know that there are some that love this yarn…..but it IS scratchy and it did a job on my hands when I was knitting with it. Too bad because the colors are so lovely.
Thanks for writing this up- I was thinking of buying some Black Water Abbey for a St. Brigid after seeing them at a local show. Love their colors, but the yarn wasn’t very soft! Good luck with your choice!
pretty colors, but sounds quite scratchy. Exfoliating Knitting sounds a little painful.
I just finished my first BWA sweater. I had stayed away from the yarn for years because of the “scratchy” aspect. I remember feeling it once at Stitches and saying “OUGHH!” BUT, now that I’ve worked with it, I love it! I think its greatest asset is that it is very light. You can work big cables and all-over patterns and not end up with something so heavy it’s only suitable for artic weather. I think washing (I used Eucalan wool wash) made it significantly softer but I’ll admit that my cardigan is not to be worn next to the skin — I’d wear it over a blouse or t-shirt.
If weight is a factor for you, would it be helpful to weigh your BEAUTIFUL swatches? Perhaps they are so light, a comparison of swatch weights wouldn’t help.
Seeing your beautiful swatches is making me sign off the computer and start to knit!
I’m not any help at all, except to say that St. Brigid will look lovely in ANY of those colors! And there is a LOT of leeway with final measurements in the blocking.
If you haven’t tried this then you may want to before you make your choice. Wash a swatch and see if it softens up enough to enjoy using those gorgeous colors. I’ve found that swatching alone doesn’t really tell the whole story of even getting the gauge right. If it softens then just wash all the yarn first. The last Jamiesons I knit with grew dramatically after washing…so much for my bothering to swatch. I now wash before I swatch.
I love that cabled swatch in the blue! I say go with blue and the soft one… Exfoliating your fingertips! Wow, that must be some scratchy stuff!
Jamieson’s. Totally. You’ll take all the joy out of your knitting (beautiful swatches by the way. Good girl!) if you use a yarn that feels harsh. Can’t wait to see what you do!!
All the swatches look terrific. Tough choice. I am happy with the Jamieson.
Dear Sweet One,
I smile…I request your help, please. What was your final verdict on this yarn? I have a knitter who has requested my help with finding a sub for Scottish Heather to make the Starmore’s Still Water. Any and all feedback would be very much appreciated.
Cheers,
Sue
Little Knits of Seattle
Hello, Love your site,. I have just done a swatch using a NZ yarn with 4.5mm and managed to get 21st and 28rows. ( Near enough !!)for the AS, St Brigids. OOOh i am so nervous to start. I have ordered this yarn but i am a little concerned as i see other knitters are using 2ply yarns for this and this yarn i am using is 10 ply. I cant understand how this is possible.Any ideas???? Might I add my test swatch looks perfectly lovely and the tension on the yarn band almost matches the requirements.. Please enlighten me. HAve i made some crasy error along the way?…. Thanks… Marie from Australia
HEllo you wonderful gals…guys I have started St Brigids…. YEah I have completed four repeats.. it is such fun to work.. and knitting into the back of the single knit stitch tween cable sections avoids the lose sloopy stithes Working with these bamboo needles and the lovely NZ yarn MErino et Soie. and life is heaven.. Thanks for your site…I am already thinking about which other colour i could do it in… Thankgoodness we got the ply thing sorted out…I love this sweater.. Cheers from Australia… MArie.