Comments on: Blackwater Abbey Yarns

By: marie

marie — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 06:26:45 +0000

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.

By: marie

marie — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 02:00:46 +0000

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

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 07:50:36 +0000

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

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 18:12:50 +0000

All the swatches look terrific. Tough choice. I am happy with the Jamieson.

By: Jean

Jean — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 04:48:05 +0000

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!!

By: Dani

Dani — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 02:16:18 +0000

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!

By: Elayne

Elayne — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 21:22:09 +0000

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.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 20:39:53 +0000

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.

By: MsCabrio

MsCabrio — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 14:42:21 +0000

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!

By: eyeleen

eyeleen — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 03:55:53 +0000

pretty colors, but sounds quite scratchy. Exfoliating Knitting sounds a little painful.