Are you off to Wonderwool Wales tomorrow? Elizabeth and I are both going, but we'll be wandering around separately, so if you see one or the other of us, please do say hi! (Don't worry, this isn't the sign of some falling-out in the SK office; Elizabeth is going with a group of friends and I'm dragging my husband and his camera around.)
I really loved last year's Wonderwool. I'm no natural fibre purist – one of the things I've enjoyed knitting with most recently is Wendy Cupcake, which is 50% acrylic and 50% nylon – but got all fired up the passion that the exhibitors showed for their animals, spinning and dyeing. When people are that determined to produce something high-quality, you really do see amazing results, and many of the things being displayed or sold are unique, beautiful and even manage to support small businesses and communities, whether it's sheep farmers here in the UK or disadvantaged women in Africa (Injabulo will be there with fab Incomparable buttons from South Africa).
I'm probably going to be subjected to a few Paddington Hard Stares from the husband if I buy anything – the poor, deluded chap thinks I have 'too much yarn' already – but I know the stalls will be tempting! Aaaah, wool!
Friday April 24, 2009 Wonderwool! Who's going?
Purlescence Café – blog review
If you've got a taste for luxurious knitting, you'll probably already know and love Robynn Weldon's shop, Purlescence – but have you seen her blog?
Purlescence Café is a great mix of personal projects, new aquisitions for the shop and longer themed posts exploring a fibre or knitting technique.
2009 is the International Year of Natural Fibers and Robynn is working on a series of posts helping you get the most out of the natural fibres she knows and loves. She's already done wool and – her own favourite – cotton and we love the mix of personal and objective in her reviews.
As well as all the knitting, Robynn's juggling a new, very engaging work-in-progress: her daughter, Claudia is just over a month old. We're thrilled to send our congratulations to Robynn and best wishes to the whole family, and it seems appropriate to round off this post with one more of Robynn's photos – yep, it's baby in hand knits!
Read a great blog? Write a great blog? Tell us what it is and why you like it, and you might see it here next Friday.
Noro Kureyon Sock – yarn review
We reviewed six sock yarns in issue 53 of Simply Knitting and after our expert had
finished with them, we took them down the pub and asked the folks at
our local knit and natter what they thought.
Noro Kureyon Sock
Review by Simply Knitting Technical Editor, Kirstie McLeod
This fun sock yarn takes popular and quirky Kureyon colourways and then turns them into a bright and cheerful treat for your feet!
Noro’s unique colour palette works well as a sock yarn and looks particularly striking on plain socks or as a contrasting colour for Fair Isle work. The self-striping yarn is enjoyable to knit with and forms a firm, stretchy fabric.
The yarn varies in thickness a little, which gives your socks a bit of extra texture. The socks are designed to be very strong and hard-wearing, and have a high nylon content.
Hand wash in cool water and dry flat. The yarn blooms when washed, so the more you wear and wash them the cosier they will get.
So our overall conclusion? The colours are amazing but the base yarn isn't.
Have you used Noro Kureyon Sock yarn?
We'd love to hear what you think of Noro Kureyon Sock so if you've used it, please leave a comment!
As with all writing, it's better to stick to what you know firsthand: it's easy to judge the colour through a computer screen but rather harder to tell if it's splitty or how well it washes! Please do also bear in mind that the spinners and dyers may read your comment.
Noro Kureyon Sock
 |
Yarn
Facts Ball weight: 100g Ball length: 420m Yarn content: 70% wool and 30% nylon Knits as 4ply RRP £10.25 Rec needle size 3¼mm |
Review by Simply Knitting Technical Editor, Kirstie McLeod
This fun sock yarn takes popular and quirky Kureyon colourways and then turns them into a bright and cheerful treat for your feet!
Noro’s unique colour palette works well as a sock yarn and looks particularly striking on plain socks or as a contrasting colour for Fair Isle work. The self-striping yarn is enjoyable to knit with and forms a firm, stretchy fabric.
The yarn varies in thickness a little, which gives your socks a bit of extra texture. The socks are designed to be very strong and hard-wearing, and have a high nylon content.
Hand wash in cool water and dry flat. The yarn blooms when washed, so the more you wear and wash them the cosier they will get.
 Click for a larger image. Swatch knit in the round on 2.5 mm needles. |
The knitters said: "Awesome!" -- Elle "Much softer when knit. Typical Noro colours – lovely. Love the numbs and blending." -- Helen "Textured with sunset colouring. A little rough." -- Elizabeth "Scratchy and ever-so-slightly blue. Spark if you ran across a nylon carpet. 2/10" -- Jess The team said: "This is a typical Noro yarn and the colours are gorgeous and would make amazing socks. I think I'd wait and see how this wears over a few washes before committing myself to a second pair." -- Elizabeth B, Production Assistant "Lovely colours. I didn't enjoy casting on with this – it's not a smooth yarn – but once I started knitting with it I liked it more. Not my first choice though." -- Miriam, Production Editor |
So our overall conclusion? The colours are amazing but the base yarn isn't.
Have you used Noro Kureyon Sock yarn?
We'd love to hear what you think of Noro Kureyon Sock so if you've used it, please leave a comment!
As with all writing, it's better to stick to what you know firsthand: it's easy to judge the colour through a computer screen but rather harder to tell if it's splitty or how well it washes! Please do also bear in mind that the spinners and dyers may read your comment.
