Here's a new cardi for the big kid. She'd outgrown her only wool one, and I'm convinced-CONVINCED-that there is no better way to stay truly warm in this wet, wet place that we live than wool clothing.
Regrettably, this garment is not entirely wool. It's Lion Amazing (in colorways Arcadia and Mauna Loa, and I cannot tell you why I chose either) which is...hmm. It's 53% wool, 43% acrylic. Mr. Terrible is a horrible, horrible coffee snob (he worked in specialty coffee (read: extremely good coffee) for ages, so I don't blame him) and I'm a horrible, horrible fibre snob. Every time I knit with something from JoAnn I end up feeling that way, very "Hmm." Almost always fibres from my LYS make me feel "Ahh."
Hmm.
Ahh.
Amazing seems to be Lion's attempt at a Noro-style yarn, and to be frank I think it kind of sucks to knit with. Partly, it seems that only Noro can do Noro, but I've knit with Noro before and even Kureyon (so...scratchy...and the twigs...) didn't have a hand as weirdly sticky as this one. At least with these colorways, there were some extremely muddy runs of what seemed like totally unintentional colors. It feels quite soft, though, knit up. It has quite a bit of halo, too, which I feel neutrally towards.
Ultimately, it doesn't really matter how I felt about knitting with this yarn, because the kid loves the object itself. I finished it last night and already it's got paint on, and cracker crumbs, and quite a bit of dog hair. It is being WORN, rather fiercely.
Which is why I chose the acrylic blend in the first place. Machine. Washable.
Hmm.
Some notes:
This is a basic bottom-up cardi not from pattern. I measured the kid at various points, made myself a swatch, cast on and prayed. It's super long because I expect that at some point SOMEONECOUGHCOUGHCOUGH will throw it in on a hot cycle and put it through the dryer, and I have no clue what this blend will do under those circumstances. Extra length seemed wise. I like the thick garter cuffs and hems. The sleeves are perfect. The yoke went fine, but is rather tighter at the neck than I had hoped.
Ehm, what else...
Stripes! This is "manually striped", which means exactly what it says. I made the stripes myself, out of self-striping yarn with really long color runs, so it looks kind of fancy. The buttonhole and button bands were knit using intarsia.
This whole post seems kind of grumpy and not very amazing at all.
Hmm.