The M Club: Second Shipment for Magnify Mystery KAL!
I promised all of you M Club members that I'd educate you more about what came in your 2nd M Club shipment! Sorry it took me a bit, I wanted to make sure most everyone received it!
Your kit contained a whole pile of goodies!
This package is a lesson in fiber... and watching me break rules! This next MKAL works with pre-strung beads (you should be able to deduce that from the dental floss threader included... and the photo... which has beads strung on the yarn).
For those of you who have worked my patterns before you'll know what I say: You’ll need to choose a tough yarn that can handle the number of beads this project entails. Stay away from "fuzzy" yarns, single ply yarns, or yarns that have more than 5% silk or cashmere as they will pill quickly. I urge people to test their yarn by stringing 20 beads onto a length and wearing it around their wrist for a few days... you quickly know if your yarn isn't going to hold up to the abrasion of the beads!
For this KAL I wanted to find a yarn with a "halo" that could work with pre-strung beads and thought about non-superwash BFL... then I stumbled upon Blue Moon Fiber Art's BFL and was smitten. I did some tests (see above) and was shocked by how soft the fiber was, and yet how durable. I learned that this is due to it's long staple length and micron count. (The Blue Faced Leciester Sheep is a longwool breed). This long staple length gives the fiber high abrasion resistance and incredible drape. Wait until to you see how it flows in this design.
Your mini for the 4th MKAL is Proper Sock, a BFL Superwash from Propanicus Moon that I knew was
tough as the scales have been sealed in the superwash process. Why don't you compare the two yarns you got in your package? Do you see how different the BFL is in its superwash and non-superwash form? I think it's an interesting study in how superwashing changes a fiber.
One of the required materials for this design is scrap yarn and I quickly learned that it needed to be smooth scrap yarn as a fuzzy yarn could easily get tangled up with the long BFL fibers. So that is why you got those two small lengths of mercerized cotton yarn... please use those when the pattern called for scrap yarn! They will save you a headache! Promise!
Oh, and did any of you notice that the beading bowl fits in the tool tin I sent in December?????
For those of you not in the MClub, we are helping people choose supplies to knit Magnify along with us! You can join in by buying the pattern! First clue comes out April 1st : )!
Your kit contained a whole pile of goodies!
- A 500 yard skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Fingering in Icy Winterblue Awesomesauce, an exclusive color Tina dyed just for us!
- Two colors of Beads: 30 grams Size 8 glass seed beads (col A), 20 grams Size 8 glass seed beads (col B)
- A Dental Floss Threader, and Scrap Yarn in Two Colors (these are for the KAL, the scrap yarn in particular is important as it is smooth, more on that below!)
- A Double Sided Beading Bowl and 2 Locking Stitch Markers
- And for the 4th MKAL: Proper Sock, a superwash BFL“mini” from Propanicus Moon (a local Rochester, NY dyer with STUNNING colors!)
For those of you who have worked my patterns before you'll know what I say: You’ll need to choose a tough yarn that can handle the number of beads this project entails. Stay away from "fuzzy" yarns, single ply yarns, or yarns that have more than 5% silk or cashmere as they will pill quickly. I urge people to test their yarn by stringing 20 beads onto a length and wearing it around their wrist for a few days... you quickly know if your yarn isn't going to hold up to the abrasion of the beads!
One of the required materials for this design is scrap yarn and I quickly learned that it needed to be smooth scrap yarn as a fuzzy yarn could easily get tangled up with the long BFL fibers. So that is why you got those two small lengths of mercerized cotton yarn... please use those when the pattern called for scrap yarn! They will save you a headache! Promise!
Oh, and did any of you notice that the beading bowl fits in the tool tin I sent in December?????
For those of you not in the MClub, we are helping people choose supplies to knit Magnify along with us! You can join in by buying the pattern! First clue comes out April 1st : )!
Very interesting. Thank for that valuable info. If I have any yarn left over from Magpie I will save it for good scrap yarn for future provisional cast ons. I learned the hard way with Magpie by using some old acrylic yarn. Splitty and fuzzy! And here I always thought wool=wool=wool except for super wash. Knitting is learning when you're a Nelkinite.
ReplyDeleteIf this has long fibers and 'unsealed scales' (not sure what that is) but does feel very soft, do you have any idea how it is for allergies? Usually I am able to work with the modern day wools as they seem to have been treated differently.. They usually do not affect me like the wool from way back, which was scratchy and I never could wear. I do stay away from mohair and some alpaca, since the long hairs eventually make my eyes itch and bother my breathing. I haven't done the swatch yet but it feels very soft.
ReplyDeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your lessons, new techniques, video helps, and awesome designs! I can't wait to be a fool for this one!!!
I put the tray into the tin right away - very clever idea, Laura! You are awesome! (I posted a comment about that in #87 on the spoiler thread). :-)
ReplyDelete