I love a lot of things about Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool. I love that it only comes in undyed colors. I love that it’s minimally-processed and fairly reeks of delicious lanolin. I love that it’s basically exactly the same as my #1 favorite, Cascade 220, but at half the price. All of this in a yarn that I can buy at Joann’s with my monthly “50% off”!
One thing I don’t love? It cables poorly.
Will you look at that? That’s a pretty serious cable, but the yarn just, like… lies there. I even tried scrunching it up with my fingers when I blocked it, but no dice.
All of which is to say that A) I don’t recommend this yarn for cabled projects, and B) if this cowl wins a crappy ribbon, I’m blaming the yarn.
Thanks for the information! It’s good to know what a yarn’s strengths and weakness are before beginning the wrong project with it.
Have you thought of leaving your thoughts on this yarn’s comments section in Ravelry?
An excellent point, although when I checked the Ravelry page it already had 45 comments, and the comments page has kind of a “mosh pit” atmosphere going.
Then I poked around and found that a lot of people’s cables look good:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Bijou3owl/inishturk-sweater-and-tam-sweater
I think she knit this at the looser gauge specified on the label – 4 st/inch – so maybe that’s the trick to getting good cables with this yarn?
Maybe it’s because you originally blocked it inside out? (We readers know too much.)
I never pay any attention to the recommended needles or gauge on the yarn label. For one thing my knitting is much looser than most knitters.Also I’m usually substituting a wool I want to use for the wool that’s called for in the pattern. I just take it for granted that I’ll have to swatch and adjust either the number of stitches or the needle size (or both).
I know needle size changes can make a big difference in the knitted fabric and how it drapes, so I guess it makes sense that a cable pattern could look different too.
You’d think that Fisherman yarn would be Born to Cable, wouldn’t you? It could very well be a gauge thing.
Congratulations on the two ribbons. First and second are nothing to sneeze at in the placing department. Was there a best in show?