A Tale of Two Yarns - 2KCBWDAY1

Part of any fibre enthusiast's hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loather about them.

I am rather a yarn snob, and I don't mind admitting it. I like nothing better than the finest merino, maybe with a little cashmere, some silk, or how about throwing in some alpaca for good measure! That's not to say that my stash only has expensive yarns in it, because it doesn't, but I don't mind paying that little bit extra for something truly gorgeous. I have recently come across a yarn that has taken my yarn appreciation onto new levels. I had been admiring a scarf that Anne Hanson had blogged about, and I left a rather tongue in cheek comment about how if she ever needed a test knitter for it, then I'd be more than happy to oblige. Thinking nothing more about it, I was delighted when Anne replied, saying she'd love me to test knit it, and she'd arrange to have the yarn sent over to me! The yarn comes from Great Northern Yarns, and is 70% mink and 30% cashmere. If, like me, the idea of mink makes you think of old ladies wearing rather dodgy fur coats, then think again. According to Craig, who runs the business, the minks are healthy, stress-free animals, sheared annually to provide the fibre for this most wondrous of yarns. To say it's soft is an understatement. I can honestly say that I have never felt such a soft, silky, light yarn. It is amazingly warm, and wearing it makes the yarn bloom to give a luscious feel. I've worn it loads already, and there's no sign of any pilling! I love it so much that I'm going to treat myself to some more (thus breaking my pre-KnitNation yarn diet) to make the infinity version of the scarf, all ready for next winter! Here's a picture of the scarf whilst it was blocking. It really is just dreamy!

A yarn that I have tried very hard to love, is actually more a range of yarns from Noro. I am and always will be eternally grateful to Noro yarns, because it was a skein of Noro Iro yarn that enticed me back into a yarn shop after a gap of about twenty knitting-free years. I was completely entranced by the wonderful, vivid colours, left the shop with a couple of skeins and the rest is history! Here's the scarf that I made way back in November 2007, in my pre-Ravelry days!

I still love the colours, although my yarn tastes have changed over the years, and I find myself being drawn more and more to subdued colours and semi-solids. No, what irritates me about the Noro yarns I've tried is their scratchiness, their overspun bits, their underspun bits, the added bits of twig, the knots and breaks in colourways that completely mess up a colour repeat you're working on! Do you get the picture? I'm sure an awful lot of you would want to dive into this little lot .......

...like children in a sweet shop, and have a good old rummage around. I'd probably join you! But given the choice, I'd rather have the mink and cashmere yarn! Which would you choose?