More on Wool of the Andes Bulky Yarn

What a thrill for this blogger to get all the comments and questions on the two Blogiverary contests. (See Recent Posts in sidebar if you haven't entered yet.) I plan to answer all the questions over a period of time, so watch for your name and link (if you left one) here in the future.

Today, though, I will answer questions on yesterday's post. It was written in a hurry so I could go hear the Tigers blow lose their World Series game. How soon we forget how horrid the team has been for years and start expecting them to win it all. End of digression and back to knitting.

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Debbie B asked . . .

I wonder, does the basketweave eat yarn more than cables do?

Cables eat yarn mostly in stitches per inch and maybe a little in rows per inch. The basketweave eats yarn in rows per inch because the little squares are knit in garter stitch.

I'm not sure how that compares with cables, but there is certainly some basketweave yarn eating going on.

For CIC knitting, the yarn eating makes a nice warm, cozy sweater. Well worth using a little extra yarn for the kids.

The grape sweater only took three balls of Wool of the Andes bulky, so the basketweave isn't too hungry.

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Angie asked . . .

How much of that (bulky) Wool of the Andes yarn do you estimate it takes for a CIC sweater?

The purple sweater is 26" in diameter and took three skeins with very little left over. If the sleeves were a bit fuller and longer (and I think they need to be), it would take four skeins with enough left over for at least one pair of socks.

Since the squares are in garter stitch, the Cozy in Checks sweater row gauge is denser than stockinette would be. A stockinette (or similar stitch sweater) could probably be done with three skeins.

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Four knitters volunteered to be Cozy in Checks test knitters.

Wow, thanks. My brain is trying to think how that would work.

Usually there are so many corrections needed after the first draft that I like to test knit it myself. Maybe that means I need a test knitter after what I call my test knit? Which means I still need to knit the sweater two more times?

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Pattern: Jerod's Gansey from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky

Color: Sky

Needles: Addi Turbo #7

Gauge: 4.5 stitches/inch, 6 rows/inch in stockinette

The gansey I'm knitting now has an even tighter gauge than Cozy in Checks. With Wool of the Andes bulky on #7 needles it is knitting up at 4.5 stitches per inch and 6 rows per inch in stockinette. A firm fabric, probably right on the verge of being too firm but still not what I consider too stiff. It's not hurting my hands to knit. I like knitting gansey/fisherman stitch patterns at a tight gauge like She Of the Beautiful Aran Book Who Must Not Be Named Least I Get Sued.

The gansey is taking four skeins with about half a skein left over.

I've wound six skeins of Wool of the Andes bulky and still no knots. I'm loving that.