Chat Back for November 14

Answering questions from comments and email.

Lynn asked . . .

How does the cotlin feel? Is it soft after it dries or does it have that typical towel dried on the line feel?

Something in between. It's softer than a typical towel dried on the line, but not what I would call soft compared to yarn that is actually soft.

It's softer than my Land's End cotton sweaters which are still stiff with over five years of washing and wearing.


According to the Knitpicks blurb,

Linen adds the characteristic flecks and additional absorbancy with very low elasticity - helping to alleviate stretching in the finished knit. Summer linen has an extended growing period which results in a longer, stronger fiber. When blended with the already strong Tanguis cotton, it makes a durable, wearably soft yarn. The knit fabric will get softer with each wash too.

I'm hoping all that is true - that it might get a little softer with each wash and when it does that it will still hold its shape.

The dark red Cotlin I'm knitting with now has more dye in it and is stiffer knitting than the light blue was. It will be interesting to see how it washes up.

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Dorothy asked . . .

I agree with you about the lighthouse and think I may even leave it off altogether. Can I still call it a Lighthouse Gansey?

We can call our knitting projects anything we want.

Don't take my word for the lighthouse being unlovable. Take a closer look at it. I'm glad it's on the back of the sweater.

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Sherilan asked . . .

I was reading some of your older blogs last night and wonder....any plan to knit further sweaters from the Japanese books?

I love looking at my Japanese books, total knitting eye candy.

Right now I don't have any Japanese knitting planned. I'm sure I will knit some of the patterns in the future when the urge strikes.

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Sue asked . . .

I am very interested to know how you like knitting with Cascade Heritage?

It's wonderful to knit with. Soft and smooth.

I'm more concerned about how the socks going to hold up. I'm hoping the nylon content means they will wash and wear well for Karen.

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Dorothy asked . . .

Frost - really? I guess we can't dodge the winter bullet forever, can we?

This week's hard frost was almost a month later than normal. The average killing frost date is the middle of October and this was our first.

The late frost is because we've had so much gloomy/cloudy weather. The clouds hold the warmth in at night. The sky finally cleared and there it was.