Review: 101 Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders
I seem to be in a nesting mood lately. Maybe it’s because Christmas is this month and that brings to mind hearth and home, family, and love. Today I made bread and soup for supper.
I also worked on the baby sweater for a friend’s impending family member. I’d gotten a copy of 101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders. It seemed like a good way to use up some yarn that I bought just because I loved the feel of it. Most of the time these single skeins are not enough for anything big but they felt so wonderful to the touch that I succumbed to purchasing the one skein that I could afford. The problem is those single skeins just go into protective baggies and sit until I go through my stash and take the time to touch and pet them all over again. It’s not like you can put a wonderful skein of yarn on display under glass and have visitors not think your just a few degrees off plumb — so they sit in the stash unseen and unappreciated except my me.
101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders seemed like a good way to actually use some of these yarns, turning them into useful items to be worn and and displayed in more socially acceptable manners. However there are some limitations to the book.
There are a few shawls but mostly the projects are ones that can be made using the yardage in one skein. Of course that yardage changes depending on the yarn weight: lace weight 217 – 1662 yards; superfine weight 164 – 875 yards, fine weight 55 – 315 yards; light weight 54560 yards; medium weight 77 – 650 yards; bulky weight 65 – 478 yards.
The book is set up with the photos in the front. A couple of the photos are of the same item with different weight yarns. All the photos are in color and clearly show the product, but you only have the single view. So, you can’t see what the back of the item looks like or what it would look like open or displayed differently.
Next the patterns are listed by yarn weight with a notation as to what page to find the photo on. None of the patterns have a schematic of the item (this isn’t important except for sweaters, usually baby sizes). Directions list Size/Measurements, Yarn requirements, Needles needed, Gauge, and any other supplies you might need. Stitch patterns are usually text though there are some charts. (I wish everything had charts as well as text but then I’ve gotten fairly good at turning text to charts on my own.) The instructions seem clear for the patterns that I read through. I started the Baby Bamboo-Merino Sweater and so far the instructions are clear and easy to follow.
The book also has an Appendix with a list of all the designers with a short bio for each one; sizing guidelines that would be extremely useful for any knitter; a list of the abbreviations used in the book, a Guide to Yarn Weights, a Glossary with illustrations for some of the words/techniques, and an Index of patterns.
The sweater that I started is made from Naturally Country (75% Microdenier Acrylic 25% Merino Wool, 3 Ounces/85 Grams, 185 Yards/170 Meters, Color: Sunshine). I loved the feel of it in the store. It’s washable and dry-able, so good for a baby and very, very soft. The only problem I’ve had is that it splits fairly easily at least with my needles (sharp points). I did have two skeins so I could leave the body on the circulars and knit the sleeves separately. But I, just this afternoon, finished the body and now just have to do the crochet all along the edge. So, I think two skeins are needed for this but then the pattern said it needed 265 yards anyway so that looks about right.
I can’t seem to find my crochet hooks so I’ll probably do a big search tomorrow and post a picture when I’m done.
But, it looks like the book is a keeper and will be useful for some of those other single skeins that I have.