Knitting with Interesting Fibers, Part 2

Prepare for some starry-eyed raving. My goodies box from Lynn Noble at the eBay Store Fab Fibers arrived yesterday and I LOVE this stuff! I don't know where these eBay vendors get their fibers but I don't care. This stuff is just gorgeous and I know I'll want more eventually. I discovered the store by accident when I was doing a random eBay troll for silk yarn. As anyone who reads her knows, I LOVE silk. I love the look of it, the feel of it, it's drape, the way it takes color and the way it wears. I have always loved silk fabric and have, in recent years fallen in love with silk yarn as well. I'm also fond of rayon. It has many of the qualitites of silk though it is generally heavier and less pliant but when you combine the two you get a fabric that is both drapey, sensuous to the touch and wears well.

The first fiber out of the box is 100% rayon. Lynn called it Fuschia Thick-Thin Rayon and it is beautiful, worsted weight "slubby" yarn. The base yarn is a shiny fuschia color but it has slubs in a deep, almost purple color. I scanned the images on my scanner so the colors are pretty acurate. I knitted up the swatch at left on size 10.5 needles and it is lovely to work with. It is a little stiffer than silk but it reminded me of the Himalayan Recycled Silk I just used for my Gypsy Shawl as I worked with it. I don't know how it will wash but rayon usually seems stiff at first but then softens over time. I think it would make an excellent jacket. On her site Lynn suggests using it along with Himalayan Silk and, since I have five skeins left from my Gypsy Shawl, that might be worth experimenting with. But for shimmer, drape and sturdiness this fiber is just beautiful. I bought a 2 lb. 10 oz. cone which measures out to approx. 1200 yards for $11.99. That's 100 yards for a dollar! Quite a bargain.

The other cones in the box are a beautiful rayon-silk blend that is very "slubby". Lynn described them as Haitian look. I'm not sure what that means but I love it. I bought two cones in the color called Monet and 1 in the color called Gemstone. They are beautiful --- soft, lusterous with a lovely hand and drape to them.
As you can see in the photo at left the colors are just lovely. My first thought was that I would use them together, alternating bands but I tried that and thought it didn't show off the unique colorways of the two different yarns so I am planning something else. Somewhere in my stash I have a large cone of 100% Tussah Silk in a blush rose that I might combine with the Money for another shawl --- a third variation on my Mermaid/Gypsy shawl pattern. As for the soft pastel shades of the Gemstone --- well, who knows. I have some beautiful sky blue 100% cotton Shine from Knit Picks that might be ideal with it. The cones are large, averaging over 1000 yards per cone, and they sell for $15.95 on Buy It Now. Once again, that is one fabulous price for yarn of this quality and unique style.

We all know that I am a fiber junkie and this yarn sure has my creative juices flowing so I'll keep you posted on what comes of it. But in the mean time, check out Lynn's yarns. And save a few cones for me!

Thanks for reading!