Yarn Preview

Yarn Preview:


Mission Falls 136 Superwash Merino

Yup you heard that correctly, Yarn PREview! On my doorstep last week was this little package of yarn from Mission Falls, plus some copies of the promotional materials for the new booklet. All I can say is WOW. I think the first words out of my mouth were, "Oh, crocheters are going to love this." And really we are.

So how new is this yarn? Well the label only has the name of the yarn on it. So that's so new that no gauge info was on the ball band yet. So what's a designer to do with no info? Yup... Swatch her heart out!



I grabbed my trusty H hook (the size I run to almost immediately on every project), and started doing a basic sc swatch (yes, boring- but important!). The sc swatch can tell you so much about the yarn, since its the most stiff of all the crochet stitches. It can tell you pretty immediately if the fabric will have elasticity and/ or drape on its own, or if you will need deal with that in the hook size and stitch pattern. Well, my initial thoughts were that my H hook was a little big, so I switched to a 4.5mm hook. The resulting fabric is VERY soft (really really soft-you can definitely tell this is merino wool) and was light. Drape would have to be achieved by the hook size and stitch pattern, but that's normal for wool too.


Ok, boring over. Bring on the granny squares, motifs, fun stitch patterns. My next move is always to check out the classic granny square. Its always nice to see what stitch definition I'll get and how well the yarn holds up to the rounds. I'd say very well.* It didn't pill for me, or look odd in any way. I also noticed that it did not split for me while working it, which is wonderful news for us crocheters. Nothing more annoying then yarn that untwists while you work, right?


Now, I start thinking projects. So of course, I moved on to motifs and they turned out really lovely. I can easily see this yarn being used for motif shawls, scarves, sweaters. It is a super wash and it will be coming in the 1824 range of colors; so kids clothes would look adorable. Home items would look incredible, like beautiful pillows in gorgeous intarsia. Especially since it is sportweight, you can get away with intarsia and not have the fabric be bulky. Speaking of weight, you could also do crocheted cable patterns - it would make lovely cabled scarves and hats. I wanted to test how lacy I would go with my stitch patterns, so I swatched in the Ballet Shell pattern. It came out ok, I'm not wild about it like I am the motifs. I really think the less lacy, more intricate would really stand out in this yarn. What it did do nicely is block. I laid the pieces down, and just slightly sprayed with water. They all came out with very nice drape. Sometimes with wool, I have to do a full soaking bath or entire steam to really get the fibers to cooperate, but not this time. Which mean, that will make finishing projects much nicer.


If you couldn't tell, I am pretty darn excited about this new yarn. I really think us crocheters are going to like using it. Maybe I'm biased since sport weight merino is my favorite yarn, that only means that you will have to try it yourself. It will be available at LYS this fall.


SUMMARY:
136 Superwash Wool
Sportweight
G/4.5mm hook, 18 sc by 17 rows in 4"
Nice stitch definition, super soft to touch
Great for garments, colorwork, cables, kids
Available in same colors as 1824 Wool
In LYS this fall

*Ok, so my photography is pretty bad. I just can't ever seem to photograph red correctly; so you will just have to take my word for it that the yarn does have stitch definition.