The warmest object that I have ever knit, is from the Old Lions Brand Fisherman's Wool.
Then they moved to production to China, and I tried the new version, and am on record as not liking it. I owe Lions Brand a deep apology!!
I had swatched the old Fisherman's Wool and settled on US1 needles. When I tried the new Fisherman's Wool I just went ahead with those US1 needles without swatching it. That was a big mistake.
Somehow the other day, I ended up knitting the new, produced in China, Fisherman's Wool on US1 (2 mm or AWG 12 needles) and love the fabric for Guernseys.
Gauge in stockinette is just over 9 spi / 11 rpi (close to 100 stitches per square inch). Today, it is my yarn of choice for knitting sweaters for the temperature range from about 20 F to 45 F.
This has nothing to do with the lanolin in the wool which will washout and be replaced many times in the life of a sweater that does things, and everything to do with the construction, twist, and fiber in the yarn.
Then they moved to production to China, and I tried the new version, and am on record as not liking it. I owe Lions Brand a deep apology!!
I had swatched the old Fisherman's Wool and settled on US1 needles. When I tried the new Fisherman's Wool I just went ahead with those US1 needles without swatching it. That was a big mistake.
Somehow the other day, I ended up knitting the new, produced in China, Fisherman's Wool on US1 (2 mm or AWG 12 needles) and love the fabric for Guernseys.
Gauge in stockinette is just over 9 spi / 11 rpi (close to 100 stitches per square inch). Today, it is my yarn of choice for knitting sweaters for the temperature range from about 20 F to 45 F.
This has nothing to do with the lanolin in the wool which will washout and be replaced many times in the life of a sweater that does things, and everything to do with the construction, twist, and fiber in the yarn.
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteYou triggered my curiosity... I found a UK distributor for Lion's brand fisherman wool. I ordered some today, even though there is a mixed bag of reviews about this wool. I have to see for myself. It might be a nice alternative to the going Gansey wool brands also because it is un-dyed wool.
BTW.. you mentioned 2mm needles are US Nr 1. My understanding is that Nr1 are 2,25 and 0 are 2mm needles.
Alexander
I do not like the LB FW knit at some gauges, but I do like it knit tightly - more tightly than the Old LB FW - Thus, I give a mixed bag review.
ReplyDeleteI am not happy with any of the modern knitting needle sizing systems. A few years ago, I had fallen into just using measuring the diameter of my needles to the nearest 0.01 mmm but that is slow and tedious. Mostly, a few thousandths of a millimeter do not matter. I needed a way to group ranges of sizes. I have settled on American Wire Gauge. AWG gauges are available, inexpensive, accurate, precise, and readily available. While many of the needles that I have, are not the labeled size. A crib sheet is at http://www.dave-cushman.net/elect/wiregauge.html and http://www.interfacebus.com/table-of-different-wire-gauge-standards.html