Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool

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.

New Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool

I knit my first gansey from "Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool" some 3 years ago. It is an extrodinary garment knit from an extrodinary yarn.

However, Lion Brand has changed its sourcing of Fisherman's Wool. It is now a different fiber, a different spin, and a different ply. It is not the same. I bought a bit of the stuff, and will knit and test.

It really does feel nice while being knit, and looks nice right after being knit, that is it is easy to knit consistently and uniformly. There does not seem to be any veggy material in it, however there were a fair number of breaks in the yarn.

It felt wonderful while I knit it. As knit, the fabric felt wonderful. However, it lost stitch difinition while being blocked. The fabric lost elastisity and resiliance while being blocked. I would not use it for any garment that might get wet. I would certainly not use it for a gansey, and I would certainly not use it for anything a fisherman might wear.