Dream in Color's Plum Paisley

Many of you have already found what I added to the store this weekend, and that's the new semi-solid colors in Smooshy yarn from Dream in Color.  Also available is Dream in Color's Limited Edition 2009 colorway, Plum Paisley.  It's a lovely combination of red violet, blue violet, and gray- and in some lights the gray takes on a bit of a greenish cast.  If you want to snag a skein, I don't have a lot in stock right now, but hope to receive more in another month.  It's my understanding that this color will be available throughout 2009.  If you see it disappear from the website, just know that I will get more in as soon as I can.

Now for that sKNITches Big Tryst review I hinted about last week.  Vickie wrote the below review a few months ago and the yarn has been on order for that long.  As you know, it's a bit hard to get sKNITches in stock (and keep it in stock) because of the high demand (and Sam doesn't even sell to many stores!), but I try and order enough so that it lasts long enough not to frustrate anyone.

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There were no problems to note in the presentation of the yarn.  The skein was easy to wind with no snags or knots.

This yarn is very nice to knit with, although it took time to find a comfortable gauge.  It is definitely heavier than fingering weight and felt more like a sport weight to me.  The yarn was a little splitty with pointy needles, but not so much that it presented problems.  Once I switched to Addis (with a duller point) I was okay.  The yarn itself was lovely to knit, very soft, yet maintained stitch definition well.  It felt great as I worked with it and behaved quite nicely on the needles.

I knit the socks on Addi size 1.5 needles.  This produced a nice firm fabricthat softened up considerably after washing but still held its shape and density.  At this gauge, the colors did not pool at all but rather resulted in subtle striping.  Probably the stripes would not interfere too much with simple pattern work, for example the Monkey pattern, but I don't know if complicated patterns would show up well (at least in the color I tested, Nightshade.)  In a solid color, I think this yarn would handle more complicated patterns and cables nicely.  The finished fabric felt like it would hold up to some wear.  The ribbing bounced back nicely after being stretched.  I do think though that for me the sock would be too thick to wear in a traditional shoe.  It might work in a clog or sandal though.  It really seems more like a bed sock.

My biggest challenge with the yarn was finding a comfortable gauge for it.  I understand that a gauge swatch can help with that confusion, but what works in a swatch does not always fit well when translated to an actual sock and I find that I am fussy about what goes in my shoe.  I really liked that the colors did not pool at all.  The color changes were subtle, even though they were completely different colors.  The fabric has a muted, almost heathered look.  The yardage is a little short at around 250 yards, but I was able to get a pair of crew socks for a woman's 10.5 shoe with a small amount of yarn left over.  All in all, if I wanted a pair of cushy, comfy bed socks for winter, I'd consider using this yarn again.

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Thank you very much for the review and the socks, Vickie.  That's right, Vickie knit these wonderfully warm and soft socks for ME, a complete surprise!  Send a woman a free skein of cashmere sock yarn, and she knits them up and sends them back!!  How's that?!

I have enjoyed wearing my special socks all winter long and they have keep my tooties warm and pampered.  They have been machine washed (air dried) several times now and held up well with just a little bit of a fuzzy halo developing.  I've only worn them with shoes once (tennis shoes) and the shoes were a bit larger than I usually wear so they fit fine.  For the most part, I wear my socks for lounging around the house, and for that they are perfect.  Vickie was able to knit a pair of socks for my size 10.5 (sometimes 11) feet with a 3 inch cuff.  She sent me the remaining yarn, which was only a few yards.  So keep that in mind when choosing your project.

*NO, THOSE ARE NOT MY FEET AND HAIRY LEGS MODELING THOSE SOCKS.  That's Joe.  I forced him to put the socks on and pose his feet for the camera.  He was not pleased, but did it anyway.

Comments

[Monica]

That plum paisley is gorgeous.

How lucky you are getting such a lovely pair of socks and how nice of you hubby to model them for you.

[Marlyn]

Is the plum paisley gone already? I couldn't find it on the store's website.

[Allison]

Yes it sold out but I hope more will arrive in a month. I'll post here when it does.

[Takewhose]

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