Yarn Hollow: A review

More new yarn!  Can you tell that my nesting phase involved buying crazy huge amounts of yarn?  Sure, the baby's room isn't done yet, we haven't bought a new carseat (apparently James' old one is now expired- don't get me started) or diapers or anything-at-all-that-a-newborn-needs, but yarn?  I've got that coming in by the truckload.  Last week it was Sweet Georgia, Lorna's Laces, Noro and Madelinetosh.  This week it's more Sweet Georgia, more Noro, preparing the 7th Anniversary Kits (more details coming) for the June 2 debut of the Poste Yarn line and a new line.... Yarn Hollow.

Now, before I get to the first review, I want to tell you what a pleasure it was to test this yarn.  Now, I didn't test any of it myself- sadly, I'm too busy to test everything, which is why I have a team of fab test knitters.  But Rita, the owner of Yarn Hollow, made the process so easy and had every bit of info and every sample of yarn available immediately that I can tell that she takes great pride in not only creating a beautiful product, but she also cares greatly about customer service.  The pleasure in testing, for me, was not only reading the seeing the photos of the reviewed yarns, but how easy she made it for me to carry her yarn and to make it available to you all.  And for the size of orders I place, I can tell that her team must have been hard at work throughout May because she had my entire order to me in a timely manner.  All in all, I'm impressed.

I have three separate reviews to share with you over the next week or so, and all three of the Yarn Hollow selections will be on the website in a few days. The first review is of Bitty, Yarn Hollow's 2-ply hand dyed Superwash Merino.  Here's what Chevas had to say about her test knit of this skein, in the Paisley colorway.

Presentation – The yarn was in a beautiful hank and wound nicely.  I have finished the first sock and have found no snags, breaks, worn parts, or knots.  The dyer has chosen a great base. 

Texture – The yarn feels wonderful!  It is very tightly plied and did not split at all!  It was a very pleasant surprise after just finishing a sock that I had to fight the yarn splitting the whole way through!  I even had to frog about an inch of it (added a stitch…oops) and it was still tightly plied and didn’t look worn or split.  The yarn did not catch on my needles (I used a circular).    

Knitted Fabric - The color produces a striping effect, no pooling.  It does seem like a very sturdy knit and I believe will hold up nicely with wear.  The sock fits snuggly to my foot.  The pattern that I used was The Afterthought Heel Socks by Laura Linneman, which is a basic stockinette pattern.  I love the striped effect that I got with this pattern.  As for knitting cables or a busier pattern (like Cookie A’s Monkey pattern) I plan on knitting up a swatch to see how the color distributes.  While I believe that it would be total personal preference as to whether it would be considered “too busy” I am interested in what it would look like.

Overall opinion – I am super pleased with the yarn and would definitely purchase more in the future.  The colorway was awesome and I’m super interested in what other colorways the line has.  It smelled clean while in the hank.  No vinegar odor and no soap smell, just clean.  I then smelled the sock after I knit it (just to check again) and it smelled like my kitchen hand soap….which made me happy.  I had no issue with dye bleeding on my hands or the needles. 

Chevas let me know a couple months later that the yardage (490 yards!) was enough that she also knit a pair of mittens out of the same skein as the sock.  She was also very eager to know exactly what it was that she had knit, as she had really enjoyed the anonymous skein.

Comments

[Renee Anne]

I do love Yarn Hollow :) She has fabulous yarns (and rovings, too).

I made a hat from one of her worsted superwashes and it's a lovely warn wool hat :)

[CyndyC]

Very nice. I am so not a fan of pooling, but stripes are another story. I am hoping to squeeze in a moment to get the anniversary kit which may be tough. My daughter graduates from HS on Saturday and my mother is coming tomorrow! Back to cleaning.

[Elizabeth]

MMMMMMMMbabies! Snuggling with my second grandbaby in the past 6 months...!!!! I'll be back in the store to get some yarn when I am not on baby time!!!!