Last month, I’d heard about a blended wool yarn from North America called ‘Erin Heritage Wool’ by MadelineTosh. It looks like it could beat CashMerino yarns to the top spot, making it the yarn of choice among MadTosh fans.
It may have something to do with its generous yardage, its bulky-like appearance and may be its amazing softness – not forgetting its incredible value for money! In these austere times, even yarnaholics are watching the pennies.
Like all these independent Yarnista websites, shopping online is not a civilised affair. In many cases, you have to wait for an announcement to tell you when the shop will be open. You find yourself stalking the website for a while…. watching… (a bit like Ebay). Suddenly, a colourway will appear on screen and you, the shopper, have to make the decision to buy it now – YES, NOW! DON’T HANG AROUND! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? ARE YOU MAD?? LOOK, YOU’RE LETTING IT GET AWAY! GO ON, GET IT…. oh no, too late – CART-JACKED!!
I did, somehow, manage to get a few skeins. As you can imagine, much of these purchases are impulse buys – no plans – have no idea what I intend to do with them when they arrive. But when they arrive, they always seem to remind me of something…
For some reason Erin immediately put me in mind of an old jumper I used to wear when I was a student at art college.
I call this jumper, ‘Gakusei‘ (pronounced gak’say) which is Japanese for ‘student’. I tried to replicate my trusty old jumper, with a few added design features. I also added pockets, because it was the one thing I needed as an art student, somewhere to hold my magic markers and tubes of paint!
Erin was a dream knitting experience. It is soft and fluffy without all that pilling drama. For a wool blend, it is surprisingly soft against the skin and super warm! I had never knit with Erin before, so I was gambling on the possibility that it would stretch and grow, and judging by the blocking I gave it, it did. It gave the jumper that loose gauged appearance I was looking for, making it look clumsy and ‘lived in’. Just like my old jumper, minus the ink stains, acid discoloration and torn fabric. Happy days! 😉
I had an extra skein, so I created a matching cowl. Pretty useful when it turns a bit chilly indoors. Ever the practical gal, me! 🙂
JimiKnits... and other bits. 