This week I picked apart, literally, the yarn my friend Carla is using for her Beekeeper's Smock. I'm going to try to match it with my Cormo/Romney fiber with a few changes.
The yarn is Green Mountain Spinnery Yarn Over, a yarn that is a mixture of many fibers. It's more than a wool pool yarn it's a mill pool yarn - it's made of leftover fibers from the mill that normally would go to waste. The yarn is tweedy, with a woolen prep and worsted draft, it's dense and sturdy. It's smooth-ish, the combination of a big variety of fibers and woolen prep makes it slightly fuzzy.
When I try to match a yarn, I gather every piece of information I can on the the original yarn.
I start with the fiber. Since there is no single or even a couple of clear breeds in this yarn, I'll go with my impressions. There is a silkiness to the yarn leading me to believe that there is either a long wool or mohair as part of the mix. The majority of the fibers are middle of the road length-wise, like Corriedale and it doesn't seem like their are any fine wools in this mix. This yarn wouldn't be next-to-the-neck comfortable for many people, but would make amazing outerwear.
The prep looks like it was woolen and it was likely spun with a worsted draft
Here are the measurements I gathered:
- WPI: 8-10, Aran weight
- Yards Per Pound: 600
- Ply: 2-ply
- Ply angle finished; 22 degrees
- Ply bumps per inch: 5
- Ply direction: S
When I spin my yarn I will keep the WPI and number of plies the same. This will help me get the knitting gauge the pattern calls for.
My fiber is two distinct breeds - Cormo and Romney. The Romney will lend a sturdiness to the yarn, but the Cormo will make it softer, less tough yarn.
My fiber is roving and I will spin it woolen, that in combination with my fiber blend tells me that my YPP, will be different. My yarn will be less dense, so the YPP number will be higher, maybe around 800.
I will wait and see about ply angle and BPI. I may want a tighter ply than balanced for this sweater. Since my yarn won't be as dense or strong as the yarn called for in the pattern, adding ply twist is one way to add a little more durability to the knitted fabric. I will have to sample and swatch before I know for sure.
Now I need to spin and knit!