Testing Pool

One of the activities at the recent WWKIP day here in Riverside was the opportunity to help make an informed decision for a LYS.  Nancy arrived with a baggie of sample skeins of a yarn she was considering adding to the shelves.  She wanted opinions on whether to add in the new sock yarn in question, use it to replace something currently offered or politely say "no thank you" to the offer.

As many of you know all to well, I have opinions.  And I readily offer said opinions.

It was easy to predict that all of those knitters would knit up a sample.  Not wanting to be a part of the crowd on this one, I decided to crochet up a little of the stuff and see if it would hold up well under the hook.

First, and this is extremely important to me especially if actually knitting socks from sock yarn, there was no color transfer to my fingers.  This sample was soaked in hot water, wrung (oh the horror of actually wringing and twisting something that has twist) out and put on white paper towel to check for bleeding under duress of sweaty feet.

I'm pleased to report that there was still no color transfer after the abuse.  Cool.  That was the best part.

Stitch definition was fairly OK.  Not superb, but OK.  So I gave it a "normal" rating on that.

Where disappointment reared its head was in the fuzz department.  Just these few rounds of crochet and already a bit of fuzz appeared due to the handling, wrapping, pulling, etc that is yarn work.  My conclusion - - the yarn is not so great for socks, but would hold up fine for a lace shawl or scarf.  Definitely not new born baby worthy due to the bits of fuzziness.  However,  I'm willing to bet that any four year old would love picking off the bits!

You'll notice that I have not identified the yarn.  That's because I was one of the testers that did not get a label.  I went into the experiment blind with no preconceived opinion based on the label or maker.  All in all, this was a fun activity.  I wish more store owners would get customers involved during the  pre-order phase.  If this yarn shows up on Nancy's shelves, I'll know that for me it is better for neck wear than for foot wear and not my preference for baby gifting.  But, owing mostly to no color transfer, I'd still probably buy a few skeins - - for the right price.