On the Rogue_Along mailing list, someone asked if KnitPicks Andean Silk would be a good match for Girl From Auntie‘s newest beauty, called Eris.
I replied that I thought it would be to floppy, and that I might try swatching a cable to see if it really was.
I decided to compare the Andean Silk to Wool of the Andes, which has the exact same gauge information on it’s label. 4.5 – 5 stitches/1″ on Needle Size #7-#8.
Andean Silk is 55% Superfine Alpaca, 23% Silk, and 22% Merino Wool. Shown here in the color Olive, which didn’t photograph very well. (I originally bought it to swatch for the Kyoto sweater in Knitty, for the stockinette portion of the sweater, so wasn’t expecting to be taking photos or I would have gone a bit lighter in color!)
Wool of the Andes is 100% Peruvian Wool, in the color Carrot.
I used another of Girl from Auntie’s cables, which she calls Double Knot cable for the swatch, doing the first part in Andean Silk and the mirror image in Wool of the Andes. I soaked each swatch in warm water and blocked overnight, but both curled due to the stockinette edges.
I used a 5.0mm needle (size 8 US) for my first swatch, and the middle sized cable needle from the Brittany Birch set of 3. Unfortunately I have misplaced my needle gauge and can’t report the size of that needle. If I find my gauge I will amend this report. With this setup, I ended up with 5.0 stitches per inch, which is on the tight side of the yarn’s recommended gauges, and the same gauge at which I knitted the original stockinette swatch that made me think the yarn would be too floppy. Please be kind to my mistake on the cables – I was scrolling up and down on the page containing the cable instructions, and I obviously missed something.
For the second swatch I used 4.25mm (Approx. US#6) and the smallest of the 3 Brittany Birch cable needles. This swatch ended up at 5.3 stitches/inch, tighter than the recommended gauge for the yarn.
My Conclusion?
I still think Andean Silk is too floppy for the gauges shown here, especially compared to the Wool of the Andes. Seeing how the cables popped on the second swatch, I can imagine that at a tighter gauge, it might work. But, more than it’s floppiness, it’s the hairiness that would keep me from using it. I think the hair fuzzes out the cables and makes them kind of… blurry? In just plain stockinette, it looks nice, but the cables get lost in the haze of hair.
The real problem though, is that it makes me itch like crazy which wouldn’t necessarily affect anyone but me, but it would keep me from wearing anything made from it.
But, I think I will use the Wool of the Andes – I think it looks great, especially in the second swatch. When I am done with Kyoto, I might start a Rogue or Eris in Wool of the Andes, depending on what gauge the pattern is written for.