Last week I reviewed Miss Babs Woodbury and compared the experience of working with it to homemade cinnamon rolls; in today’s review I’m comparing Miss Babs Katahdin to pound cake.
Before we proceed, you should know that pound cake is one of my favorite desserts. Just giving fair warning.
This yarn represented quite a few firsts for me—for one thing, I’ve never, ever seen a skein of yarn this big. Katahdin comes in several skein sizes; this is one of their full-size skeins, approximately 1750 yards. Mine weighed in at about 460 grams—just over a pound—when I received it (Miss Babs notes on their website that factors such as humidity can affect the weight of a skein, even if the yardage is correct), which is slightly lighter than my two-volume set of Shakespeare’s plays. This did make winding rather a tricksy business; I ended up having to wind the yarn into three separate cakes as my ball winder couldn’t do the whole skein at once.
The yarn is a firmly twisted light fingering weight, 100% Blue-faced Leicester (BFL) wool. A quick glance will tell you, in spite of the Viking-size skein, that there’s nothing rustic about this yarn. BFL sheep possess long, smooth locks which give a drapey, lustrous finish to the finished yarn without sacrificing the lush and comforting, er, wooliness, that we want in a yarn that came from a baa-ing creature. It’s familiar with just a hint of something extra-special and different. This was my first time using BFL, and I found that it lives up to the hype. Miss Babs sent me their Blackwatch colorway, a beautiful dark teal with just enough tonal variation to shift gently in front of the eyes. In my communication with one of the ladies at Miss Babs, I learned that this yarn is ideal for dyeing deep, rich colors because the fibers have a naturally yellow undertone. In Blackwatch, the color shifts are subtle, but present enough that I would suggest winding at least two cakes (see above) and alternating between them every few rows.
Perhaps it was the novelty, but I found Katahdin quite fun to knit with. It isn’t plush or cushy, but it slides nicely on the needles and is comfortable between the fingers. The work-in-progress is squishy and slinky with just a bit of weight. My favorite recipe for pound cake involves blending all the ingredients together, some of them hot, in a food processor; through the side of the machine you get glimpses of glossy, velvety batter coming together. This is like that step.
Washed, blocked, and dried, the fabric has acquired even more sheen; it’s hard to believe that there’s no silk content. The decreases pop and the yarnovers are open wide. It also holds its blocking admirably; as of this writing, my sample has been stored folded in my closet for the better part of 10 weeks, and it’s still crisp and beautiful. I would describe the finished product as twirly—the kind of thing you could sling on over any outfit you want, and that will move and swing with you.
As for how to work with it, this yarn mystifies me a bit (in the best sense). I knit with it on US 5 needles, one size larger than with Woodbury. Technically speaking, Woodbury is the heavier yarn (fingering weight as opposed to light fingering), but as I mentioned last week, Woodbury on US 5s came out a bit sloppy for me. I swatched on size 4s with Katahdin and liked the fabric, but based on the firmness I was curious to see what would happen if I sized up, and as you can see it worked a treat.
So that was great for Le Soir, but what about other projects? I’ve tried it on US 4s and liked it; and I bet if I tried US 3s it would make a bouncy, dense fabric that would be great for mitts or socks (though the idea of non-superwash socks isn’t too thrilling to me—laundry and I have a tense relationship already). I’m also wondering what would happen if I swatched it on 6s? Or 7s? Now there’s an experiment: push the needle size (and gauge, as a result) bigger and bigger, and see how far it’ll stretch. This is the part that mystifies me—I’ve gone over and over this list of characteristics of a gauge shifter (which I mentioned last week) and Katahdin doesn’t seem to fit any of them, unless the tight twist gives the yarn enough energy to spring back and bounce. But BFL isn’t a crimpy wool like the Cheviot or Cormo wools mentioned in the article, and Katahdin is worsted spun; so even with the twist, surely it couldn’t spring back that much? My best guess is I don’t know, but at any rate it does mean this yarn is pretty cool.
Now, the all-important question: should you try it? Yes. Now. Today. Even if you’re not convinced yet, it’s relatively low-risk new thing to try, unlike mohair or boucle yarn or knitting socks toe-up-two-at-a-time. (Pound cake is a low-risk dessert. We’ve all eaten it; there’s only good and better.) It even comes in several yardage options so you don’t have to buy a 460-gram yarn monster all at once. Based on its body, shine, and drape, my guess is you could use Katahdin for just about any stitch pattern, from lace to cables and twisted stitches; if you’re making something that needs to hold its shape—like a beret or a pair of socks—knit it tightly; if not, knit it looser. It won’t bite.
Miss Babs Katahdin is available here. The skein pictured in this review was sent to me by Miss Babs as part of their yarn support program.
My Le Soir shawl, featured in this review, is available as an individual pattern download from Ravelry and Lovecrafts, and as part of my ebook Mélodies, a collection of four lace shawls inspired by French art song. More details available here.
