It isn’t often that I get to review “personal” yarn; most of my personal projects are made out of old stash, clearance finds, or odds & ends. Come to think of it, this might be the first time I’ve ever done it—which is why I’m so stoked about bringing you this review of Osprey by Quince & Co!
I used Osprey for the first time after finding a skein in a thrift store bin; I started knitting it up into a mitten design that is still unfinished (next fall, perhaps…) and loved the bouncy, squishy feel of it in my hands. Earlier this year I received a gift card to Quince & Co. and, after much agonized deliberation, picked up four skeins to knit the Shh! Shawl by Jennifer Weissman.
All four skeins I received were knot-free, neat, and easy to wind. The yarn itself is quite heavy, so if you’re using a ball winder and swift I’d advise using a fairly sturdy system. (My set from Knit Picks worked just fine.)
In my previous experience with Osprey, I’d used it for a highly textural fabric with allover cables and bobbles as well as some stockinette, so I wasn’t sure how it would perform with lace. I’ve only used one of Quince’s other Core Wool yarns, fingering weight Finch (in the sample for my Fox Grapes cowl); and while I wouldn’t rule it out, I’d definitely think twice before using it for lace. The high twist and spring, combined with the density, would give a very toothy, non-drapey fabric, which isn’t usually what I’m looking for in lace. But Osprey is less twisted and softer overall, so I hoped I’d be able to get away with it.
It worked, it worked!
As you can see, even the pre-blocked fabric has nice, open holes and well-behaved decrease lines—the lace showed even better than I had hoped for. (In fact, at this stage, I was a bit nervous about blocking the shawl and possibly flattening the decreases, thus losing definition.) I did use a US 9 needle rather than the 8 suggested in the pattern in order the give the yarn some room to relax (more on that in a bit).
You’ll also notice that the stockinette and garter sections are extremely neat, but every stitch has just a bit of texture and character that makes it stand out on its own. This comes from the three-ply structure, which is plump, round, and just a bit quirky. Your average aran-weight yarn is likely to be four-ply and a bit tighter, which would give a more uniform fabric. The way I see it, Osprey straddles the fence between refined and rustic. It isn’t as rough-hewn as something like Stone Wool American Corriedale (which I absolutely love, by the way), but it has a more earthy personality than a typical worsted-spun merino yarn.
Quince is delightfully mysterious about what exactly is in this stuff: 100% American wool could mean a whole lot of things. But on their site, they describe the fleece as “fluffy”, and that is key. As I mentioned before, Osprey has solid heft, but giving it a good squeeze reveals air aplenty; however, the wool and the twist spring back almost immediately. This means that you can work it up at a tighter gauge for something that will get a lot of wear, like mittens or slippers, and it will squish down to form a thick, stiff fabric; or, at a looser gauge, it will relax and drape but your stitches will still look filled out and structurally sound. In other words, if I’d used US 10s the fabric would be looser, maybe looser than I’d want for this particular piece, but not the kind of thing you could poke your finger through.
And while all that bounce can be tiring on the hands (it’s big yarn with big needles, and a project of this size becomes a lot to carry around—I couldn’t fit it in my tote bag by the time I reached the fourth skein), boy, is it fun to knit with! It’s soft bounce; there’s a sturdy you-can’t-mess-me-up quality that is somehow still gentle and pillowy. Marshmallowy, even. But sturdy marshmallows. Based on experience with similar yarns in the past, I suspected it would bloom a bit with blocking, becoming even more cohesive.
I wet blocked, as usual; it sat in warm water with wool wash for about 30 minutes. A good bit of dye (or maybe some of it was dirt; I did drag the project around practically everywhere for 12 days) came out in the bath, which surprised me. The water was about the color of over-steeped chamomile tea when I pulled the shawl out. The fabric soaked up quite a lot of water and was reluctant to give it up; it took two large towels to pick up all the excess moisture. Once that was done, though, it was malleable and easy to block. I didn’t stretch it too aggressively; just enough to give some gentle tension.
48 hours later…
The finished shawl hangs beautifully. The lace opened up and relaxed, but the texture of the garter stitch and decrease lines is still distinct. And the stockinette became even more even and fluid with almost no effort on my part.
One thing the picture can’t show is the weight of the final piece. I hadn’t expected it to be so heavy, even though I knew the yarn wasn’t featherlight. As I mentioned last week, I love the weight; but it’s something to keep in mind, especially for a large project like a sweater.
One final thought on working with Osprey: because of the thickness of the yarn, weaving in ends can be tricky, especially in a smooth fabric like stockinette, and a Russian join or a spit splice would be too noticeable. I’d recommend 1) making sure you attach new balls of yarn close to the edge of the piece, if you’re working flat, and weaving the ends into the selvedge; or 2) pulling apart the plies in each end and then weaving the plies into the fabric individually (just be sure that the ends were knotted securely on the wrong side!). I used both of these methods and am perfectly satisfied. Actually, where did I weave in those ends?
All in all, Osprey was a delight to work with and I would be thrilled to use it again! Most likely it’ll be a while, since we’re heading towards warmer days here in the Northern Hemisphere; but next fall? Who knows…
Quince & Co. Osprey is available from QuinceandCo.com and select yarn stores.
