Saturday 9 January 2016

Carrying the Torch for Non-Superwash Wool

I admire well-behaved, orderly yarns.  Yarns that remain true after washing and blocking are a joy.  They retain their shape, colors and substance.  These are the yarns that created the sweaters that have been in my closet for years and years, decades even.  They may not feel the softest in the yarn shop, but they produce durable, near perfect garments.  Most soften with age after multiples washes. 

I recently wore a turtleneck, wool sweater that I knitted in 1994 from a Jaeger wool tweed that I always wore as an outdoor sweater, over a soft cotton turtleneck.  I slipped it over a long-sleeve t-shirt the other day, with the bulky wool against my neck, and worked all day without fussing with the turtleneck once.  It had softened to the point that I could wear it next to my skin. 

At one stage, I fell in love with super soft, superwash wool.  The dumpling balls were fun to squish in the store, were super soft and fluffy.  But after being left with a pile of limp, wet yarn that grew uncontrollably, my love affair dwindled.  Then the pilling began, and the shapeshifting.  Even after washing and blocking swatches. I still find that most superwash wools develop a mind of their own.  Sometimes a sweater fits perfectly, then months later the sleeves decide to grow another 3 inches in length.  I can't blame the yarn really.  It's all that manipulation and treatment that zaps the elasticity right out of the wool. 

It's almost hard to find pure wool.  It doesn't get all the attention that the new blends receive.  But it's there, of course, steadfastly occupying it's stable piece of yarn shelf real estate.  When I find a pure, wool, I smile, knowing that I will have an obedient, loyal friend.  It will stay put.  It will fit.  It will look great.  It will repel water.  It will breathe.  It will keep me warm, now and years to come.  Best of all, it will behave. 

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