Flowers and Caboodles

Leading up to the holidays I knitted up some yarns that I’d love to tell you about.

• Mondial “Lady”
• and Sirdar Caboodle

are the subjects of today’s blog.

Mondial “Lady”

“Flower” by Mondial is a pretty Italian yarn and it is as fluffy as a cloud. It comes with a little flower that you can attach to the toque (beanie) that the free pattern on the label makes. One ball comfortably makes the hat in question. It’s a chunky weight yarn that knits up fast as can be. When finished, the fabric feels light and soft and oh, so cushy. At 55% Merino and 45% Microfibre, this is an easy care product that you can put in the delicate cycle of the washer. I was able to easily knit up the pattern they provided in an evening in front of the television. The almost boucle texture makes the yarn interesting enough that it doesn’t need to be more fancy than garter or stocking stitch to look fabulous. So you don’t need any complicated patterns to make it awesome. Even with the texture, I found it very easy to work with. Flower is available in around seven soft and pretty colours.

Sirdar Caboodle

Sirdar Caboodle is so much fun! It looks like a happy marriage between yarn and confetti… if confetti were made of fibres instead of paper and stuff, that is. It’s a chunky weight yarn that has fluffy bits of colourful fibre that give it a whole lot of personality. At first I wondered whether those textured bits would annoy me. They didn’t. I admit that the first round of knitting after the initial cast on required that I seriously take my time. After that, it really wasn’t an issue. If you haven’t worked with a textured yarn before, I would offer the following advice: Take it slow until you get used to it. Yup, that’s it. Just take your time. Play around with the tension a little. When you are knitting it, sometimes you need to pull a fluffy bit through the stitch in order that your stitches don’t end up too tight or loose. Keeping a slightly softer tension will definitely make it easier to navigate. If you just give yourself a little bit of time to get used to it, the result is just so much fun. As the fabric forms, it creates such a happy vibe that I challenge you not to fall in love with it. I used a pattern that asked for chunky weight yarn and used the 5.5mm needles recommended. It worked perfectly to the gauge for that pattern. (The cast-on was 70 stitches.) A content of 64% Acrylic and 36% Polyester makes this a yarn that can take some abuse. So it’s perfect for those friends who you know won’t be careful with hand knits.

Happy Knitting!