Comparing Cabled Merinos

I've been swatching my lonely single ball of Berroco Pure Merino Heather all day yesterday. KNitting with it was absolutely addictive. I couldn't put the needles or the yarn down. Berroco has some real winners of yarn with their Comfort (a machine washable acrylic that is ab fab), Ultra Alpaca (a wool alpaca blend that takes away the problems that comes with 100% alpaca), and Pure Merino. If I were stuck on a desert island and could only have access to two commercial yarn companies it would be Noro and Berroco.

So far I've tried three cabled spun merinos: Baruffa's Merino Sei, Berroco's PUre Merino Heather, and Karabella's Aurora 8. THe three have multiple plies spun in a twist that is almost perpendicular to the yarn - which I've learned from reading Clara Parkes new book The KNitters BOok of Yarn is called cabled yarns.

All three are very soft and non-felting. The Aurora 8 is very slick, almost like it was coated with Teflon. THe yarn does not want to stay in a neat and tidy ball. I remember seeing the display at the Wooly Lamb and seeing a jumbled mess of Aurora 8 in the bin. Now that I have a few balls at home I've discovered that in the night Aurora 8 likes to turn itself into a jumbled tangled mess. Knitting the Aurora 8 was also a slippery experience. One the addi turbos I kept dropping stitches left and right. I did much better on Addi Naturas with the Aurora 8. The finished fabric was light and the stitches were very even. THere was no change in gauge after washing.

The Merino Sei had a definite change in gauge after washing. It was less slick than the Aurora 8. O.k. so the Merino sei has a different suggested gauge than the Pure Merino and the Aurora 8. But I like comparing the three since they have the same kind of wool and the same kind of construction. Of the three the Merino Sei was the most spongy and had the most elasticity. I'll bet that Merino Sei's bigger brother Merino Otto has the same properties.

Pure Merino Heather was the least slick of the three. It had just a tad bit of grab on the needles. I won't say it was scratchy feeling, just a little drier feeling. Berroco has three versions of its Pure Merino yarn. ONe is the Pure Merino, then there is Pure Merino Heather, and lastly there is Pure Merino Nuance. I don't know if the difference between the three is only in color or not. I'm wondering if the Pure Merino is a little less dry feeling than the Pure Merino Heather. Will have to find out.

Since I've gotten to the point that I'm sick of felting and have more than enough felted bags/totes lying around the house, I'd be happy to trade all the left over skeins of Cascade 220 I have stored for more of the Berroco Pure Merino and the Baruffa Merino sei.

I'm totally jealous of Jane Slicer-Smith and Nora Gaughan, not only for their amazing vision and talent as knitwear designers, but also because I imagine that with their jobs that they must have unlimited access to the Berroco and the Baruffa yarns. I wish I could have a full bag of every color of those two yarns (plus more time to knit it all).