Thea Colman of Baby Cocktails designs the most beautiful sweaters, and other projects as well. Her patterns almost always find their way into my library but the one she released yesterday, Milk Stout, . . I am just aching to get started on that one. Almost always, there’s a recommended yarn for the project and almost always, I buy the recommended yarn but .. you know I’m trying not to buy yarn so I’ve been digging through my stash. For Milk Stout, and for almost all projects with cables, the cables won’t show up well with a very dark yarn so color is important. Also, Thea keeps reiterating that you don’t want a heavy yarn because the weight will drag the cables out. She recommends a lightweight wool or even a blend. I’ve been stash diving for the past couple of days. According to my calculations, the yarn she recommends weights .461 grams per yard so I’m trying to find a color I want to use and stick within that weight. Also, I don’t want to use something that I have 2,000+ yards when the pattern only requires 1,750 yards. It would be so much easier just to order new yarn! 🙁
Possibilities for Milk Stout
These are the yarns I’ve found.
- Cascade 220 Heather – The color is probably good. The yarn weights .455 g. per yard so it’s good.
- Yarn Love Anne Shirley – Red? What was I thinking? I don’t think that’s the color I want to use. I can see this sweater being one I would want to wear all the time. The weight is spot on at .46 g. per yard. I have 1750 yards and that’s cutting it pretty close so I probably will rule this one out.
- Berroco Ultra Alpaca – Olive Green – Not a bad color. The weight is .465 g. per yard so I think it would work.
According to my list, I also have these yarns that I haven’t found yet.
- Valley Yarns Brimfield – The color is Sand and that’s more in line with the color I’m wanting. This one weighs in at .459 g. per yard. The drawback is that the yarn is 30% Silk and that’s probably not good for such a heavy project.
- Cascade 220 -Same as the Heather above but color is Steel, which is a light gray.
- Malabrigo Rios – Color is Green Gray. Weight is .476, which is probably getting to be a bit heavier.
This is why it’s easier to buy yarn than to try to figure out how to make something work. The better idea is to use the yarn for the patterns I had planned to use the yarn for, and to stop buying new patterns! Good luck with that, huh?
Breck says
I like the RED the best! I think it’s okay to wear red all the time. 🙂
But if you do purchase yarn from the designer’s recommendations, a light-ish chambray-type denim-ish blue color would be pretty.
liz says
And here I thought I was going to get another recipe for doing something with milk, cheese, whey!?!
I like the grey tones though the green is pretty. But, the cream/sand is the classic Irish look.
Tracy Cox says
I used the Berroco Ultra Alpaca for a cabled sweater, Patons “Must have Cardigan”. It really holds the stitch definition well and it is springy enough not to sag. My only regret is that I made the sweater too small and had to give it to my daughter. It makes up to be a really warm sweater too.
Janice S. says
I love the color of that Cascade Heather!