Monday, March 15, 2010

Bling Bling

No, not sparkling gold or diamonds.  I'm referring to the mystery yarn I've had in my stash since late 2006 or early 2007.  It is a little sparkly in the right light.
Mystery Yarn

Way back when my interest in knitting was re-kindled, I decided to try a garter stitch shawl as an easy and fun project.  Since I couldn't find the appropriate yarn locally, I decided to try the big bag of fun novelty yarn on sale at Walmart.  Admitedly, it was a bag of mill ends.  No clues on the bag as to the manufacturer or even suggested gauge.  Still, for $4 bucks, how could I lose? 

Well it was a royal pain to knit!  The worst stuff ever!  And the fabric it made was so dense and furry.  Worse, I could not see my stitches or count rows.  Ugh!!
Thick Dense Fabric

How was I to use up this yucky stuff?  I still wanted my shawl.  So I paired it with a worsted acrylic in dark green (I'm pretty sure it was Red Heart SuperSaver).
Red Heart with Mystery Yarn

Eureka!  It was as if I had invented sliced bread.  Suddenly I could work with my mystery yarn to create a usable fabric for my shawl.  I also alternated plain rows of only green worsted versus green paired with mystery yarn.

Finished Shawl

In the end, the finished product proved to be quite nice.  Who knew that mystery fluff paired with rough, scratchy Red Heart would produce a soft fabric?  Many a winter's night I've worn the shawl over my shoulders to fend off the chill.  Even the kids have used it as a lap blanket.

Why all this reminiscing over my garter shawl and the mystery yarn?  Remember yesterday's post on novelty yarn?  Well one of the books had the exact same yarn!  At long last I had discovered the identity of my mystery yarn.

Bernat Booklet

It's Bernat's Bling Bling.  The cover photo even uses the same colourway I've got in my stash.  Who knew?

Happy crafting!

2 comments:

  1. That is really cool idea but kinda of gross. Thanks for sharing such an interesting finding.

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  2. Yes, the Bling Bling yarn is kinda gross-looking when its knit up (reminds me of squashed bug guts, LOL). At least the final shawl is quite soft (and it doesn't look too badly in the dark, LOL)

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