Yarn Question, please

Has anyone used KnitPicks Swish bulky?

I would like to stealth knit the husband a sweater for Christmas. I have chosen Norah Gaughan's Devon.



Tomorrow is our anniversary and I had the husband buy me a gift certificate to Knitpicks, but am afraid I was a bit too hasty. Reviews on Ravelry have not been that great for this yarn. The major complaints were that it shrank in length up to 20% and it pilled greatly, as well as it did not wash and dry as superwash should, looking years old after the first cleaning.

I am hoping this is not the case.

Any experience with this yarn?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I haven't used it. But I like the pattern! ~Lolly
August 17, 2009 at 2:35 PM
kelly-ann (on Ravelry) said…
Sorry...no feedback on that yarn. I am currently thinking about Lambs Pride Bulky Superwash for a sweater - maybe that gets better reviews??? Good luck and great sweater choice!
August 17, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Emma M. said…
I haven't used Swish (bulky or worsted), but my experience with Knitpicks yarns has been that they're kind of hit-or-miss. I used Knitpicks Essential (which is apparently called "Stroll" now) for socks for a while, and some of them wore just fine, while others got trashed after just one or two washings. One pair felted and I had to throw it away . . . another pair, I've worn dozens of times and it looks fine.

I don't know if they vary by color or batch or what, but my suggestion, if you've already bought the yarn, would be to knit a big swash and wash and dry it. If it starts looking trashy or felty, I know that Knitpicks is generally VERY good with customer service, so you could try contacting them and letting them know about the problem. Since the quality problem isn't usually universal, it might be something they would work with you on.

If you haven't bought the yarn yet and you want to try something else for the sweater, I can happily recommend a few Knitpicks yarns that seem to be higher in quality and are worth the money. (I quite like Risatta, their cotton-blend sock yarn, and their laceweight baby alpaca is just lovely.)
August 17, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Feisty said…
Hey Lolly!

I LOVE the pattern. There are several in that booklet that I think make the purchase of the whole worthwhile.

Hey Kelly-Ann! Welcome!

Hi Emma! Good idea. I think I will just buy a skein to begin with, test it out, then see what happens.

Thank you all!
August 17, 2009 at 9:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular Posts