Beastie: It's Just That

I've been having a rough week. Between the unpleasantness of my little procedure on Tuesday and the impending transabdominal ultrasound and probable outcome of said scan looming on the horizon that is this coming Monday (not to mention the alleged "Snowpocalypse" headed our way), I've not been terribly happy.

I did want to get in my little review of a yarn I tried last week though. I wanted to wait until it finished blocking before putting my final thoughts into the universe, and now that it has been unpinned I think it's time. I was really excited to try Cephalopod Yarn's Beastie. I made two Christmas gifts out of skeins of Traveller and I loved the color of one (Stranger's Home, AK) so much that I wanted to get a skein for myself. I had a little extra money so I went and bought myself a skein. It was then that I saw Beastie for the first time and I was super excited. Aran is one of my absolute favorite weights to work with and I was really stoked to see them use a heavier base. I selected a skein in Chupacabra, a lovely red-violet shade. When it arrived, I was all set. I had a stitch pattern picked out from a dictionary, I set up my swift, and then I opened the package. 

I was surprised at first touch how it felt. It wasn't really soft at all. It was about at the edge of acceptable textures for something you'd wear against your neck. So when I looked at the fiber content (which I hadn't really paid attention to until this moment) I was totally shocked. Beastie is a blend of merino, silk, and alpaca. One of my favorite blends of all time. I love it, absolutely love it. It's the best of 3 worlds, the perfect balance between soft, warm, and cool, perfect for next-to-skin items. But upon touching Beastie, I'd never have guessed what its fiber content was. Really, it felt to me only marginally softer than Cascade 220 or Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. Hold on, I thought, this can't be. It must just bloom up when it's washed.

So I knit it up. It was fine. Nothing to write home about, not really. I punched out the cowl within two days, washed it, and lightly blocked it. I left it alone, and came back a few days later. The texture was no different.

Now, it's true, Traveller is not the softest superwash merino ever. It's saving grace is the multitude of beautiful colors it comes in and the fact that it's washable. These are still true for Beastie, but I still somehow feel cheated. When you tell me it's alpaca/merino/silk, I expect greatness.

It was nice enough to work with, though honestly I don't think I'll ever buy myself another skein. 140 yards of aran for $20? For my money, I'd just buy 2 skeins of Malabrigo Rios or a skein of madelinetosh vintage. Beastie was disappointing at best, and my recommendation is to pass.