YOTD: Wendy Beach Baby

Today's YOTD is Wendy Beach Baby. This is a crinkly looking DK yarn which has been discontinued, but my local yarn shop has absolutely loads in stock- That's Pats in Lordswood for those of you who live in Kent. I am sure that you can find these in odd ball bins, and your LYS. It comes in 100g balls and you get around 240 metres on a ball. It knits to a tension over 10cm of 22sts over 31 rows and is recommended for 4mm needles. It is 98% Acrylic and 2% Polyamide. It is a very soft yarn, and a good knit. I paid £2 for this ball, so really reasonable and really good value for money

It could be considered splitty, but I found it easy to work with, and there were no flaws in the ball at all. I enjoyed working with it. I chose to knit another Paxton, which seems to be my pattern of choice again at the moment. Don't you just love it when you find a pattern that you could just knit forever? I did the same with my pocketbook slippers and I know that both the Puerperium and Paxton have joined this catagory, along with the hospital hat, a pattern I now know off by heart!!!

It comes in traditional baby colours in the plain but I have it in shade 622 Carebear, which is a mix of mint green, baby blue and baby pink. I love it, and its knits up like a little pastel camoflage!! It is lovely and soft and it is cool wash and cool tumble dry as well- which is fantastic for these little baby knits.

YOTD: Patons Smoothie DK

Happy Sunday Everyone!! Hope you are all well today, its gone back to blooming miserable here, its horrible and cold and rainy. Yesterday was not a good knitting day. I began the cutest little pattern for a pair of booties, but then when I had finished one, it was the worst looking thing I have ever seen in all my life. I actually used the word Horrendous. Twice. Still I might try another new pattern today, maybe.

Today is YOTD again!! Yay!! I actually really enjoy Yarn of the Day, I love planning knits and knitting up little cardigans and hats and testing out yarn. Well that is normally anyway, because this yarn truly tested this love.Patons Smoothie DK is a 100% Acrylic yarn and is incredibly soft and smooth. It comes in 100g balls and you get a whole 200 metres on a ball and for around £3.29 it is pretty good value. It is also available in so many different colours. It is surprising to get such a soft and smooth acrylic yarn, acrylic is normally known as the cheap fuzzy rubbish, but this truly shows acrylic isn't all bad. It is machine washable and knits up as DK on 4mm needles. The tension over 10cm is 22sts over 30 rows.

I was totally taken in by its softness, the fact that it is easy to care for, and the cute colours available. I love the variegated styles, and I love the finished fabric. It is soft, thick and warm. But I completely hate this yarn with a vengeance. It is terrible to knit with, it is so splitty even on wooden needles, and despite its soft exterior it is so very fluffy. It felt like 20% was fluffing on the surface and ending up in the bin. Whilst I was knitting, I was cursing and hating on this yarn so much but now it is done I love the finished product.

I have a few different colours in my stash, having been donated to me by my granny who thought it would be nice for crochet blankets but it is not good for crochet for her. So I've got it. But there is no way in a million years I will buy it again. I do not want to waste the stash and I totally love the finished fabric and the Paxton I've knit in it, so I am sure I will use it and curse and throw and moan my way through it. Plus it is easy to care for. I am totally in a love/hate relationship with this yarn- I love the finish- hate the yarn. Lucky I only knit one-ball-knits right?!?!

There are so many colours available in this yarn, 12 solid colours and 6 varigated. They are all available on Deramores, and above I have the Red Mix (2018), which as you can see isn't that red, more of a mix through red, purple, orange, pink and grey. I also own Multi Mix (2020) and Blue Mix (2102).

Have a lovely relaxing Sunday, and I hope you are all having a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend, despite the horrible weather!!