Miss Babs Yowza - What do you think?

Creating Yarn: Spinning, Dyeing, etc.
1

I need to stop browsing yarn online because I just want so many things. However, I came across one particular yarn and the colours just grabbed me.

Yowza Sipriz

It is a bit pricey, but it has 227g so it is not much worse than buy two skeins of 100g yarn for around $15.

My first time buying a luxury yarn I chose a gorgeous Cascade EcoDuo Alpaca (70%) Merino (30%). I chose it because it is just so, so soft.

The Sipiriz is 100% Superwash Merino. Would the Sipiriz be soft as well?

I love the colours, but I wish there was a way to see what it looks like knitted up. Is it a gradient that changes colour every few inches?

2

I haven’t used this yarn, but merino is notoriously soft and cushy.

It looks hand dyed–you will get scattered color rather than a gradual stripey change.

3

What do you mean by scattered colour? Could you give me an example?

I think may be hand painted, it is all “art yarn”. Do you think it would be nice to knit with? Once I get a bit of money I might consider buying it online. Those colours are just so beautiful.

4

Here is an example of what I mean.

When you consider that you’re getting over 500 yards of yarn for your money, it could be considered within reason, for those of us who like nice yarn :teehee:. The fact that it’s superwash is a plus, too.

5

Did you click the “What’s a Babette” tab? It explains the color changes there. You might find it helpful.

6

Thanks so much. I am finding all of the terminology for yarn very overwhelming. For instance, on that website they have a column of every type of yarn they sell.

I looked through them all to see if the description would clear things up, but really all you get are brief descriptions that are often redundant (ie. all of them saying super soft, or heavy drape, or “great for socks!”). I just don’t understand why I would choose Yowza over Tierno, or Shiruku Fingering over Soujurn Fingering.

I don’t know what fingering is, but I assume it has something to do with lace knitting.

I wonder how many people locally dye and hand-paint their own yarn. Maybe they could give me a tutorial on what makes one yarn diferent from eachother, especially if they are the same colour (ie. the Sipriz I like is available in more than just Yowza). There is so much to know.

7

You’re cetainly right that there is so much to know! There are some videos and tutorials online to help with the differences in hand-dyed, hand-painted, etc. I looked for Babette on Ravelry but didn’t see it. That’s usually a good way to see what projects have been made with the yarn and how the colors look knitted up.
The wonderful thing about having a good LYS is that you can go into the store, feel the yarn, often see samples knit with it, and talk to the people there about the differences in the yarns. Knowledgeable staff can tell you which yarns are sturdier and how they drape which are differences that aren’t obvious online.

8

The yarns on this web site (miss Babs) are BEAUTIFUL!!! Please let us know what you think of your purchase once you’ve received it/worked with it.

What are your plans for the yarn?

9

I have not bought any as I don’t have any solid plans for the yarn, but I really want to knit a kimono styled cardigan, and 2 or 3 skeins from Babs would cover the project according to the pattern. When I have some extra money I am definitely going to buy something - it is so hard to decide on a colour though, I love the purples and blues.

I wonder how it would knit up. Would it be gradient, or just mottled? I wish there were some knitted examples!

10

A search on Google brought up this link to Ravelry. There are lots of projects with Miss Babs Yowza-Whatta Skein so you can get an idea of how it knits up.
http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/miss-babs-yowza---whatta-skein

11

Not consistent, ordered repeats. May be varrying length repeats or varied color order.

12

I agree with Salmon Mac’s advice. If you are considering a yarn, there are a lot of knitted examples on Ravelry’s project pages. For example, I was looking at Blue Mountain Fiber Art’s Socks That Rock yarns. Lots of them are mouthwateringly gorgeous in the skein, but knitted up they don’t look as nice, or at least, not the way you’d THINK they would look, so it gives you a better idea of what you will wind up with.
One hand painted yarn I bought on Etsy was bought specifically because the designer included a picture of it knit up, something I wish more sellers would do. When I paid for it, I told her how nice it was to have the knit up example pic to go by.

Miss Babs seems to have a lot of devoted followers, and she has a few colorways I LOVE: coffee time and biker chick. I may splurge on some soon, and I’ll bet it is great to knit with!