the bamboo quandry

(one of the only American blogs in existence that doesn't mention presents from yesterday? Yup!)

When bamboo fibers and yarns came out a couple of years back as this great new product, I was confused. I wanted to like this renewable resource--I bought some bamboo fiber, and spun it. It spun up fine but I didn't enjoy it. It had enormous tensile strength, thus making it completely unnecessary to ply it. It was a little hard to spin evenly. When I finished the sample, I used it to tie up tomatoes, and for other twine-like repairs. (it is biodegradable) It's anti-microbial properties and great drape seemed lost on me. I liked ingeo, cotton, and even that clumpy soysilk better.

Flash forward to this past September, when I knitted a ribby shell out of Madil Eden Bamboo yarn. Hard on the fingers, and, alas, not as nice looking as good ole mercerized cotton. Strike #2. However, I am always a yarn optimist, so when I got sent Classic Elite's new Cotton Bamboo yarn to swatch, I rushed to see it worked up. It knits on size 5 needles, and it shows stitch definition well. (I used a zigzag pattern and a textured rib) It wasn't as hard to knit as the Madil Eden, and it didn't unravel quite so much as I knit it. It has a nice luster. Downsides? It is a droopy yarn. Nice drape, but if you made a tank top with this, you'd best make it tight, with a textured stitch., or the armholes would be, umm, at your waist.

Next came SWTC's Terra. I loved this stuff, or at least, I liked it as much as I can get myself to like anything that is mostly inelastic. I knit it up at 6 sts to an inch on a size 5(3.75mm) and it felt like my favorite summer option? mercerized cotton. Great body, interesting coloration in the dye, and oddly, much the same fiber content as that other yarn, above. Another example of the endless variations available to knitters these days. Really interesting to see the differences. This swatch is in the form of a sleeve, so I did ribbing at the cuff, and a fern lace pattern which really looked good in this yarn. Terra has good potential for summer knitting projects!

Yesterday's big adventure was a trip to our favorite Chinese food joint. What's the traditional thing for Jews to do on Dec.25th? Chinese food and a movie! I didn't make it to a movie, there wasn't anything in the theaters here I wanted to see, but took a long nap instead...still fighting these weird occasional fevers. We did enjoy how quiet things were, aside from the multiple arguments on the street. It seems that when folks here have domestic disputes, they do it outside. Holidays are a big time for this. Usually under our bedroom window, at 2 AM...except for the older gentleman and his adult daughter, outside in their pajamas, arguing this morning on a main road. I noticed this while we were out walking the dogs, at 9 AM. (yes, I am pushing myself to exercise again, and while it is tiring, I think I need the stimulation) I find these public arguments a real mystery, especially when everyone is talking about "Peace and Goodwill!" Do you suppose they were raised to "take it outside!?"