Well for a Xmas present i recieved 2 balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze and a free Rowan pattern to make a scarf. Well last night i finally got some 9mm needles and atttempted to start it....

That yarn is so hard to knit with! I don't know if its because the needles are large, plastic and not that pointy or if that yarn is just abit of a pain generally. It also snaps very easily which luckily i've discovered early on rather than if i actually got far with it. Thing is though i really wanted to do this scarf because i thought it was a really good idea for a present :( looks like im gonna have to persevere.

Anyone else used this yarn? with or without smaller needles?

I've had mixed experiences with it. I made a start on a Rowan scarf (whose name I can't recall at the moment), which also called for large-ish needles. I found knitting with such a fine yarn on such needles fiddly to say the least, and as the needles were plastic, I found that the Kidsilk Haze seemed to stick too.

On the other hand, I used Kidsilk Spray (same stuff, just variegated) to make the Mrs Beetons. They called for smaller DPNs (4 mm as I recall), which I found suited the yarn much better. The fact that the needles were bamboo seemed to help too; less grippy (which is strange given that the the grippyness is a thing I usually like about bamboo needles. I reckon there was some sort of static interaction thing going on between the fuzziness of the yarn and the plastic).

You can use KSH on all sorts of sizes of needle, but when it's larger than 5mm it gets tricky, why not have a search for shetland lace patterns and design your own? Or theres the branching out (http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTbranchingout.html) scarf from knitty which is fairly painless. I also got a (non copyright) pattern for a scarf using 2 balls which I can copy and post to you if you like. :)

I'm knitting with it at the moment, a one ball scarf:

http://www.woolforbrains.net/?p=253

and I've made a shawl with it before. I used 4mm or 4.5mm needles and although it is really slippery (silk) and a pig to rip out (mohair) I didn't have a problem with snapping it. I've also got another pattern that takes one ball of kidsilk haze that I found on the internet - when I find it I'll post the link.

You could take the easy way out and swap me your yarn for my scarf when it's done!

You can use KSH on all sorts of sizes of needle, but when it's larger than 5mm it gets tricky, why not have a search for shetland lace patterns and design your own? Or theres the branching out (http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTbranchingout.html) scarf from knitty which is fairly painless. I also got a (non copyright) pattern for a scarf using 2 balls which I can copy and post to you if you like. :)

I like that pattern on Knitty very much! I think i may attempt that now then. Cheers very much!

You could take the easy way out and swap me your yarn for my scarf when it's done!
Lol!:hihi:

The scarf you're knitting with it wool4brains is very nice too.

Wish I'd known you were knitting with Kidsilk Haze..... I am knitting the River shawl on 7mm bamboo needles. The yarn seemed to glide along the needles OK without over gripping but it does feel as though you are knitting with thin air! Haven't tried it on plastic needles but can imagine it is more than a little tricky:)

As it's laceweight it's hard to get the right tension with larger needle sizes, whatever the material your needles are made from. I made Birch (http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hpi.net/whitestarsams/images/knit/birch2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hpi.net/whitestarsams/knit/birch.htm&h=400&w=291&sz=23&hl=en&start=34&tbnid=MMHE7vE7f7t5rM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=90&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drowan%2Bbirch%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D1 8%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN) in Kaalund enchante (laceweight silk) and at first it was difficult to get the tension right. Once the pattern gets going though it gets easier.

Wish I'd known you were knitting with Kidsilk Haze..... I am knitting the River shawl on 7mm bamboo needles. The yarn seemed to glide along the needles OK without over gripping but it does feel as though you are knitting with thin air! Haven't tried it on plastic needles but can imagine it is more than a little tricky:)

I think Hecate was going to do the River shawl using this too - did you?

As it's laceweight it's hard to get the right tension with larger needle sizes, whatever the material your needles are made from. I made Birch (http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hpi.net/whitestarsams/images/knit/birch2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hpi.net/whitestarsams/knit/birch.htm&h=400&w=291&sz=23&hl=en&start=34&tbnid=MMHE7vE7f7t5rM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=90&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drowan%2Bbirch%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D1 8%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN) in Kaalund enchante (laceweight silk) and at first it was difficult to get the tension right. Once the pattern gets going though it gets easier.

OMG that made me shudder - its the same pattern as the Elfines:rant: Its a nice pattern I just couldnt commit it to memory and my Elfine socks took over 2 months to do:(

I think Hecate was going to do the River shawl using this too - did you?
Ah, yes. That's the one I made a start on but couldn't remember the name of above. I started off with plastic, then switched to wood 7 mm needles.

I wasn't too enchanted with how the Kidsilk Haze worked with large diameter needles, so I didn't get beyond the first couple of rows.

It takes a few repeats of any lace pattern to decide if it's working or not. I've seen the rowan display River and it looked lovely, but the pattern repeat does take a while to get established. I had to repeat the Birch pattern about 5 times before I decided that it did look right after all and that the designer does know what she's doing!

Lisa, I couldn't remember the pattern either, only the repeats for each row. If my mum hadn't asked me to make it for her 50th I might have given up. I'm so glad I made it though, I'm now planning on making Butterfly (http://www.laughinghens.com/knitting-pattern-page.asp?patternpageid=2330) for a wedding that I have to go to in the summer. Always good to have an impossible dream! I love the Elfines as well, though I think they're beyond me...

........ I'm now planning on making Butterfly (http://www.laughinghens.com/knitting-pattern-page.asp?patternpageid=2330) for a wedding that I have to go to in the summer. Always good to have an impossible dream! ...

Er, are you planning on wearing the whole ensemble as shown? :o

http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2005/10/done_butterfly.html/

This one is modelled in a less "Rowan" manner. I knew that I'd seen that before, it is so lovely but one of those things that I would never be able to wear. It would certainly be a memorable dress (more so if worn in the Rowan styling)

Er, are you planning on wearing the whole ensemble as shown? :o

Definately the hat! Surely the Butterfly is beautiful enough to need nothing else with it? I'd either make a lot of friends or get arrested. Either would be fun. (Ideally I'd end up being denounced by the Daily Mail. It's always been a secret wish.);)

Hello, I am brand new to this forum,so hi to everyone.
I recently finished the River scarf and it definitely got easier as I got used to the pattern. I will say that I initially tried it in the sparkly black kidsilk night and had a complete disaster and wasted the yarn - I just couldnt see the pattern or make sense of the stitches so when I made a mistake I couldnt correct it and this yarn is impossible to pull back. I then tried again using the smoke grey and this made a big difference - I could see the stitches much better and soon got the hang of the pattern. I am really really proud of it and it is worth persevering with as I am by no means a great knitter, and it does look lovely. I found it needs a lot of concentration, so its definitely one to leave until the children are in bed! It took me about 18 hours I guess and I did get a bit obsessed with it.

Hi pixiepear, and welcome to the Knitting Group :wave: .

I haven't used the Kidsilk Night, but I've just had a look at it on the Rowan web site. The sparkliness looks really pretty on the black Kidsilk Night (Excellent name too - Macbeth!), but I can't see from the picture how the sparkliness is added to the yarn.

The description states that it's 'shot through with a metallic fabric', so I'm wondering if it's a little like the Kreinik blending filament you can use with embroidery cottons - essentially an extra length of fibre. Or is the sparkliness part of the core of the yarn itself?

Anyway. I do intend to pick up the River needles again at some point. It's a beautiful stole and I'd really like to complete it.

By the way, pixiepear, once you've made 5 posts on the forum you can post links to photographs (there's a sticky thread at the top of the Knitting Group's main page telling you how to go about it). I'd like to see a picture of your completed River :) .

Hello Hecate,
The black one I have is called "Starry Night" and it was the name that made me get it! It is really lovely - the effect is like soft fluffy black sprinkled with tiny silver glitter, rather than silver thread running through alongside- I dont know how they achieved the effect. I think it must be bits popping out from inside the yarn core. It is very pretty and subtle, not too glittery. I had a few balls and wasted most of them, stupidly, in a combination of an off-pattern crochet attempt (wrong sized hook, pattern not suited to the yarn, didnt know what I was doing...then the failed River attempt). It's expensive and it does need careful handling and the right pattern for it (I know that NOW!) I do have a ball and a half left and I may be tempted to try River in it now that I'm used to the pattern. I will happily post a photo up when I can, as I am quite chuffed with it!