There are times that you unexpectedly discover a new yarn, fall in love with it’s colors and fiber content and then… learn that the company that produces it has gone out of business.
This happened last June, when upon visiting one of our town’s local yarn stores I stumbled upon Lanas Stop Algodon Soft. There was only one colorway available, but it was enough to catch my eye. The rainbow of colors paired with white was quite striking.
After spending a few minutes thinking of how I could fit a few more skeins of light fingering cotton yarn into my budget, I was informed that Lanas Stop has stopped producing yarns, and that that batch was the last one available. Now, sadly, some store owners lie*. They will say things like “this company does not operate anymore, there won’t be any more of this yarn”, in order to pressure you to buy yarn right that instant. Which is completely ridiculous, since you are going to buy yarn anyway! That’s why I decided to verify that fact before taking any further actions. After coming in contact with another shop that handles with Lanas Stop as one of their main yarn brands, it became quite clear, that that statement was true.
*Once, a guy tried to sell me 100% acrylic yarn as 100% cotton. Beyond ridiculous.
So, I went on to get yarn for a summer top (for a friend), get some for my personal stash, as well as one of my knitting student’s stash. The batch is no more. xD
The quality, as well as fastness of colors is absolutely great. Each skein is affordable and has generous yardage. It’s weight is something between fingering and lace, and it is quite lightweight. Quite uncommon for 100% cotton.
I was able to knit the tank top with almost 3 skeins. Here, I experimented with a new type of ribbing, the Half Fisherman’s Rib. I found it at one of my stitch dictionaries. It was quite enjoyable to make, and not as slow to work as one would expect. I used it at the lower edge of the top, as well as the sides, top edges and straps. The top is knit in the round, with the exception of the upper and lower shaping. Namely the V opening in the front & back and the side opening at the bottom ribbing.
I also tried to recreate the slanted ribbing edge many commercially knitted tops use these days. It was more of an exploration rather than blatant imitation. I was curious on how it would turn out. In my attempt, I worked increases every row to achieve my final stitch count. The result is not entirely bad, but not as good looking as I had expected. Maybe there is a trick behind this slanting, or maybe the ribbing itself was not appropriate. Maybe I will revisit this in the future.
Until then, I have a stash of fabulous Algodon Soft to use. Should I remake this top? Or should I make something completely different? Any ideas? 😀
