In my last post I said I was going to swatch the new Plymouth Boku yarn for a possible Lady Eleanor. Well I did, and oh my goodness… I cannot recommend this yarn! It feels ok to knit with – not too scratchy or excessively thick/thin. Only one problem though – it breaks if you so much as look at it wrong. I know people complain about Kureyon breaking, but trust me… I’ve never seen a yarn break this easily. I can literally pull it apart with my fingers with very little pressure, something I can’t do with the Kureyon I tried the same thing for. This yarn is so going back tomorrow. I’ll choose to believe that I got a defective batch, but even so I’m not trying this yarn again. Here is the remnants of my swatch.
That yarn is literally in a hundred pieces… and trust me I didn’t try very hard. I can also see a few knots in the skein, which means it broke during manufacturing… no good! I’m sad because I liked the colors, but I will soldier on.
So… who has another Lady Eleanor sub for me? I’ve already tried Patons SWS (too splitty) and this yarn. I’m leary of Silk Garden because it tends to be rough on my hands. Today I looked at Berrocco Foliage, but I don’t like the way the colors change.
Yarns I’m considering:
Noro Aurora (I like the bling)
Noro Silk Garden (but the feel- ugh! Might the “lite” version be better?)
Noro Cashmere Island – is this a soft yarn?
Noro Kochoran – too fuzzy/heavy maybe
Classic Elite Desert (Love the lizard color, but I can’t find it locally – any comments on this yarn?)
SWTC Karaoke is my favorite, but none of their colors are warm enough for me. I’m not looking for brights.
I would really love any suggestions, especially if they can be found at WEBs (I have a GC there!) I’m totally at a loss for what to use.
So after the Boku debacle tonight I made something else.
What is it you ask? Well, it’s entirely possible that it’s a set of hot pink legwarmers for a statue of a Knight that’s the trophy for a Euchre club.
Yes, that’s it all right. It’s also entirely possible that Marc was last year’s grand champion, so he has to add something to the trophy. It’s also entirely possible that the club meets at one of the local gay bars, hence the tutu and the rainbows (although the rainbow legos are Marc’s). All of his Euchre friends refer to him as “Sir Marc,” so we’re often out to dinner or a show when we hear someone calling “Oh Sir Marc!” from across the room.
My friends think this is weird. I know better. Marc’s quirky, and he has interesting friends – what more could I ask for?
To comfort myself over my yarn sadness tonight I picked up the new Interweave Knits. I don’t like it quite as much as the fall issue, but both the equestrian blazer and the vest are things I could see myself making. I really like the Enid cardigan, but I felt up some Reynold’s Whiskey today and thought it was too rough for me. I like Eunny Jang’s sweater, but the thought of all those colors just terrifies me. And in truth I don’t think I’m a multicolored sweater kind of girl. I don’t buy multicolored sweaters, so I’ve never felt the need to learn fair isle. And I doubt I’ll start now, as I’m pretty happy with my monochromatic wardrobe.
Green apples - Stitchywitch Creates 
How about Reynolds Odyssey for a lighter weight? I believe Webs sells it and there’s a couple different colorways selling on eBay today. VERY soft.
Ok, I was scrolling down and was really scared that those were your legs, but I didn’t want to say anything because, well, that would be rude! That trophy is the best thing I have ever seen, and if I weren’t so utterly unable to play cards of any sort I’d go out and try to find a Euchre club that had a similar award.
Sucky yarn! That stinks.
The trophy is magnificent! What a prize. Certianly worth brushing up on one’s Euchre skills for.
Thanks for the warning! I have never seen yarn break apart like that.
How about Nashua Wooly Stripes. I’ve knit with it and it’s quite soft and pleasant to work with.
Sorry about the Plymouth Boku – and such a pretty colorway too!
The euchre trophy is outstanding. You knit and you play euchre (a rarity south of the Ohio River)? Huge points in my book.
I purchased this same brand of yarn (Plymouth Boku) about 2 weeks ago, last I week I brought the yarn to work and started a scarf, every 4 stitches the yarn would break. It is in my car to return to the shop.
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one with a problem. I can’t believe they actually shipped the yarn in that state!
I had the same problem with Noro Silk garden – maddening!
Li
Hi! thanks to everyone for the warnings on Boku et.al. The last issue of Creative Knitting sent me on a search for it, thinking it was the greatest thing ever. Stunning color changes in a mitred afghan! Found this site on the Google search. I’m longing for a slow/long-changing striping yarn for mitring and etrelac.
You did not receive a defective batch. I was all excited over mine b/c I love the colorway (#10 – blue, green, teal, and red-ish purple with dots of white) and it just broke 3 times. I decided to try and felt join the yarn back together and continue knitting (if you call re-doing the cast-on – before stitch 40! – a bunch of times knitting). I’m pairing it with Araucania natural wool (color 6 – a green-ish color) to try my hand at double knitting a hat and the yarns look awesome next to each other…
I find it a little scratchy but then again, I’m used to baby alpaca.
RE: Boku. I have a yarn store and my rep from Plymouth Yarn Co. told me that the entire first batch was ‘defective’ and that all the ‘new’ colors are fine. So colors 1-6 are still subject to disintegrating, but colors 7-12 have been fixed.
I was looking for the website of a woman who made a fabulous fingerless glove pattern for noro’s aurora, I haven’t found it yet, but I’m happy to have found your blog, it’s great. 🙂
Thanks,
Jennifer
And guess what?!? Noro is coming out with a sock yarn version of Kureyon that’s 30% nylon and matches a dozen of the existing colorways in Kureyon. How cool is that??? 100g balls, 460 yards each. retailing for about 20$ each.
I ordered a bag of each color and they’re going to throw in a shawl out of it to inspire ppl. It’s supposed to be available in december or January.
this woman has pics: http://crazyforewe.blogspot.com/
I had the same problem with Koigu. G-R-R-R-R. This was five or more years ago and I still grumble everytime I see that darned yarn in a catalog.
I have just started the Argosy scarf from knitty.com with Boku. Have had the yarn break a couple of times already. I love the colors and the way the yarn is making up but I am a little nervous about investing more time in the project. I wonder if the higher number colors are really okay. I have never had a problem with Noro Silk Garden
Hi, I just bought 3 skeins of boku. I love color 3 and was planning to knit an etrelac scarf with it. Had no idea there was a problem with this yarn. Would you recommend I return the yarn? Does the rep think there is a problem with the entire 1-6? Oh crap too, I loved that color.. bummer.
I too had the VERY SAME problem with Boku, and ironically, it was the same color also. I swear, I will never use that yarn again.
I recently bought 5 different skeins of Boku all in different colorways and I have yet had one break. I have been knitting up small felted purses with it in a combination stockinette / garter stitch. Even used the yarn to stitch up the sides with no issues. The colors are quite beautiful.
I have that same green colorway and having the same trouble, it breaks if you are just knitting along. However, I’m also using the blue/purple/turquoise grey and it’s just fine. Very Annoying!
Re Boku: I had breakage with Nos. 3 & 4, however, I felted them together and kept going. Results: 2 pair of fingerless mittens. It was annoying to tug a little on the yarn and have it break but I was on a mission and decided to finish the mittens.
When I started with Nos. 7, 11, & 12, I didn’t have any breakage. I like the feel of this yarn. I did a set of fingerless mittens with Noro Silk Garden and the feel wasn’t as nice. Also with the Noro, the colors don’t repeat, so I ended up with mittens that don’t match, since each mitten ends up in a different colorway. have a niece that will appreciate them just because they are different. A conversation starter…
Joan
I have used Boku yarn successfully in making a hat. No breaks until I intentionally broke it at the end of my project. You might want to know that many of the Noro yarns are plagued with knots throughout the balls and the strips can change with the knots in some pretty unpleasant ways.
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language 😉
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
Hello ! 😉
I am Piter Kokoniz. oOnly want to tell, that I like your blog very much!
And want to ask you: is this blog your hobby?
Sorry for my bad english:)
Tnx!
Your Piter Kokoniz, from Latvia
I have made 4 knit caps with Boku yarn and was satisfied with the way it worked up. The only trouble I found (and that might be my tension) was that the yarn seemed to get thinner in some areas as I knit. Didn’t affect the gauge though. Love the colors too. I used the cranberry, the stone (browns) and the greens. Very pretty when made up!