Copyright William Souza 2014
| Comfy Fiber Content: 75% Pima Cotton, 25% Acrylic Weight: Fingering Weight Knitting Gauge: 7 - 8 sts = 1 on #1-3 needles (2.25mm - 3.25mm) Crochet Gauge: 21 – 32 sc = 4'' on B - E hooks (2.25mm-3.5mm) Yards: 218 Grams: 50 Put Up: ball Care: Machine Wash Gentle/Tumble Dry Low Color Palette: 20 colors Price: $2.99 | 
4 Stitch Markers out of 5!
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First Impressions
My first impression of Comfy Fingering... it's like touching pure silky softness. The color is rich and beautifully saturated. When it hits your hand it really makes you want to knit something right away. The hand to this yarn is incredibly silky which is one thing that really drew me into using it for socks. I would love to make myself a knit men's crew top from it. I think the weight and drape would be perfect for a fall/spring garment. I would love to see the palette expanded to include some deeper hues for men's clothing. Unfortunately, the current color selection would not be very attractive on me with the exception of maybe two or three colors, one being black, and these old eyes do not see black very well when it comes to knitting especially on small gauges.
Swatching
Unblocked Copyright William Souza 2014
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Blocked Copyright William Souza 2014
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Right from the start this yarn wants to become fabric. It has many of the qualities that I love in a yarn. It glides through the hand, is incredibly fast on the needles and the stitch definition and sheen are beautiful. It does not matter whether you are doing stockinette, garter, cables or lace. The pattern will show really well. The one detraction with this yarn for me is the tendency to ply. While this is normally something that would drive me up a wall and down again, the yarn feels so wonderful and works up so beautifully I was willing to adjust to it. I definitely found sharp tip needles were a better fit to this yarn than blunt tips when it comes to avoiding plying. With such a crisp yet soft finished result I found myself willing to work with its inherent properties. The nice thing was as I worked with this yarns needs it gave in return. I could easily see myself using this yarn for some light fall gloves, scarves and some nice light weight shawls. The crispness of the stitches it produces would be simply stunning in lace work.
I think it is important to again point out this yarn is fast so if you need more control using bamboo or wood needles may be a good solution for you. I found using bamboo with this yarn slowed it down a touch which for a newer knitter or for someone who is not use to using finger weight yarn and/or small diameter needles using bamboo may be a good solution.
For the Abuse Olympics
It was in the middle of the pack. The integrity of the yarn held well as it was frogged. No plies broke. The area where it did not pass as well on is it fuzzes quite a bit after two to three frogs. By five frogs it had a fairly pretty halo effect. The yarn also has a lot of memory once it is knit. My ten stitch, ten row Olympics swatch, which only takes me about three minutes to knit up retained some of the waviness from being in the fabric for even such a short amount of time. So if you decide to frog a project even after you have only knit an inch or two you will want to soak and hang the yarn to dry in order to remove the waves from it. When it comes to unknitting this yarn does great. It comes apart just as easily as it goes together.
I think it is important to again point out this yarn is fast so if you need more control using bamboo or wood needles may be a good solution for you. I found using bamboo with this yarn slowed it down a touch which for a newer knitter or for someone who is not use to using finger weight yarn and/or small diameter needles using bamboo may be a good solution.
For the Abuse Olympics
It was in the middle of the pack. The integrity of the yarn held well as it was frogged. No plies broke. The area where it did not pass as well on is it fuzzes quite a bit after two to three frogs. By five frogs it had a fairly pretty halo effect. The yarn also has a lot of memory once it is knit. My ten stitch, ten row Olympics swatch, which only takes me about three minutes to knit up retained some of the waviness from being in the fabric for even such a short amount of time. So if you decide to frog a project even after you have only knit an inch or two you will want to soak and hang the yarn to dry in order to remove the waves from it. When it comes to unknitting this yarn does great. It comes apart just as easily as it goes together.
Making a Project
Copyright William Souza 2014
Since I do love knitting socks a great deal and one of the Ravelry groups I belong to does a monthly KAL (Knit-A-Long) I figured socks would be the direction I went. The pattern I used, which was free to participants in the KAL who finish a pair within the time frame is called HiyaHiya Forbidden City Socks. I figured socks would give me a good test and mix of techniques.
Whether knitting in the round or flat the yarn is friendly to work with. It does not distort or stretch unpleasantly. When you want it to give it gives and when you want it to hold it holds. I got one sock done and am currently working on the second. When the second is done I will update with a picture of the pair.
Whether knitting in the round or flat the yarn is friendly to work with. It does not distort or stretch unpleasantly. When you want it to give it gives and when you want it to hold it holds. I got one sock done and am currently working on the second. When the second is done I will update with a picture of the pair.
Final Thoughts
All in all I find this yarn a great fingering weight yarn. From hand to the richness of color the yarn really does have the whole package. Good yardage (218 yds) and a reasonable price ($2.99 per skein) are well balanced. The only detraction's which keep me from giving this a five stitch marker rating for this line is the occasional tendency to ply and the limited color palette. Even with the plying I enjoyed working with the yarn because of it's other positive qualities. Kick up the color palette and include more masculine colors Knit Picks and the rating would easily go from a 4 to a 4.5.
Copyright William Souza 2014
Copyright William Souza 2014
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