Yarn Review: Sanguine Gryphon Little Traveller

Happy Tuesday!

I suppose it's time for another yarn review :) I'm on no sort of set schedule for these so it's just going to happen whenever I feel like it.

The purpose of my yarn reviews: to review a yarn from my stash that I have either used in the past or am currently using for a project. The review may or may not include multiple types of the same yarn or multiple different yarns on the same day. The yarns in question are, unless otherwise specified, coming from my own stash and have been purchased either by me or for me (example: birthday present from Husband), and are for my use (which may or may not include my own design work). I've not been paid nor received any non-monetary compensation for the yarn reviews. The reviews are of my own opinion, based on my personal experiences. In addition, they may or may not coincide with the thoughts of other fiber enthusiasts.

Sanguine Gryphon Little Traveller

1. Information about the Company: Sanguine Gryphon, sadly, closed in 2012 for various reasons, most of which I cannot remember. However, it was split into two different companies: Verdant Gryphon and Cephalopod Yarns. Sadly, Cephalopod Yarns also closed up shop in 2014, for what I seem to remember being medical reasons, but I could be wrong. With that said, the yarn in question can be found through Verdant Gryphon and is, in fact, the same yarn. So, we could also say that this yarn is Verdant Gryphon Little Traveller.

2. Other yarns offered: Bugga, Skinny Bugga, Mithril, Eidos, and many others. Ravelry lists 28 different bases from Sanguine Gryphon. However, with the splitting of the company, some of the bases went to Cephalopod and others went to Verdant Gryphon. The four listed all went to Verdant Gryphon.

3. Information about the yarn:

     - Official Name: Little Traveller

     - Fiber Content: 100% superwash merino

     - Skein weight/yardage: 4 oz (~ 113 g)/560 yds

     - Gauge: 8-9 sts/inch on US #1 (2.25 mm) needles (Verdant Gryphon's website says 8.5 sts/inch)

     - Yarn weight: Light fingering

     - Washing instructions: machine washable but for best results, handwash & lay flat to dry

     - Where to purchase: As Sanguine Gryphon is defunct, you can order the same yarn base from Verdant Gryphon (website linked above) but if you're insistent on having Sanguine Gryphon, you can dig through destashes on Ravelry. It's going to run you $27 from Verdant Gryphon but I've seen it going for around $18-$22 in the destashes. 

4. Review (why you're really here!):

     - PROS:

          1. Machine washable. I have children; this is always a bonus. 

          2. Lovely stitch definition! Once things are washed and blocked, everything just evens out and it's great. 

          3. Even though it can be splitty (see "CONS"), it's still a tough yarn. It's going to be very difficult to break. When I was frogging my shawl to restart it (which you'll see below), there was a spot where the yarn tangled up and I couldn't break it apart. I had to get out scissors to break it. As a result, I still have a teeny little ball of yarn that I'm not sure what to do with. Perhaps I'll make an artsy fartsy mini-skein. 

          4. Doesn't pill. Often, you'll work with wool yarns that will pill after washing once or twice. This yarn doesn't seem to do it. I don't know if it's the superwash processing or the fiber itself but it doesn't pill. Yes, you may find a fluff here and there but I think that happens with almost any yarn. 

     - CONS:

          1. Can be splitty. I've only worked with one skein of this yarn that I bought ages ago (before 2012, obviously) and the biggest complaint I had in my head while knitting was that it was somewhat splitty to work with. If you're aware that it's going to be splitty, it's not a big deal. 

          2. Feels a bit on the scratchy side when you're working with it. To be fair, it softens up quite a bit after washing...but when you're doing the actual work, it's a little scratchy. I actually wondered if I had made a bad choice using the little leftovers I had for my Swirl Hat (pictured below)...but it softened up. In other words, don't let the scratchiness in the skein throw you off! 

          3. Color selection, while lovely colors, are lacking. I think Verdant Gryphon has 12 colors listed for this base. I understand dyeing yarn takes awhile and you can't have every color under the sun......I just wish I had a wider selection. Of course, colors rotate. So the 12 listed today may not be the same colors in a year or two. 

          4. Even within dye lots (yarns dyed together - there really aren't "dyelots" per se), colors vary. So, if you're going to knit something that requires more than one skein, you still may need to alternate the skeins in order to have some sense of uniformity throughout your piece. 

Here are the whole two projects I've made out of my one skein of Little Traveller:

Swirl Hat (link to Project Page)

Pacific Shawl (link to Project Page)

It really is a lovely yarn, don't let my cons fool you :)