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 :)

The Haul (Stitches Midwest 2013)

When we were planning this trip back to Wisconsin, I really didn't think about doing anything for myself, necessarily......other than visiting some people that I knew I wanted to see. And then, out of curiosity, I checked to see when Stitches Midwest would be happening...and lo, I discovered that it was the first weekend we'd be back in Wisconsin. I looked at Husband and said, "well, if you're going to go drink beer on that Saturday, I'm going to Chicago and buying yarn." He couldn't really argue. I even managed to have someone watch Little Man. Sherri is the bestest bestie to have when it comes to watching Little Man - her kids entertain him and all she has to do is make sure he eats, has a clean diaper, and doesn't fall off the roof. It works out quite well.

So, Stitches Midwest......the last time I was there was in 2011 :)

I did a lot of driving on Saturday. We drove from Husband's parents house outside of Milwaukee to Mt. Horeb so I could drop Husband off with MegAndy (Megan & Andy), then I drove Little Man back to Sherri's in Stoughton (just south of Madison), and then I had to drive from there to Schaumburg. Normally, Schaumburg isn't that bad of a drive. We could get there in a little over an hour (about an hour and ten minutes)...but there was construction so it took me almost two hours to get there. But, I got there in one piece :)

I only planned on shopping because I didn't know how tired I would be, if I could get down there for an early/late class, and I didn't find any classes that interested me on the days I could be available to go. So, just shopping....and I shopped.

I walked down every aisle, looked in almost every booth (there were a couple that just didn't interest me so I passed them by - which is no fault of the booth owner) and bought things that I knew I'd have to otherwise go online for.

"Enough already, show us the damn photos!"

Okay, okay, photos.....(yes, it's another photo-heavy post)

University of Wisconsin Christmas Stocking kit

University of Wisconsin Button Beanie kit

University of Wisconsin Bucky Ski Hat kit

I picked up these three kits from one of the booths (and yes, I'm forgetting which one off the top of my head). There is a fourth one that I may order and it's for the scarf. The nice thing about these is that it's already set to go - you're given enough yarn, the pattern, and you go.

Four Erin Lane Bags

I have a couple Erin Lane bags that I bought at Stitches Midwest in 2011 and I love them so I was quite pleased to see her again. The three on the right were bagged together as a three-pack and the one on the left was purchased alone. You, too, can own Erin Lane bags by visiting her Etsy Shop (which is currently empty but, you know).

Dazzling Ewe Stitch Marker (found in Miss Babs' booth)

More stitch markers (turtles and some knit/purl yarn balls)

I picked up some stitch markers. The first two sets were found in Miss Babs' booth and they're from Dazzling Ewe (Etsy Shop). The second two sets I, regretfully, don't remember from where I purchased them. But, they're cute.

Signature Needles and carrying case

Last time I was at Stitches Midwest, I picked up six sets of Signature Needle Arts DPNs and a carrying case. I did the same thing this time (but this time I remembered I wanted longer DPNs and I picked different sizes than what I had). I think I've pretty much rounded out my collection of DPNs now...

Stardust

This was the first skein of yarn I picked up. It's from Lost City Knits and the colorway is called Stardust. It is, of course, sock yarn.

Sookie

This was a lovely little booth called Fresh From the Cauldron. She had a lot of colorways inspired by True Blood (and probably other places, as well, but I noticed the True Blood ones). If I had planned to send more boxes home, I may have purchased another skein or two from this booth. It, too, is sock yarn.

"One of a Kind"

These two skeins from Zen Yarn Garden called to me. They're both labeled "one of a kind" but, you know, they look like they came from the same dyepot to me. Actually, there were a few more...but I couldn't bring myself to be a total Zen Yarn Garden hog. Did I mention that this was sock yarn?

Hagrid

I picked up these two lovely little skeins from Jeanette at Sun Valley Fibers. I hadn't planned to buy anything from Jeanette but, you know, she went and named these skeins after one of my favorite Harry Potter characters and I had to own them. ::sigh:: Does the sock yarn ever stop?

Splendour Beetle

Copper Demoiselle

These two skeins were from Cephalopod Yarns, Bugga and Skinny Bugga. I'm a sucker for Bugga and Skinny Bugga so, you know, how could I say, "no" to this? I also got talking to the owner about my having to adjust sock patterns all the time because I have large calves (but thankfully no cankles) and she told me I needed to go to the next booth (and they were basically sharing a booth anyway) and talk to them. They might have a book that can help me out...and apparently the sock yarn isn't ending yet...

Big Foot Knits by Andi Smith

The next booth over was Cooperative Press and this is the book in question. I think this may be my next book review so I'm not going to say much about it now...

 

...other than I got it signed by Miss Andi Smith herself :)

Wattle Cup Caterpillar

I also stopped at The Verdant Gryphon. In the not-too-distant past, Cephalopod Yarns and The Verdant Gryphon were the same company: The Sanguine Gryphon. There was a reason they split and I don't remember the whole story and I don't care to rehash it. Either way, they're now two companies but they kept some of the yarn line names the same (Bugga and Skinny Bugga, for instance). In this case, I picked up another skein of Bugga :) Guess the sock yarn thing isn't going to end...

So, that covers everything....except my two BIG splurges (as if the Signature Needles weren't enough):

Qiviuit Sock Yarn

I picked up this gorgeous skein of Qiviuit blend sock yarn (and the bag) from Bijou Basin Ranch. It says it's sock yarn and it's machine washable. That's grand. However, I'm not sure this skein of yarn wants to grow up to be socks. She kind of balked at the idea, actually. I think she wants to grow up to be a shawlette of some sort. We'll see how things go. For now, she's content being a skein.

Qiviuk

We have finally come to the end of the sock yarn. This yarn is Qiviuk, which is also a blend, from Windy Valley Muskox. It's laceweight, and there are almost 220 yards/skein so I have almost 880 yards to work with. This yarn, too, has not told me exactly what it wants to be when it grows up...they've been arguing. They've agreed that a shawl or a wrap would be nice but they can't agree on anything else (size, shape, etc.). So, they're staying in ball form until they can come to an agreement.


So, there you have my Stitches Midwest 2013 haul :)

C'mon everyone, group photo!