brainylady

Mohair: Do the math

Mohair is weird, and I don't understand it. I'm doing the prep work for Grace, which I'm dying to make. Karen, the designer, was nice enough to suggest not one specific brand but three in the pattern. On my way home last night, I checked the options at my neighbourhood yarn shop, and there were three -- different from Karen's three. Then I compared the yardage of all six brands, so I can choose the best one from my local shop for my Grace. After a few calculations with a common denominator, here's what I found:

1. Diamohair Bene (which Karen used): 25 g = 89 m
2. GGH Kid Soft (which Karen suggests): 25 g = 140.75 m
3. Rowan Kidsilk Haze (which Karen suggests): 25 g = 207.5 m
4. Gedifra Kid Royal (which is at my LYS): 25 g = 100 m
5. Soft Feather Super Kid Mohair (at my LYS): 25 g = 80 m
6. Schachenmayr Nomotta Hair (at my LYS): 25 g = 95 m

Look at the GGH and Rowan! That's some waaay thinner yarn than the others, right? At first I thought Karen meant we could maybe double the Rowan, so I looked online for gauge info. And here's where it gets really weird: the gauge for the Rowan is OK for Grace. Huh? What's the deal? All I can think of is that the gauge is the same, but the fabric would be much airier with the Rowan than with, say, the Gedifra. Is that it? Or is it that the Rowan isn't that much finer, it just weighs less because it's blended with silk rather than wool or acrylic? Plus, the Gedifra looked much thicker to me than the Schachenmayr, but with 25 grams, you get five meters more of the Gedifra! Can anyone explain any of this to me?

I've never knit with mohair before. I've decided on the Schachenmayr, because it's close in yardage to Karen's yarn, and it's half the price of the other two at my neighbourhood shop. Now, what colour? I plan to buy it on my way home tonight, so I'll let you know tomorrow what I pick.