[swatch comparison] Sarnia Cherie

You all really love Sarnia Cherie! And with good reason – it combines simple stitches in a stunningly-beautiful way.

The original was knit up in the Unique Sheep’s Green Sheep Cotton Bamboo in the colorway Ocean Wind, but we wanted to try it out in a few of their other yarns and colorways (just a few others – because they have TONS). If you ever have a few hours to spare, go browsing their yarns and colorways. Wow. Just wow. And sorry that you lost 3 hours in your browsing :/

The Unique Sheep was happy to send us several yarns and colors for us to try. We told them to send us a variety of colors and weights since, really, this is for all of you. We didn’t want our personal color preferences to be at play here. Because, let’s face it – you’d get 6 shades of pink and purple, and possibly a teal or turquoise thrown in for good measure.

We’ve given you pictures of each swatch plus some of our thoughts on it (spoiler alert – we loved all of them!).

Oh – and the edges are done in seed stitch. As you’ll see in the pre-blocking pics, seed stitch squishes up a bit. I fixed that during blocking, but it behaves similarly to garter stitch in that way.

BTW, the names in bold are just the way I referred to them in my head, and I thought it would be a good way for you to be able to distinguish between them all as well.

Red Aran

Super Wool Aran in the Suzie Q colorway

Aran weight, knit on US 9 (5.5 mm)

This was my last swatch and the needles really felt like these humongous sticks. But I also enjoyed how quickly it knitted up into a substantial swatch.

Go figure – larger yarn knits up faster. Story at 11.

I loved how plumpy the cables got in this yarn! And, the texture of the diamonds really stands out.

And even though this is a “solid”, the yarn does have some lighter and darker tones to it – just adding to the beauty.

Maple

SuperWool (100% Superwash Merino) in the Maple Tree Way colorway

DK weight, knit on US 5 (3.75 mm)

I was concerned that the colors of the yarn would hide the beautiful texture and stitches – but it really didn’t!

While I don’t think you see them quite as well as you do on some of the others, you do still see them quite a bit.

Lesson here – you can successfully use a multi as long as the colors are all similar. I do NOT think we’d have similar results if this yarn was a true multi (with lots of different colors). The eye would be drawn to that, and at the expense of seeing the gorgeous patterning.

Yellow Dots

Green Sheep (100% Organic Combed Cotton) in the Sun Spot colorway

DK weight, knit on US 5 (3.75 mm)

This was the big surprise for me – I really liked the yarn! I started with this one because I wasn’t looking forward to it (to be honest) but it really surprised me!

The cables flattened in the cotton yarn, but that’s to be expected in a cotton yarn. And given this, the stitch gauge of this swatch – knitted on the same needles as Maple above – was quite a bit wider.

Also, because it’s a cotton, you get less rolling at the edges. As you can see in the pre-blocking pic, you get a good idea of the whole swatch. And much more so than in the wool ones. This is expected and on the flip-side, you don’t get much blooming after a soak. This is just the way a 100% cotton behaves. It’s not good or bad – it just is.

I love the dye-job of this as well – it’s mostly yellow but it has speckles of red and purple. I found myself anticipating the next speckle like a giddy school girl awaiting her present.

Gray

8 Ply Sport SW Merino (100% Superwash Merino) in the Silver colorway

Sport weight, knit on US 5 (3.75 mm)

This made up a lighter-weight shawl that would be great for either the Spring or Fall, and could even work in the Winter. The texture and cables really pop in this yarn.

No surprise since it’s an 8-ply, but wow, this is a beautiful swatch. The 8-ply really made for a tight spin and a gorgeous yarn!

Teal Cashmere

Pashmi (80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon) in the Velvet Teal colorway

Fingering weight, knit on US 2 ½ (2.75 mm)

In my experience, cashmere blends have resulted in a much murkier appearance. I expected that to be the case here, but it wasn’t! It’s a bit less-clear, but I’m thinking some of that is even just the darker color.

I’m not sure if it’s the spin, the dyeing or even the fiber itself – but this is a GORGEOUS yarn. Soft, substantial and superb.

Pink

Kiri (80% Merino, 20% Tussah Silk) in the Valentine 2019 Rose colorway

Fingering weight, knit on US 2 ½ (2.75 mm)

Comparatively, this yarn isn’t as tightly-spun as its neighbor above. But it’s still a gorgeous option!

Personally, if deciding between this and the 8-ply, I think I’d go with this for a Sarnia Cherie shawl. I LOVE 8-ply yarns, But, I think I’d opt for the strength and luster of the silk. But that’s truly a personal preference. You couldn’t go wrong with either of these options.

This is another lighter-weight option that would result in a wonderful shawl. I wouldn’t want to use a 100% wool yarn in the Summertime though (except maybe to fend off air-conditioning), but it would be great for the other seasons. I’d say either of these lighter-weight options would make a great 3-season shawl.

Final Thoughts

One thing I didn’t do, but I would do next time, is to try using a larger needle than what’s recommended for the yarn. There’s the practical benefit of it knitting up faster. There’s also the different – and less-dense, almost airier look that you can get on larger needles.

But even without this step, I’ll say that all these choices from the Unique Sheep are BEAUTIFUL. If someone handed all 6 to me and told me to pick, I’d be hard-pressed to just decide on one. Do yourself a favor and grab a copy of the Sarnia Cherie pattern and some yarn from the Unique Sheep. You won’t be disappointed.