Yarn Tasting: Harrisville Designs Watershed

When I first heard about Harrisville Designs’ Watershed yarn, I knew I needed to give it a try. Harrisville Designs sent me three skeins to sample—Birch Bark, Mallard, and Meadows.

The Yarn

Watershed is part of Harrisville Designs’ Hydroline, which helps fund the restoration of hydropower at the mill—what could be better than clean, renewable energy to make your yarn? Watershed is a worsted weight yarn, and the other two lines—Flywheel and Turbine—are sportweight and bulky weight, respectively.

Watershed is a 100% wool two-ply yarn, with 20 heathered shades to choose from. Each colorway is named after things observed along rivers, lakes, and streams while canoeing through the watershed in Harrisville, New Hampshire.

Each 1.75 ounce (50 g) skein of Watershed is about 110 yards (100 m). Shown left to right are Meadows, Birch Bark, and Mallard.

The Swatches

I started my yarn tasting by knitting a large stockinette swatch in the Birch Bark colorway. I began with size 6 (4 mm) needles, then knit a section with size 7 (4.5 mm) needles, and finished my swatch with size 8 (5 mm) needles.

For my second swatch, I wanted to try some texture, so I cast on a smaller swatch for Mari Tobita’s Pocket Pullover.

Upon closer inspection, Pamela’s large swatch in Birch Bark reveals flecks of blues, greens, and purples. See if you can spot bits of red, orange, and yellow in the smaller swatch, knit in the Meadows colorway.

Tasting Notes

One of the things that really stood out to me about this yarn was the depth of the heathering in each colorway. At first glance, Birch Bark is a light blue. But the more you look, the more you see—flecks of denim blue, seafoam green, and even a dusky purple. Meadows, a dark gold, has flecks of red, orange, and yellow. Mallard is a deep, inky green with hints of grass green, cobalt blue, red, and yellow. The result is a range of yarns that pair effortlessly with each other, and a knitted fabric that looks like a solid color from a distance but has lots of visual interest up close.

The surface of my stockinette swatch was velvety, and my twisted rib swatch was delightfully squishy. Although I sampled this yarn with a variety of knitting needle sizes, I couldn’t pick a favorite—it works nicely at a range of gauges. Watershed is a woolen-spun yarn, meaning there’s lots of air in the yarn, making it lightweight but warm. While some woolen-spun yarns tend to break if you pull too tightly as you knit, Watershed was nice and strong while still having a pleasant hand.

Harrisville describes Watershed as soft-spun, minimally processed, super-heathered, and cushy. Pamela’s swatches yielded a velvety texture with nice squish factor.

What to Cast On?

I’d happily knit a range of garments like hats, mittens, and even a sweater using Watershed. The Montana Mittens, Pocket Pullover, and Rancher’s Cowl would all be great options.

Pamela is considering knitting the Montana Mittens, Pocket Pullover, or Rancher’s Cowl in Watershed—now to select a colorway! Photos by Gale Zucker

When I first saw it, I knew this yarn would be a fantastic choice for stranded colorwork. Because it has two plies, it has enough definition to show off the color motifs but still allows the stitches to blend with each other for a uniform fabric. And because Watershed is a lightweight woolen yarn, a colorwork garment knitted from it won’t be too heavy. I might have skipped the recommended swatching in the round (don’t tell the yarn police!) and cast on Tressa Weidenaar’s Homelands Hat. The result was a quick, fun knit—perfect for last-minute gifting.

The Homelands Hat would make a lovely last-minute gift for anyone on your list.

Subscribers can find all these patterns—and more—in the Farm & Fiber Knits Library.

Resources

• How to Read a Gauge Swatch
  
• How to Make Yarn Substitutions with Confidence