This is a picture-heavy post. To get to the full entry with the photos of the swatches knitted with the two-ply and Navajo/chain-plied sample yarn, click on the post title above, or on the ‘Continue Reading’ link next to the ‘Responses’ link below.

Washed, blocked, dried:

Left: two-ply swatch. Right: Navajo-ply swatch.

Close up of pattern. Again, left: two-ply; right: Navajo-ply. (No, the picture isn’t out of focus on the left; that’s how much clearer the n-ply swatch pattern is.)

The two-ply.

The Navajo-ply.

They both have characteristics I like and don’t like. New things I noticed: The two-ply is lighter and flatter. The Navajo-ply has more depth and dimension to it.

Ultimately, I think I’m going to go with the Navajo-ply. For this pattern, I prefer the look the n-ply creates. It looks… lacier. The two-ply blooms and relaxes, filling in the lace pattern too much, and the irregularities in the yarn make it look a bit battered. It does have that charming homespun and homemade look to it, but part of the point of this project was to provide a bit of sophistication, and the n-ply provides that more than the two-ply does. When I do n-ply these singles, I’m going to put less twist into them than I put into the sample, though.

Well, thank the gods that’s decided. I didn’t realise how much it was bothering me until the decision was made.

ETA @ 16h10: Oh, yes, this was absolutely the right decision. Spun with less twist, this yarn’s going to have the best of both the test two-ply and the test Navajo-ply. I am very, very happy.