Photoless Friday (02): DMC, or not to DMC, that is the question

I admit, it was perfectly by chance that I got started with the Paternayan brand of yarns. It must have been Paternayan, or something exactly like it, that was in the kit of my very first needlepoint project. Even without realizing it at first, I found the Paternayan yarns perfectly adapted to what I wanted:...More...


...

soft, resistant, (mostly) consistent in quality, and just the right size (about as big as a "typical" knitting yarn). Smaller, and it would take even more than it already takes (and it takes a long time, believe me). Larger, and to get any acceptable level of detail, the piece would have to be much bigger, so the working time would be the same, anyway. Finally, there is a very good range of colors in acceptable prices, and all the nearby needlepoint stores carried a good selection.

That was then, this is now.

No nearby stores, heck, no stores not even within the country borders, and so to the cost of any purchase would have to be added any postal costs (never negligible) and sometimes even import taxes. Not to mention the long wait (and risk of the package being...lightened, or even disappearing...during transit).

Having run out of a color, but almost done with a project, I tried substituting knitting yarn. No good. Not resistant enough. After a few pulls through the canvas, it weakens and breaks.

A round of my now local handwork stores later, and my needlepoint future is dark, indeed.

DMC yarns reign.

Nothing wrong with them, mind you. I've felt their woolen yarns, and they seem as soft and reliable as the Paternayan yarns.

So, what's the hubbub?

The DMC woolen yarns are either three times as thick as the Paternayan yarns, resulting forcedly in the must-work-on-an-enormous-canvas-to-get-any-acceptable-level-of-detail situation, or three times as thin, resulting in stitches so tiny that even an ant would have to put on magnifying glasses to work it.

That is, if this latter DMC thread even still exists.

I just looked at their web site. Their "normal" (i.e., thick) size of woolen yarn is called "Colbert." The really thin woolen yarn used to be called "Medici," but I can't find it in their list of yarns, so maybe it's gone the way of the wooly mammoth, replaced by all the fancy schmantsy glittery cotton threads (which I don't like, but for a whole other reason...and blog post).

So, for this Photoless Friday, my wish is that DMC would develop and market a slenderer woolen yarn like Paternayan's.

Just for me.

They'll do it, don't you think?