yarn reviews

Extra Soft Merino Grande is a voluminous chunky yarn with great elasticity that knits up into a soft, comfortable fabric on 5-6mm needles. The use of an exclusive plying process to prevent pilling and applying a superwash treatment have created this ‘easy care’ yarn that can be machine washed at 40 ˚c or dry cleaned with care. It’s a lovely rounded yarn with has good stitch definition which makes it ideal for textured knitting, lace patterns or cables. It’s affordable and with a range of 20 colours, shown here in Eggplant, and designs for men, women and kids it’s a great all round yarn for the family.

Composition:    100% Merino wool

Weight: 50g

Length: 80m

Rec needle size: 5-6mm

RRP:    £4.75

Contact: Coats Crafts UK

Green Lane Mill

Holmfirth

West Yorkshire

England

HD9 2DX

Tel: 01484 681881

Email:    consumer.ccuk@coats.com

Website: www.knitsmc.com

Despite its bulk, Alpaca Chunky is beautifully soft and amazingly lightweight due to its knitted tubular construction. The individual stitches in some knitted yarns can cause them to snag on the needles as you work but knitting with this was both quick and smooth. It knits to a tension of 11 sts and 14 rows on 10mm needles, which makes the resulting fabric warm and comforting to wear. The colour palette may be limited to just four shades but there are plenty of designs to choose from both in the Winter Warmers collection and Kim Hargreaves’ latest book Shadows. Designed by Martin Storey, Winter Warmers is published by Rowan and includes over thirty accessories from cosy scarves, hats and mittens to shrugs and bags. Hand washing is recommended

Composition:    98% Alpaca, 2% polyamide

Weight: 100g

Length: 70m

Rec needle size: 10mm

RRP: £10.95

Contact: Rowan

Green Lane Mill

Holmfirth

West Yorkshire

HD9 2DX

Tel: 01484 681 881

Email: mail@knitrowan.com

Website: www.knitrowan.com

Essentials Alpaca Chunky is a 50/50 blend of superfine alpaca and Highland wool. The result is a soft rounded yarn with a tension of 14 sts and 19 rows to 10 cm, which means it knits up in no time with well defined results. Like the DK version it comes in a range of six classic, natural alpaca shades – Beige, Camel, Dark Brown, Light Grey, Anthracite and Nature, shown in the knitted sample – all of which would easily fit into your existing wardrobe. In terms of pattern support there’s a collection of eight individual ladies patterns including cabled sweaters and ribbed tops plus smaller projects like mittens, hats and scarves all with a contemporary twist. It brilliantly combines affordability with a touch of luxury. Hand washing is recommended

Composition: 50% Superfine alpaca, 50% Highland wool

Weight: 50g

Length: 70 m

Rec needle size: 7mm

RRP: £4.69

Contact: Rico Design

Website: www.rico-design.co.uk