When I was asked to review a new 100% alpaca yarn from Louisa Harding, I readily agreed. I haven't used Louisa Harding yarns before, and this is a yarn that looks a lot like an icord (I love icords), and I hadn't used one of those either.
The Details: The yarn arrived in a 50g / 90m hank, with a recommended needle size of 6mm. It can be hand washed at 30 degrees but not tumble dried. Gauge is 18sts x 24 rows to 10cm. The yarn is priced at £6.25 per hank from Black Sheep Wools where it's available in twelve different colours.
You can probably see from the photos that it is a very light, soft and fluffy yarn with a slight sheen. It is also clear that it snags really easily - there were a few pulls before I wound it into a ball, and I had to take my rings off to work with it.
I had 90m to try and a few sketches later I came up with a little project that wouldn't need much yarn and which would satisfy the need to feel it with my hands...
You can probably see from the photos that it is a very light, soft and fluffy yarn with a slight sheen. It is also clear that it snags really easily - there were a few pulls before I wound it into a ball, and I had to take my rings off to work with it.
I had 90m to try and a few sketches later I came up with a little project that wouldn't need much yarn and which would satisfy the need to feel it with my hands...
I made the mitts 2-at-a-time (from either end of the same ball as I didn't know quite how much I'd need) and they were constructed as follows. Total time was a couple of hours, so a nice quick fix!
- Using 6mm needles, cast on 30 stitches per mitt, with the long tail cast on
- Work 2x2 rib for 18 cm (which is 2cm less than the widest part of my hand)
- Bind off in pattern and cut yarn, leaving enough yarn to sew up
- Decide which is the RS, and that both mitts match before sewing, then turn so that the right sides are together
- For a mitt with thumb-hole: leave a gap in the required place while sewing up,
- For a cuff: sew the entire cast-on and bind-off edges together
- Using a 35mm pompom maker, make two or more pompoms (contrasting colours would be fun!) and sew them onto buttons so they can be moved/detached if wearing the mitts with long sleeves etc. (The pompoms double as a cute brooch/shawl pin!)
After completing the project, there are some really clear pros and cons to this yarn.
The Pros:
- Susurro is an incredibly soft and tactile yarn
- It is really warm while being lightweight
- It makes awesome pompoms
- This yarn is very stretchy and would be really good for gift items like hats and cowls that benefit from some variation in size,
...but bear in mind the following...
The Cons:
- It is really easy to snag which is really the only real downside for what is a lovely yarn, and because of this, care is needed when knitting as it's easy to put the needle through the yarn.
Overall I like it and the feeling of the knitted fabric is wonderful. (Did I mention how soft it is??) I am thinking about getting more to make a hat as it feels lovely against the skin. However the snagging is an issue that can't be ignored. You'd need to choose wisely when deciding what to knit with this... and you'd have to stay well away from cats!!!
Hi, I love your craft, is beauty, I love a colors, I follow your blog, hugs from Brazil.
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Ooo, that looks like such lovely wool, but can you imagine if the cat got it! Ouch!
ReplyDeleteI love that you made them both at the same time from either end of the ball, I do that all the time for little matching things and my family told me I was nuts. Apparently not. If you do it too I feel completely vindicated!
I'm a real sucker for Louisa Harding! I've not used this, but I think the snagging would drive me a bit mad. :) x
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