Summer Yarn Roundtable

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by Amy R Singer & Keri Williams
Photographs by Amy R Singer

An evening's worth of yarns, wound and ready for sampling at a recent Yarn Roundtable event.

Not every knitter is lucky enough to have a Local Yarn Store nearby. And of course, not every yarn shop can carry every yarn.

The Knitty Yarn Roundtable was created to give knitters more information about yarn than just what's on the ball band.

Once a month, 30 knitters gather in Toronto [the hometown of Knitty's editor] to sample a variety of yarns of every possible description -- from budget to super luxury.

The events are open to anyone who can attend, and are advertised on the Knitty blog and the dedicated Yarn Roundtable blog. Knitters bring their own needles and yarn companies of every size send in yarns they want our readers to try.

Five different yarns from five different manufacturers are sampled at each event by all knitters present who provide their opinions on a standardized form. Yarns that did not receive good feedback will not be featured in Knitty, in accordance with our review policy, so if you see a yarn on these pages, it means the majority of knitters liked it, found it interesting or surprising! Yarns are listed below in alphabetical order by yarn name. This issue's reviews include feedback collected from two different Roundtable events.

Editor's note: All swatches shown were knit by the same knitter using what she felt was the most appropriate needle size for each yarn.

Items are rated on scale of 1-5. Retail prices are in USD.

dislike/disagree/bad

deep love/total agreement/great

Name	Hap'i
Brand	Mirasol
Fiber content	100% Tanguis Cotton
Yardage	132 y \| 100 g
Gauge	4 stitches per inch
Sugg. Retail Price	$10.00

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	squishylicious soft bubbly slubby
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	it is silky yet sturdy it's not as stiff as most cotton yarns I've experienced a little bit fluffy - it fills in the spaces between the stitches to make a solid fabric chunky, squishy – didn't think I'd like knitting with it but I do

Name	Lin
Brand	Drops
Fiber content	100% Linen first class
Yardage	120 m \| 50 g
Gauge	5.25 stitches per inch
Sugg. Retail Price	$7.90

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	shiny straw structural beach
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	bit of a halo from the loose strands coming off the yarn needs a wash to judge fairly lots of 'fly-aways', and stiffer than it looks it is soft compared to other linens

Name	Natural Dyes Lambswool
Brand	Renaissance Dyeing
Fiber content	100% Lambswool
Yardage	250 m \| 20 g
Gauge	laceweight
Sugg. Retail Price	$12.19

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	fine tiny luscious light
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	even though it is lamb's wool, which I usually find very scratchy, it was very soft to knit with very crisp but hard to keep even has a nice halo how very fine it is – it feels like knitting with thread

Name	Pima cotton + silk handpaint
Brand	Misti Alpaca
Fiber content	83% Pima Cotton, 17% Silk
Yardage	327 y \| 100 g
Gauge	5.5-6 stitches per inch
Sugg. Retail Price	$16.00

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	rich kid campfire soft lovely subtle
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	nice varigation once it is knit up. It looks wooly in the ball, but silky once it is knit I've totally fallen in love and am fantasizing about knitting a sweater with this it knits more nicely than it feels in the ball it has more give than you'd expect

Name	2nd Time Cotton
Brand	Knit One Crochet Too
Fiber content	75% Recycled Cotton, 25% Acrylic
Yardage	180 y \| 100 g
Gauge	4.25 stitches per inch
Sugg. Retail Price	$6.95

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	earthy t-shirt splitty moppy
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	this would be great for making bags from. Nice and strong, but a bit splitty knits up much softer than expected the yarn is splitty it is softer in the hand than other cottons I've tried

Name	Seduce
Brand	Berroco
Fiber content	47% Rayon, 25% Linen, 17% Silk, 11% Nylon
Yardage	100 y \| 40 g
Gauge	5 stitches per inch
Sugg. Retail Price	$8.50 [solids] $9.00 [variegated]

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	slinky shiny luxurious glamorous
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	very slippery. Something paper-like about it it is very stiff. Would make great fake chainmail very uneven stitches and a little stiff to knit with great for openwork. Knits up nicely. I like the way the light changes as the stitches move

Name	Soxx Appeal
Brand	Knit One Crochet Too
Fiber content	96% Superwash Merino, 3% Nylon, 1% Elastic
Yardage	208 y \| 50 g
Gauge	8 stitches per inch
Sugg. Retail Price	$8.50

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	sproingy stretchy boing! vibrant
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	really easy on the fingers because of the stretch very stretchy in all directions it looks nice on larger gauges (knitted on US 6) the plies act really weird as you knit. They come apart and twist around

Name	Studio Silk
Brand	Stitch Diva Studios
Fiber content	100% Plied Silk
Yardage	120 y \| 50 g
Gauge	5.25 stitches per inch
Sugg. Retail Price	$15.50

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	dreamy sensuous elegant lustrous
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	so soft so soft. Love! I am not usually a fan of silk but this is everything silk should be very soft to knit; not splitty at all not pilly like many silks

Name	Winter Lace
Brand	Mountain Colors
Fiber content	50% Wool, 50% Silk
Yardage	1200 y \| 100 g
Gauge	7-8 stitches per inch
Sugg. Retail Price	$36.00

overall impression
would you buy it?
how does it feel in the ball?
how does it feel knit up?
is it fairly priced?
how's the stitch definition?
drapey [1] or stiff [5] ?
describe it in one word	subdued lush ephemeral skinny
what's the one thing you couldn't know about this yarn until you knit with it?	varigation is failry subtle, yarn is dramatically softer when knit up the colours flow beautifully the colour transitions are short but soft knits up nice and fuzzy. Subtle varigation

© 2009 Knitty magazine. The information shown in this column is mathematically averaged from a standardized questionnaire completed by each Yarn Roundtable participant. Yarn Roundtable participants are not compensated for their participation and each questionnaire is anonymous. The opinions expressed on this page are those of the Yarn Roundtable attendees and not of Knitty.com

Do you make yarn you'd like us to sample at a future Knitty Yarn Roundtable night?
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