The latest yarn reviews
Explore cool cottons, soft colourways, fab flu and sock-making sensations
SIRDAR SNUGGLY SNOWFLAKE
You’re in for a treat, this exciting new yarn is the softest yarn imaginable, and is fast attracting the love of knitters around the world. Squishy but flu y, knitting with Sirdar Snuggly Snowflake is a little like knitting with fleece, so it’s no surprise that it’s gorgeous to hold in your hand and, unlike some faux fur yarns, flows easily through your fingers. Surprisingly quick to knit with, the resulting fabric is ideally suited to beautiful baby blankets and cushions, jackets and bootees, which will come with plenty of reliable stretch. Find it in ten sweet, soft colours to suit your baby’s nursery or wardrobe.
RRP £3.50 WEIGHT Chunky BALL 50g/124m NEEDLE 5mm CONTENT 100% polyester
CARE Machine wash on wool cycle
Visit www.sirdar.com for stockists information
CASCADE YARNS MIRAFLORES PAINTS
Hand-painted by artists in Peru, Miraflores Paints is an alpaca blend yarn with exciting, international roots. Each luxuriously soft skein is packed with themed colour, which delivers a pretty, mottled pattern to your fabric. Its carefully created colour range has been designed to meld with the solid colours from the same Miraflores range. Miraflores Paints knits up into a soft, resilient fabric with an impressive halo promising you warm garments that’ll stand the test of time. Notice the super-soft e ect that the alpaca element delivers to your knitting. The colour we’ve swatched in is Lavender Grey but there are five more to choose from.
RRP £18 WEIGHT Aran BALL 100g/135m NEEDLE 5.5mm CONTENT 80% alpaca, 20% nylon CARE Hand wash cool
Visit www.lovecrafts.com or call 01409 404010 to buy
MARRINER YARNS COTTON DK
Celebrate summer with a 100% cotton yarn. At first touch this yarn is silky and smooth all in one 201m/100g ball. It makes you want to whip it up into something super-special for evenings out and day trips. Luckily, its robust fabric and DK weight makes breathable garments with ease. Cotton DK is the new addition to the Marriner Yarns range and comes in solid and variegated colour options – we love peach (above) but there’s also a minty green Aqua, deep purple Plum, variegated Pistachio and Smokey Blue in the 14-shade range. When you’re done with all the knitting you can machine wool wash at 30°C.
RRP £2.50 WEIGHT DK
BALL 100g/201m NEEDLE 3.25-4mm CONTENT 100% mercerised cotton CARE Machine wash at 30°C
Visit www.marrineryarns.com for stockists information
CYGNET 100% COTTON
Cotton, and a light twist during processing, have been combined to create this super soft, natural cotton yarn from Cygnet. Its subtle twist helps to deliver a beautiful stitch definition to your fabric, finishing garments and toys perfectly. It’s accompanied by a substantial drape too. A spectrum of 10 pretty shades make up this yarn’s range – from Pepper (above) and Smokey Purple, to deep blue Lagoon and perky Peony Pink. Each shade has been carefully considered, matching the other shades in the range e ortlessly. Consider this gorgeous yarn for your summer knits, you won’t be disappointed.
RRP £2.69 WEIGHT DK BALL 100g/200m NEEDLE 4mm CONTENT 100% cotton CARE Machine wash at 40°C
Visit www.cygnetyarns.com or call 01274 743374 for stockists
RICO SUPERBA VINTAGE 4PLY
Are you looking for a touch of refinement to add to your sock knitting bag? Superba Vintage 4ply (which comes in nine exciting colourways), is made up of 75% wool and 25% polyamide and knits into a tough sock fabric that’s perfect for your favourite patterns. This yarn unwinds to a whopping 420 metres, filling your needles quickly and creating a truly enjoyable crafting experience. The results are a rich, variegated fabric, with a pleasing drape, which promises warmth and strength. Check out its beautiful shade mixes, from Salmon Mix (above) to Fuchsia Mix and Lilac Mix.
RRP £6.99 WEIGHT 4ply
BALL 100g/420m NEEDLE 2-3mm CONTENT 75% virgin wool, 25% polyamide CARE Machine wash at 40°C
Visit www.blacksheepwools.com or call 01925 764231 to buy
NOVITA WOOLLY WOOD
Novita’s latest launch, Woolly Wood, is made from 70% modal and 30% Merino wool. It’s the first yarn to be launched into Novita’s Earth Collection and is fully biodegradable. Its DK weight produces a neat, refined stitch which makes knitting smooth and incredibly easy. Once worked up into a fabric swatch we fell in love with its shimmery look and luxurious drape. Woolly Wood is a cabled yarn, designed to bring out the beauty of cable knits. Scoop it up in one of 10 colours, or mix them together successfully to create Fair Isle that’s perfect for garments and more. Add it to your birthday list!
RRP £7.50 WEIGHT DK BALL 100g/225m NEEDLE 4mm CONTENT 70% modal, 30% Merino wool CARE Machine wash at 40°C
Visit www.deramores.com or call 0845 519 4573 for stockists