Most of the test knitting opportunities available on Ravelry offer knitters a free working pattern in exchange for feedback, but if you look hard enough (and respond quickly) there are some tests which include yarn support! I was lucky enough to find such a test for Interlacements Yarns, a small fiber arts company based out of Wisconsin specializing in hand-dyed yarns and rovings. Tracey, (one of the owners) was wonderful to work with!
Sweet Feet
I was sent two skeins of Sweet Feet, a merino/Tussah silk blend sock yarn in two colorways; Mountain Jewel (blues, greens and purple) and Grape Harvest (purples and green). Tussah silk, for those of you who were wondering (I was) is cultivated from wild silk worms living in tropical environs. The silk they produce is brown or beige and is generally more resilient than the white silk produced by domestic silk worms.
The yarn itself is wonderfully soft to wear or knit, with a lovely silk sheen, but it can be a bit splitty if you are not careful. However, the yarn really stands out in terms of colors. All the colorways available feature rich, vibrant colors (more so in real life than on the computer) perfect for luxurious socks, shawls, mitts, etc. (Check the Ravelry test group here for more pics of the colorways).
The sock pattern which I tested (not yet available for purchase) was a fairly basic cuff down sock with a simple picot edging for the cuff, and flaps sewn to the sides of the sock, through which a leather lace can be drawn to tighten the sock up around the ankle. The simplicity of the pattern allows the beautiful colors of the yarn to really shine, but I did run out of yarn before completion of the flaps. Although, this could have been because I was knitting a size 9 pair of women's socks, which felt like the larges pair of socks ever knitted while I was working on them! Any smaller size sock would probably be finished without fault.
Sweet Feet
I was sent two skeins of Sweet Feet, a merino/Tussah silk blend sock yarn in two colorways; Mountain Jewel (blues, greens and purple) and Grape Harvest (purples and green). Tussah silk, for those of you who were wondering (I was) is cultivated from wild silk worms living in tropical environs. The silk they produce is brown or beige and is generally more resilient than the white silk produced by domestic silk worms.The yarn itself is wonderfully soft to wear or knit, with a lovely silk sheen, but it can be a bit splitty if you are not careful. However, the yarn really stands out in terms of colors. All the colorways available feature rich, vibrant colors (more so in real life than on the computer) perfect for luxurious socks, shawls, mitts, etc. (Check the Ravelry test group here for more pics of the colorways).
The sock pattern which I tested (not yet available for purchase) was a fairly basic cuff down sock with a simple picot edging for the cuff, and flaps sewn to the sides of the sock, through which a leather lace can be drawn to tighten the sock up around the ankle. The simplicity of the pattern allows the beautiful colors of the yarn to really shine, but I did run out of yarn before completion of the flaps. Although, this could have been because I was knitting a size 9 pair of women's socks, which felt like the larges pair of socks ever knitted while I was working on them! Any smaller size sock would probably be finished without fault. 
No comments:
Post a Comment