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Five Tips: Choose the Perfect Material for Your Knit!
As we can spend many, many hours working on a single knitting project, it is well worth taking a bit of time when choosing the yarn. But what exactly should you know about fibres and pay attention to in the yarn store? We gathered a few key points every knitter should consider, and also asked Benoit de Larouzière, the owner of Fonty, a French yarn company, to share his knowledge.
For Benoit, environmental and ethical aspects are especially important when choosing fibres for his yarns. “I always prefer identifiable and local fibres and traced production processes,” he says.
1. Understand the fibre families
The category knitters are most familiar with is animal fibres, ie. yarn made from the wool, down or fur of mammals. In general, animal fibres are soft and warm. The second category is plant fibres, such as cotton, linen and hemp, which are strong but not especially warm or soft. The third category is synthetic fibres. This means fibres made from oil (eg. polyester or nylon) or natural materials (eg. viscose, made from bamboo or wood). In its own category is silk, which is produced by animals (silk moth larvae), but is unlike the more directly sourced animal fibres. Silk is usually strong, warm and shiny.
2. Experiment with different fibres
“The ‘mother’ fibre that fits almost every knitting project is the Merino fibre,” Benoit says, but immediately adds that Merino (the very soft wool of Merino sheep) is not the only or even necessarily the best fibre to choose. “In fact, there is no ‘bad’ fibre for yarns.” Even the rougher fibres have their place, for example in felted items, rugs or wall-hangings. In addition to Merino, alpaca and cashmere are also popular among today’s knitters. Alpacas’ fur doesn’t contain lanolin, so it may suit people with wool allergies. It is considered to be warmer and drapier than wool, but lacks its elasticity. Cashmere comes from the undercoat of cashmere goats that live mostly in Central Asia. The wool is warm and fine, resulting in beautiful, smooth yarns.
3. Embrace blended yarns
It is common for yarn to consist of more than one fibre. Combining different fibres is done to bring out the best of each fibre’s characteristics, such as the warmth of wool and the shine of silk, or the strength of nylon. Sometimes, different fibres are used to bring a certain texture to the yarn. For example, says Benoit, bouclé yarn has a core “made of very strong fibres (silk or polyamide) around which mohair or alpaca fibres are spun to give it a ‘hairy’ look”. His favourite blends include yak/Merino, Merino/mohair and Merino/alpaca. “They make very balanced, beautiful and enjoyable knitting yarns.”
4. Be mindful of colours
“Animal fibres were living materials, which means that each batch of raw material has its own natural colour,” Benoit says. So, try to get enough yarn for the entire project from the same colour batch. “To reach the same colour on a yarn, the generic pigment formula must be slightly adapted from one batch to the other, which is also the reason for so-called ‘bath gaps’ (the tiny differences of shade between identically coloured balls).” In addition, some fibres are more adapted to dyeing processes than others. “Especially dark fibres, such as Portuguese Merino or brown yak, are more beautiful undyed, and others, especially light-coloured sheep wool, can really be enhanced by pigments.” You may need to use a different fibre for that natural-coloured sweater and the bright shawl — to make the most of your desired colour scheme.
5. Take good care of your knit
Whatever fibre you choose, one thing that determines how well your knit lasts is how you take care of it. In almost every case, even for fibres with a superwash treatment, a cold-water wash with organic soap is the best option. “Avoid friction, to eliminate the risk of felting. Never use domestic dryers — a slow drying process with the knit laid flat on a towel is always better,” Benoit says. After all those hours of knitting, you have something that might last a lifetime.
TEXT: PAULIINA KUUNSOLA
ILLUSTRATION: HANNA-RIIKKA HEIKKILÄ
This feature was first published in Laine issue 29.
