YarnSub News: July 2015

How Nylon Can Save Your Knitting

As any sock knitter knows, nylon is often included in a yarn for strength. The heel and toe areas of a sock are subject to pressure and friction which nylon can withstand for longer than wool. So while the wool wears away, the nylon continues to hold the fabric together, albeit generally in a way that's more functional than attractive.

I have a cardigan that has worn in this way: the wool in the elbow area has thinned and in some places gone completely, but the fabric is still held together with the fine nylon thread that formed part of the original yarn.

The cardigan is a Rowan pattern called Kathy, made using Rowan Cork. Cork is made of 90% Merino wool and 10% nylon, and has a chained construction. This combination of chained merino and nylon is unusual, but the reason becomes clear when you see the length of the merino fibers.

Rowan Cork's merino fibers are barely more than an inch long, compared to the merino fibers found in Rowan Big Wool which are closer to 10cm (4 inches). This is the normal staple length (individual fiber length) that you might expect from a Merino sheep.

The shorter fibers present in Cork would easily escape from the traditionally plied yarn structure of Rowan Big Wool, so Rowan combated that by firmly anchoring the fibers within the twists and turns of a chained construction, and added a nylon insurance policy. That strategy seems to have worked because while the elbows of my Kathy cardigan haven't fared well, the nylon is still holding everything together, and outside of this stress zone the fabric is pretty much the same as the day I knitted it.

As to why the fibers that make up Cork are so short, I'm not sure. The strand of yarn that is formed into the final knitted tube construction has almost no twist and lots of space between the jumbled fibers. This makes Cork light and lofty with good yardage for a bulky weight yarn. Perhaps that would not be possible with longer fibers.

But what to do about my patchy elbow? Visible mending was an option (see examples here, here and here), but I happened to have kept in my stash a leftover ball of the original yarn. So I decided on some invisible mending using duplicate stitch, following the nylon guideline to recreate the knitted fabric.

Purl Bee have a good tutorial for duplicate stitch if you're unsure how to do it. I underestimated how much more difficult it would be to duplicate my barely-there nylon stitches compared to working with a more robust fabric. I pulled my work out twice but it was third time lucky, and I was very happy with the result!

New and Discontinued Yarns

New Bendigo Woollen Mills Milky Way and Malabrigo Yarn Mora

New

Adriafil
Filobello – DK – 80% Acrylic, 20% Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors

Araucania
Huasco DK – DK – 100% Merino Wool – Tightly plied – Tonal colors, Multi-colored

Baa Ram Ewe
Dovestone – DK – 100% Wool – 2 plies – Solid colors, Heathers

Be Sweet
Simply Sweet Satisfaction – Worsted – 60% Wool, 20% Kid Mohair, 20% Superfine Alpaca – Plied – Solid colors, Tonals

Bendigo Woollen Mills
Milky Way – DK – 84% Superwash Wool, 16% Milk Protein – Plied – Solid colors

Berroco
Artisan – Worsted – 80% Wool, 20% Silk – 2 plies – Tonal colors
Brisa – Worsted – 51% Mohair, 43% Nylon, 6% Wool – Chained – Solid colors, Tonals
Colora – DK – 70% Superwash Wool, 30% Acrylic – Plied – Heathered colors
Folio Luxe – Worsted – 65% Alpaca, 25% Viscose, 8% Acrylic, 2% Metallic – 2 plies – Solid colors with metallic strands
Gusto – Super Bulky – 45% Wool, 45% Acrylic, 10% Viscose – Thick and thin – Multi-colored
North Star – Bulky – 92% Alpaca, 8% Nylon – Fuzzy – Heathered colors

Debbie Bliss
Elektra – Super Bulky – 44% Wool, 44% Acrylic, 12% Nylon – Fuzzy – Tonal colors, Multi-colored
Lara – Super Bulky – 58% Wool, 42% Alpaca – Single wrapped with thread – Semi-solid colors

Ella Rae
Classic Merino Superwash – Bulky – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors
Cozy Alpaca Chunky – Bulky – 70% Acrylic, 30% Baby Alpaca – Plied – Solid colors
Lace Merino Aran – Aran – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Tightly plied – Tonal colors, Multi-colored

Habu Textiles
N-76 Fine Tweedy Silk – Lace – 100% Silk – Tweedy – Tweed colors

Jade Sapphire
Aaah – Aran – 100% Cashmere – Fuzzy – Solid colors
Oooh – Super Bulky – 100% Cashmere – Fuzzy – Solid colors
Re <> Luxe – Bulky – 100% Cashmere – Crepe – Solid colors

Loops & Threads
Rugby – Super Bulky – 100% Acrylic – Plied

Louisa Harding
Amitola Grande – Aran – 80% Wool, 20% Silk – Single ply – Self-striping (gradient)
Trenzar – Aran – 35% Wool, 30% Tencel, 23% Alpaca, 12% Acrylic – Loosely plied – Semi-solid colors

Malabrigo Yarn
Mora – Fingering – 100% Mulberry Silk – 2 plies – Semi-solid colors, Multi-colored

Manos del Uruguay
Gloria – Aran – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Plied – Tonal colors, Multi-colored

Naturally
Delight – Lace – 76% Kid Mohair, 24% Nylon – Brushed bouclé – Solid colors

Noro
A La Mode – Heavy Worsted – 65% Wool, 25% Kid Mohair, 10% Nylon – Single ply – Solid colors
Kureyon Air – Super Bulky – 100% Wool – Single ply – Self-striping (gradient)
Shinroyoku – Aran – 70% Wool, 30% Silk – Single ply – Self-striping marls

Patons (UK)
Fab 4-ply – Fingering – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors
Fairytale Merino Mix DK – DK – 50% Merino Superwash Wool, 50% Nylon – Plied – Solid colors

Phildar
Chameau – Sport – 50% Wool, 50% Camel – 2 plies – Solid colors
Phil Alaska – Super Bulky – 100% Superwash Wool – 2 plies – Solid colors
Phil Alpages – Super Bulky – 16% Wool, 84% Alpaca – Fuzzy – Solid colors
Phil Diamant – Sport – 55% Acrylic, 45% Polyester – Fuzzy – Solid colors with metallic
Phil Express – Super Bulky – 80% Acrylic, 20% Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors
Phil Flanelle – Worsted – 80% Wool, 20% Nylon – Fuzzy – Solid colors
Phil Looping – Bulky – 80% Acrylic, 20% Superwash Wool – 2 plies – Solid colors
Rocaille – Bulky – 25% Acrylic, 27% Superwash Wool, 48% Nylon – Thick and thin – Marled

Premier Yarns
Aurora – Heavy Worsted – 100% Acrylic – Single ply – Self-striping marls
Mega Brushed Chunky – Super Bulky – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping

Schachenmayr Original
Baby Smiles Bravo Baby 100 – Aran – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors
Baby Smiles Bravo Baby 135 – DK – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors
Baby Smiles Lenja Soft – Worsted – 100% Polyester – Fleece style – Solid colors
Baby Smiles Merino Mix – DK – 50% Superwash Wool, 50% Nylon – Plied – Solid colors
Leana – Bulky – 49% Acrylic, 49% Superwash Wool, 2% Nylon – Thick and thin – Multi-colored
Merino Extrafine Silky Soft 120 – DK – 68% Superwash Wool, 32% Tencel – Crepe – Solid colors
Mouliné Art – Super Bulky – 55% Acrylic, 45% Wool – 2 plies – Multi-color marls
Soft Mix – DK – 25% Wool, 30% Alpaca, 45% Nylon – Fuzzy – Solid colors
Wool 125 – DK – 100% Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors
Wool 85 – Aran – 100% Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors

Scheepjes
Linen Soft – DK – 47% Cotton, 27% Linen, 26% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors

Sirdar
Sylvan Chunky – Bulky – 90% Acrylic, 10% Wool – Thick and thin – Tonal colors

Valley Yarns
Hatfield – Lace – 100% Baby Alpaca – 2 plies – Solid colors
Sunderland – DK – 100% Baby Alpaca – Plied – Heathered colors

Wendy
Cairn Aran – Aran – 69% Acrylic, 25% Superwash Wool, 6% Viscose – Single ply – Heathered colors
Celeste DK – DK – 39% Acrylic, 35% Polyester, 13% Mohair, 13% Superwash Wool – Fuzzy with sequins – Solid colors with sequins
Evolve Chunky – Bulky – 50% Wool, 40% Acrylic, 10% Alpaca – Single ply – Self-striping marls

Discontinued

DROPS Design
DROPS Symphony – Bulky – 65% Merino Superwash Wool, 35% Nylon – Fuzzy
DROPS Vienna – Bulky – 90% Mohair, 10% Polyester – Brushed bouclé – Solid colors

Handmaiden Fine Yarn
Great Big Sea – Worsted – 50% Silk, 30% Wool, 20% Sea Cell – Plied – Solid colors, Heathers, Multi-colored

Louisa Harding
Luzia – Super Bulky – 80% Viscose, 20% Nylon – Faux fur – Heathers

Mirasol Yarn
Sami – DK – 100% Wool – Single ply

Noro
Silk Garden Sock – Sport – 40% Wool, 25% Silk, 25% Nylon, 10% Mohair – Single ply – Self-striping (gradient)

Novita
Kaste – DK – 85% Cotton, 15% Viscose – Tweedy
Pampula – Ruffle – 78% Acrylic, 22% Nylon

Plymouth Yarn
Adore – Bulky – 100% Nylon – Faux fur – Solid colors
Baby Alpaca Magna – Super Bulky – 100% Baby Alpaca – Chained
Bazinga – Super Bulky – 53% Wool, 47% Acrylic – Thick and thin – Multi-colored marls
Colca Canyon – Super Bulky – 80% Baby Alpaca, 20% Merino Wool – Chained – Solid colors
Colorando – Aran – 50% Cotton, 50% Acrylic – Loosely plied – Multi-colored marls
Daisy – Bulky – 42% Nylon, 32% Cotton, 26% Acrylic – Fleece style – Solid colors
Dandelion – Worsted – 80% Acrylic, 20% Cotton – Plied – Semi-solid colors
Dreamland Fancy – Super Bulky – 97% Acrylic, 3% Nylon – Bouclé
Grande Glow – Bulky – 97% Baby Alpaca, 3% Metallic – 2 plies – Solid colors with metallic
Holiday Lights – Worsted – 72% Acrylic, 25% Wool, 3% Metallic – Plied – Solid colors with metallic thread
Passion Fur – Ruffle – 100% Acrylic
Revel – Sport – 85% Baby Alpaca, 15% Merino Wool – Single ply
Taria Tweed – Bulky – 40% Merino Wool, 30% Silk, 30% Llama – Tweedy – Tweed colors
Toria – Lace – 80% Kid Mohair, 20% Nylon – Brushed bouclé
Whitney – Aran – 91% Cotton, 9% Nylon – Loosely plied

Schoeller + Stahl
Fortissima Mexiko Cotton Stretch – Fingering – 41% Superwash Wool, 39% Cotton, 13% Nylon, 7% Polyester – Plied – Self-striping (fair-isle effect)

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