by Wild Bobbin Yarns
Every once in a while, I fall for a yarn that’s outside my comfort zone. That’s what happened with this one: whilst merino is definitely my thing and I love a sparkle as much as the next person, I’d never used a yarn with this much sparkle in it, and I wasn’t sure how it would look and feel knit up. Would that much lurex make it scratchy? Would it split a lot? What would I make with something SO SPARKLY?
These being COVID times, I bought a hank to investigate in person.
I have to be honest, the colour was a big part of the appeal for me. I’m always a sucker for a good blue and while I usually tend darker into navies and teals, this one was bright and happy. I saw it on one of the first sunny January days, and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it. I immediately thought of a glittering sea at some beautiful far away island. The name – Ocean Colour Scene – sealed the deal.
It was just as perky and happy in person – I really have a hard time feeling anything but positive when I look at it – and after an initial squish I decided that a crochet shawl was in order and went off to buy a second hank.
Once that arrived and I had them wound, I tried a bunch of ideas I’d sketched out and noted down, and none of them were quite right. This yarn is a little less soft than I usually work with, and the thicker crochet stitches were giving the fabric a rigidity that I didn’t enjoy.
I put it all aside with a sigh, thinking I’d come back to it much later, but within a couple of days an idea that didn’t pan out for a different yarn had reshaped itself to form a new idea… with a very watery theme.
It’s too early to be talking about that just yet, but now that I’m working with the yarn, I can tell you a bit about what that’s like.
Firstly – it is super glittery. More so than it looks in photos; even in low light there’s a brightness to it. That’s because it’s 34% lurex, which does mean it feels a little synthetic as you’re working with it – kind of like working with a light fingering yarn and a strand of laceweight something else at the same time.
It is also a little more splitty than wool usually is – it’s more like working with cotton or linen in that sense, so I do find I need to take extra care not to accidentally split a stitch. But, if you’ve got pointy needles and glittery, sparkly yarn is your thing, I think it’s well worth it, because I have never seen a yarn this twinkly.
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Merino Sheep
Location: Spain, Australia, New Zealand
Breed: Merino
Microns: 11.5 – 24 microns
Properties: Merino is known for being particularly fine and soft wool.
Lurex
Lurex is the brand name for a specific type of metallic yarn. It’s made from synthetic film coated with a layer of either aluminium, silver, or gold. It differs from stellina, which is more commonly found in sparkle yarns, in that it contains actual metal.
Merino Lurex Sock
Dyer: Wild Bobbin Yarns
Composition: 66% merino, 34% lurex
Superwash: no
Weight: 4-ply
Yardage: 394y / 360m per 100g (4-ply)
Size: 100g
