Knitting with Deluxe Worsted Tweed Superwash

This week we’re going to look at knitting with the Deluxe family of yarns developed by Universal Yarns. There are 9 different lines in this yarn family. Today I want to highlight Deluxe Worsted Tweed Superwash.

Deluxe Worsted Tweed Superwash comes in 14 classic subdued colors. The whole spectrum of the rainbow is included, but don’t think primary brights! Instead think of calm and stoic colors that have stood the test of time in ever-changing fashion fads. Pictured above is the rich Garnet color (#901). I also made some swatches with Pine (#905) and Porcelain (#910) as you’ll see below.

All of the colors are speckled with black, camel, and taupe flecks which grounds them in an earthy way and also makes it easy to use several different base colors because the flecks are consistent throughout. I worked with the worsted weight, but the double knitting (DK) line has parallel colors.

Deluxe Worsted Tweed Superwash is a traditional 4-ply yarn. The twist is excellent for showing off texture and for giving the yarn — and therefore the knits you work up with it — a lot of structural integrity. I count roughly 12 twists per inch. The fiber content is 90% superwash wool, and the flecks are made of 7% acrylic and 3% viscose. My guess is that the flecks are spun and dyed, cut and combed first and then re-combed with the wool fibers so that the flecks get entangled in the wool fibers before they are spun into the 4 single plies which are then plied together. This would explain how they get the flecks consistent across the different colorways.

One of my true tests for quality of a tweed yarn is the distribution of the flecks and whether they appear evenly throughout the yarn so that they’re no glaring gaps in the knits once they’ve been worked up. Deluxe Worsted Tweed Superwash lives up to my “test” as you can see below

Although the “go to” needle size for a worsted yarn is US 7 [4.5mm], the ball band recommends size 6 US [4 mm] needles, and I knitted these swatches with US 8 [5mm]. I think the springiness of the yarn lends itself to being knit with different needle sizes depending on what you want to achieve. As far as getting gauge for your “go to” worsted weight sweater, Deluxe Worsted Tweed Superwash is a great substitution yarn because you can get between 16 and 20 stitches per 4” [10cm] depending on the needle size and your tension.

In this picture, you can see a little two-color knitting in the background. That is what we’re going to delve into tomorrow. Stay tuned!