In the last 10 years, I’ve had the opportunity to knit with lots of sock-weight self-striping yarn spun out of washable sheep’s wool. But no doubt you’ve felt like I do, that a worsted weight version would be so nice to try because projects would be just that much quicker to knit. What do you know? I finally found the perfect self-striping, washable, worsted weight yarn. This week, I’m sharing with you my experiences designing and knitting with Universal Yarn Deluxe Stripes!
Dragonfruit is the name of this amazing colorway of Deluxe Stripes.
I like to knit with washable sheep’s wool, especially when it’s meant to be a gift for someone who may not be into handwashing, or when the item will need frequent washes. Deluxe Stripes will certainly hold up to that. The nylon that is blended with the wool is there for strength and doesn’t take away from the softness or elasticity of the yarn.
This yarn also passes my “next-to-the-neck” test for the prickly factor. It’s not scratchy, but for those who wonder about blocking, it does have a slight “tooth” to it, so it will hold a blocking very well.
From left to right: Timber, Cornucopia and Nebula are 3 of the more subdued colorways of Deluxe Stripes
I find that the stripes are very evenly spaced. The color changes are mostly clean and abrupt. Some of them have about 2” of overlapping colors or speckled areas where the dye sprayers changed from one to the other. For people who don’t need the gradient look in their projects, this is ideal.
The warmer colorways called Fresh Figs, Dragonfruit and Paloma will liven up any wardrobe.
I’m enthralled by each of the 6 colorways, but I’m fairly certain that my favorite is Nebula…no, it’s Paloma. I can’t make up my mind. I ended up with 2 other colorways, which I’ve enjoyed knitting just as much.
4 soft plies are spun tightly together to make this no-split, no-nonsense yarn.
If you’ve read any of my yarn reviews in the past, you know that I like to study the “anatomy” of the yarn. Deluxe Stripes is a worsted weight yarn that is spun with 4 plies. Each ply is lofty and spongy, but not loose. It took a tiny crochet hook 0.4mm to separate the plies apart for this photo. You know what that means? The twist on this yarn is ideal! You could never call this a splitty yarn, and the twist means that stitch definition will be maximized. In the upcoming posts this week, you’ll see just how true this is.
Join me tomorrow for free patterns and my experiences designing and knitting with Universal Yarn Deluxe Stripes!
This is part 1 of 5 in this series
Go to part 2: 5 fabulous free patterns to knit using Universal Yarn Deluxe Stripes
