Welcome to another exciting week at KNITmuch, where I’ll be knitting with Universal Yarn Wool Pop. As the lazy, hazy, crazy days of this summer have now drifted into autumn, it’s a great time to start thinking about those fall and winter projects.
Comprised of a blend of 50% Bamboo, 35% Superwash Wool, and 15% Polymide, Wool Pop has a smooth, soft texture and a slight sheen. The way the bamboo and wool take the dye differently gives this yarn a beautiful-heathery appearance. The yarn is very springy, making it perfect for garments, accessories, blankets, and much more. It feels very soft and light on the hands, meaning it’s a great multi-seasonal yarn.
Wool Pop is available in a variety of 20 different colors, of which I’ll be using two this week – Silken and Graphite.
Wool Pop is available in a variety of 20 different colors. Silken and Graphite are my color choices for this week.
Each 3.5 oz [100 g] skein contains a whopping 284 yds [260 m]. This really speaks to the lightness of the fiber.
Wool Pop is rated as a DK weight, meaning that it knits at a recommended gauge of 22 sts and 30 rows over 4” [10 cm] using a US 6 [4 mm] knitting needle, or 19 sts and 20 rows with a US G-6 [4 mm] crochet hook.
Laundry care is easy with Wool Pop. It can be machine washed on normal, no bleach (of course not), no iron, and lay flat to dry. Now, I must say, I never put my knitwear in a normal wash. If using the machine, I typically use either the delicate or hand wash cycle, and depending on the fiber, a low heat timed (15 – 20 minute) dryer cycle. I use the timed dry option because I never want my knitwear 100% dry when it comes out of the dryer. Then I lay it flat, shape it and let it finish drying. This of course, is fiber dependent – 100% wool, cashmere, silk, or any camelid fiber will never see the inside of my dryer unless it’s flat on the dryer rack; never tumbled. With that said, Wool Pop’s ease of laundry care is good take note of given that so much of what we knit goes to homes and people that are not fiber enthusiasts, nor have the time to put the care into laundering knitwear as we knitters do.
Let’s take a closer look at the yarn so you can see the heathery appearance and its subtle halo. Notice the 3rd orange strand. I spent quite a bit of time this past summer, playing with natural dyes. Since I had a pot of barberry cooking, I dropped a strand of Silken into it to see what I’d get. True to form, the bamboo and wool took the dye differently, which creates the heathery effect.
A close up look at the strands reveals the heathery appearance and subtle halo of Wool Pop.
I’m really looking forward to knitting with this yarn. It’s so soft to the touch and I love the colors I chose. I’ll knit some swatches tomorrow to determine how I want to proceed with my projects this week. I’ve decided that I’m knitting a sweater because I think this yarn will create a lovely trans-seasonal sweater and a couple of wintery accessory projects. There’s lots of knitting to come, so I hope you’ll join me as I explore my Wool Pop projects.