I bought this yarn in 2020 to review, and, well, 2020 (and now most of 2021) happened. Now it’s on clearance, but if this yarn seems like it’s for you, you might find a good deal on
All opinions are honest and my own. I am not affiliated with any company or individual mentioned or linked unless otherwise noted. I purchased this yarn myself and did not receive compensation for this review.
About
| Fiber Content | 90-% Acrylic / 10 % Yak |
| Yardage/Meterage | 219 / 200 |
| Ounces / Grams | 3.5 / 100 |
| Yarn Weight | 4 / Medium / Worsted |
| Made in | China |
| Availability | Local Yarn Store, Online |
| Put up | Skein |
This yarn is on clearance for $6.99 at the time of this post, so if it’s something you’re interested in, grab it while you can. The clearance price brings the price per yard down from $0.06 per yard to $0.03 per yard.
Originally retailing for 13.99, Touch of Yak is part of Lion Brand’s “Touch of Luxe” collection. The listing mentions “Yak fiber is as soft and warm as cashmere, with wonderful drape,” but with 90% of this yarn being acrylic, any drape you achieve will be from steam blocking or “killing” the acrylic.
Colors are soft, muted, and generally neutral. Now that it’s on clearance, three colorways remain.
Care Guide
| Hand Wash | Yes | |
| Machine Wash | Yes | |
| Flat Dry | Yes | |
| Machine Dry | No |
I machine washed and dried this yarn with no problems. To be honest, I couldn’t tell any difference made by the minimal presence of yak fibers compared to any other decent machine washable and dry-able acrylic.
Knitting Machine Compatibility
| 4.5mm Standard Gauge | No | |
| 6.5mm Mid-Gauge | Yes | |
| 8mm / 9mm Bulky Gauge | Yes |
This is a worsted weight yarn. I wouldn’t put it through any standard gauge machine, but it worked fine on other gauges.
Pattern: Mirror Cable Mitts on ravelry
Performance
This yarn knitted up fine. It wasn’t anything special, but it wasn’t terrible to work with. When I transferred stitches to form cables, the yarn was annoyingly splitty, but plain knitting was fine. The stitch definition was fine for cables and the finished project looked nice.
There’s really nothing to point out if you treat this like any decent acrylic. The yak is nowhere to be found, especially if you’ve worked with 100% yak fiber before. If you haven’t, you might be able to convince yourself this yarn is softer than another mid-range acrylic, but really, it’s not anything special. There is a slight halo of potential yak fiber if you squint. Maybe?
Blocking
This yarn is 90% acrylic, so block it as such. Too much heat will “kill” the acrylic and freeze it in place. “Killing” acrylic is literally melting the plastic it is made of. You’ll achieve a great drape with this but lose any other properties acrylic might offer.
Careful steam blocking is my blocking method of choice for all yarns, even acrylics, but you should make sure you do not leave your steamer in one location for too long.
Final Thoughts
This yarn is fine. That’s it. It’s fine. The “touch” of yak is barely noticeable. It feels like almost any other mid-range acrylic. It’s soft, it works, it’s machine washable, and even though it says not to, it really is machine dry-able. The color range is limited, and the yarn is now on clearance. If you like a slightly softer than normal acrylic and you snatch it up, this could be a good yarn for you provided you aren’t picky about colors. Just don’t expect anything that actually touched a yak when you purchase this.
I give Lion Brand LB Collection Touch of Yak a 2 out of 5 score.
Have you used Lion Brand Touch of Yak before in your machine knitting? What about in your hand knitting? What kind of projects did you use it for, and what did you think of its performance?
Are there other properties you think I should include in my yarn reviews? What yarn should I review next? Let me know in the comments!
ELY Knits 