machine knitting yarn review

Squish It! – Jody Long Delish Yarn Review

July 26, 2024 elyknits

Hello everyone! It’s been a while!

Christmas Covid is the gift that keeps on giving, and recovery has been rough. It’s Fiber Christmas In July time already!

I’ve been through a slew of tests with more to come, but I’m finally able to break through the covid brain fog enough to feel confident writing again.

My yarn rep stopped by a few weeks ago and gave me some yarn samples for inspiration, so I thought I’d share my opinions with you.

Disclaimer:
All opinions are honest and my own. I was given this yarn for free with no expectation of review or endorsement.

Jody Long Delish

is a 50/50 extra fine merino wool/mulberry silk blend you will want to pet and squeeze repeatedly the second it gets into your hands. The color palette is well-rounded for a that is newer to the market with a nice blend of neutrals, pastels, and brights in its 16 colorways.

With an MSRP of $19.99 and MACHINE washable and DRYABLE labels on the tab, Delish seems almost too good to be true. Skeins are 50 grams each with 230 yards per skein (that’s about $0.09 per yard), which makes sweater quantities (1200-2200) fall in the $120-200 range. For a luxury yarn, that number feels about right.

Delish is OEKO TEX and Mulesing Free wool certified.

I carried my sample skein in my purse for days and made all of my friends squish it and rub it against their face. It feels amazing.

How It Worked Up

Delish flew through my standard gauge machine at Tensions 10 and 8, and I suspect it would be nice even at Tension 6, although that might produce a fabric that is too tight to show off the yarn’s wonderful drape. According to the label, Delish is a CYC 1 Superfine/Lace weight with a recommended hand knitting needle US3 and crochet hook D. It is a good yarn weight for lace work and could also be treated as a light fingering weight yarn with nice results.

Machine Compatibility

Standard	✔ worked amazingly
Mid-Gauge	✔ lower tensions
Bulky	✔ will work, but not the best choice

My sample skein was only 25 grams (retail version is 50g), so I didn’t test at as many tensions as I ended up wanting to.

I had zero issues with yarn breakage or tangling, but this yarn will stick to itself if you give it the chance. I ran into quite the yarn tangle while winding it into a cake on my yarn swift.

Laundry Care

I was most excited about the machine washable and dryable aspects of this yarn, and while the label is technically correct— you can do it— you shouldn’t.

My swatches did not appreciate being machine washed, and the second I pulled them from my machine, I wished I hadn’t done it.

Delish developed a very nice halo after washing, but it was also pill city. That doesn’t bode well for high-wear areas in garments.

The yarn also lost a lot of its pleasant sheen.

Here’s a refresher on how I treat my swatches when testing yarns:

Fresh off the machine — Set Stitches, Lay Flat, Measure, Record Gauge
Hand Wash, Flat Dry, Measure, Record Gauge
Machine Wash Cold, Flat Dry, Measure, Record Gauge
Machine Wash Cold, Machine Dry, Measure, Record Gauge

I think this method gives me a good feel for how a yarn will wear when worn. If I am concerned about a fabric dropping or I know the garment will be particularly heavier, like a skirt, I will hang the swatch and put a claw weight on it for a few days to simulate the weight and pull of the garment.

Always treat your swatch like you will treat your finished object!

A small part of me knew the machine wash and dry labels were probably too good to be true. I was disappointed, yes, but Delish did maintain its drape and wonderful hand feel after machine wash. It lost a bit of its sheen/vibrance after washing, but the halo was a nice trade off. The pilling wasn’t unexpected since the yarn does like to stick to itself, but I will note that the pilling issue wasn’t as present with hand washing.

Final Thoughts

Jody Long Delish is a really nice, luxury yarn at a decent price. It flows well through a knitting machine and wears fairly well if you treat it like a luxury yarn—which means NO machine washing or drying. (This may be a hot take, but if you put in the time and money for a sweater’s worth of yarn, you should be hand washing it anyway.)

I have to be very picky about what I spend my energy on now with Long Covid, and I’m probably a little more disappointed that I might’ve been in the past about the machine washable and dryable aspect not turning out as well as I’d hoped.

I still plan on buying some of this yarn.

While I originally wanted to make myself a nice cardigan using it, I think making a lacy shawl will show off the yarn’s wonderful drape and feel and take advantage of its lightweight warmth while avoiding the inevitable pilling in the higher wear areas of a cardigan.

I give Jody Long Delish

You can use Knitting Fever’s Shop Finder to find Jody Long Delish at a local yarn shop near you.

Thanks for joining me on my machine knitting journey! I love hearing from you!

Contact me if there’s something you’d like me to cover in future posts, or feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

In-person classes are on track to resume at Get Stitchin’ in October. I am in the process of getting internet access in my studio for future Zoom classes and streaming sessions. Hooray rural life!

Uncategorized, yarn review

Complete Yarn Review: Jody Long Coastline

August 20, 2021 elyknits

It’s time for another yarn review! I’ve been sitting on this one a while and really testing how it washes and wears, so I hope you enjoy all of the yarn data I’ve collected for you.

Like past yarn reviews, I’m covering fiber content, color options, ease of care, knitting machine compatibility, wear, and much more. If there’s a category you don’t see covered, let me know! I’ll add it to my list.

If you’re interested in learning more about the UK-based designer Jody Long, his designs, and the other yarn in his line, check out his website.

Today, we’re focusing on his fun fiber blend of

Jody Long Coastline

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	33% Cotton / 28% Viscose / 27% Nylon Polyamide / 12% Linen
Yardage/Meterage	218 yd / 200
Ounces / Grams	3.5 / 100 g
Yarn Weight	4 / Medium / Worsted
Made in	Italy
Availability	Local Yarn Store, Online
Put up	Donut

Although retail listings might state Jody Long Coastline is a worsted weight yarn, its ravelry page and recommended needle/hook size place it closer to a heavy worsted or Aran weight yarn.

Coastline is distributed by Knitting Fever and has 18 colorways. The core of the yarn is made of natural fibers while the other fibers, which contain the dye, create a spiral chain around it.

The chain surrounding the core of the yarn occasionally allows the natural-colored core to show through, giving the yarn a heathered or marled look.

I untwisted the yarn in the image below to give you a better look at the chain and core construction.

Because Coastline is a heavy worsted/Aran weight, its low yardage count isn’t too much of a surprise. Coastline checks in at around $0.08 a yard.

Coastline retails for about $16.49 a ball at your Local Yarn Store but can be found at slightly lower prices online at WEBS yarn store.

I will always recommend shopping at your LYS since you won’t have to pay shipping and you’ll benefit from their years of experience at the shop. Feeling the yarn and seeing the colors in person is well worth it considering you’d only save a couple bucks by buying online.

As for how this yarn is presented, the donut put up is my least favorite way to obtain yarn. Yes, they look tiny and tidy on the shelves at the LYS, but once you use 50-60% of the ball, the donut starts to fall apart and tangle. It is one of the worst ways to present yarn in my opinion. It’s just asking for added headache, especially in slippery plant fiber yarns.

Care Guide

Hand Wash	Yes
Machine Wash	Yes, Warm
Flat Dry	Yes
Machine Dry	Officially: No. Unofficially: Maybe

Coastline handles a washing machine cycle with ease. If you’d like to be extra cautious, wash your project in a mesh bag or in a cycle of only knits to avoid snagging.

Don’t plan on washing your Coastline project one day and wearing it the next, though. Coastline takes a long time to dry.

The front of my Coastline tank top can be nearly dry while the back underneath it is still very damp. I recommend flipping any project after a few hours to assist in the drying process.

I believe this is due to the natural fibers at the core of Coastline. The cotton really soaks up moisture and doesn’t seem to want to let go of it easily.

While it isn’t recommended by the care label, I did send one of my swatches through a machine drying cycle. It was still damp after one cycle on low. The low heat of the dryer did not seem to affect any of the synthetic fibers, as the swatch held its shape but was not permanently melted into that shape.

That said, machine dry at your own risk.

Knitting Machine Compatibility

4.5mm Standard Gauge	No
6.5mm Mid-Gauge	Yes
8mm / 9mm Bulky Gauge	Yes

Coastline is too large to try on a standard gauge machine, even if you were to attempt using every other needle. The small chained threads around the core would catch on the small needles of the standard gauge machine. I do not recommend this yarn for a 4.5mm machine.

Mid-gauge machines can handle this yarn at medium and upper tension numbers with ease. You might run into some difficulty if you attempted to use this yarn at a lower tension, though, as it is on the stiffer side as far as yarns go.

Bulky machines should handle Coastline well.

Swatches and Performance

If you’re interested in how I swatch yarn, please check out this post.

This yarn knits into a lovely but slightly heavy-feeling fabric at medium to high tensions on the SilverReed LK 150 mid gauge machine. Lower tensions produce a stiff, dense fabric that might work for a bag or utility project but would be uncomfortable in a garment.

This swatch was washed on warm, dried flat, and gently steam blocked. I did not stretch it or force it, merely smoothed it out flat.

There wasn’t any discernible shrinking in the swatch since it was dried flat. To add to that, the Desert Queen tank top that I knitted with Coastline still measures true to gauge after over a year of wear and washes.

SilverReed LK-150 Tension 7

	Before	After
20 stitches	4.25″	4.25″
30 rows	4.25″	4.25″

When I machine dried a swatch, however, I did notice some shrinkage.

SilverReed LK-150 Tension 5

	Before	After
20 stitches	4″	3.875″
30 rows	4.125″	3.5″

Stitch gauge shrank about 3% and row gauge shrank about 15%.

*The row gauge shrink could be due to the number of weights on my swatch as I knitted them. I formerly used two claw small weights on my cast-on comb, but now I use one.

Blocking

Since just over half of Coastline’s fiber content is synthetic, be careful when steam blocking this yarn. That being said, the natural core structure will hold the yarn’s shape well, so gentle steam blocking is not out of the question with this yarn. In fact, that’s my go-to blocking method, and I used it with this yarn just like I do with other yarns. I was just a little more cautious about than I normally would be until I learned how it blocked with steam.

That’s another reason it’s important to swatch! Practice your blocking method on your swatch and you won’t be surprised when you’re blocking your finished project.

If you are unfamiliar with steam blocking, wet blocking any project is still a great choice for this yarn, but be aware of lengthy drying times.

Projects

Back in February and March of 2020, I used Jody Long Coastline to make the Desert Queen tank top by Meghan Kelly.

I had to adjust the DK weight pattern to fit the larger Aran weight Coastline yarn, but it knit up beautifully.

I wear my Desert Queen tank top about two times a month, so at this point the garment has been through around 30 wash cycles.

close-up of the Desert Queen top neckline after 30+ washes

And it still looks wonderful!

The stitch definition is still as strong as it can be with the heathered effect, and harder use areas like the underarm are strong with no signs of pilling whatsoever. The denim-like look of the fabric has not faded, and the eyelet elements at the neckline and bust of the top are still well-defined.

I’ll admit, I initially HATED working with this yarn. Amid all the stress of March 2020, this yarn presented my ULTIMATE yarn pet peeve: knots in low-yardage skeins. And I purchased six skeins to treat myself to this top that I had fallen in love with.

Here are my initial thoughts from my ravelry project page

I’m NOT happy with this yarn. It looks good, but EVERY SKEIN had MULTIPLE knots in it. For a low-yardage, cotton/linen NYLON/VISCOSE blend, that is unacceptable. This yarn retails for $16.99 a skein. Yes, it’s machine washable and looks very nice once knitted up, but you can find similar blends at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s for under $5.00 that perform just as well or better.

I even wrote comments in my swatch binder about the knots. “Hated” was underlined twice.

Hmm.

Desert Queen by Meghan Kelly in Jody Long Coastline Deep Ocean

Final Thoughts

I’m still a bit torn when I remember the knots. Each skein had a knot joining the last 50 yards to the rest of the ball. Some skeins had knots every 50-75 yards.

I had six skeins of this yarn.

Considering the cost-per-ball and only 218 yards in a knot-filled ball, I felt really ripped off, especially as this was supposed to be me treating myself to a fancy yarn. Jody Long is a prolific designer, and it felt a bit like I was paying a premium for his name while getting an entirely mediocre product.

But after living with this gorgeous tank top that has held up beautifully through one of the most stressful times any of us may live through, I have to think my initial reaction could have been a little harsh. After all, a knot just means another end to weave in, and that’s not as bad as I make it out to be, even if I hate doing it.

I don’t know if I just got a bad batch or if the knot issue is persistent throughout all Coastline colors. I’ll admit, it has made me reluctant to try another yarn from Jody Long’s yarn lines, and I’ve seen some lovely cottons that really tempt me.

The durability after over a year and a half of wearing and washing is nothing short of impressive, and without the knot issue, I’d give Jody Long Coastline a 4.5 out of 5, but because of it, I’m only giving it a 3 of 5.

It’s a good yarn, but buyers shouldn’t have to fight knots when the skeins are so small.

Have you used Jody Long Coastline 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?

What’s your yarny pet peeve?

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!

Thanks for coming along with me in my knitting machine journey! See you next time!

Uncategorized

Yarn Review: Universal Cotton Supreme DK

May 14, 2021May 13, 2021 elyknits

Universal Yarn has been offering up yarn of all kinds for more than a decade. I first experienced their yarns in 2012 when looking for washcloth cotton at my old Local Yarn Shop. Their Universal Cotton Supreme worsted weight yarn was just too nice for a dishrag, so I ended up using it for a baby gift.

Today’s review focuses on Cotton Supreme DK but is also applicable to Cotton Supreme (worsted) and Cotton Supreme DK Seaspray.

“Knit, Relax, Smile, Repeat!”

About Universal Cotton Supreme DK

Fiber Content	100% Cotton
Yardage	230
Ounces	3.5
Yarn Weight	3 / Light / DK
Made in	Turkey
Availability	Local Yarn Shops, Online
Put up	Hank

Universal Cotton Supreme original/worsted weight comes in 45 solid colors, Supreme DK in 32 solid colors, and Supreme DK Seaspray in 13 marled/ombre color options.

Cotton Supreme DK solid colors wound into yarn cakes

MSRP is $10.50 per hank, but it is easy to find this yarn on sale online for as low as $5.49 per hank depending on colorway. Many LYS offer deals on bulk purchases like online stores will do, so be sure to contact your LYS and support your local area’s businesses when you can!

Care Guide

Hand Wash		Yes
Machine Wash		Yes
Flat Dry		Yes
Machine Dry		Yes

Cotton is an easy-care material, and Cotton Supreme DK follows that. It may be washed warm and tumble dried on low heat. You can iron and steam this material safely. Expect some shrinkage in the wash, as with all cotton yarns and fabrics in general.

Even after washing and drying, Cotton Supreme still has good stitch definition.

This gentle cotton is a good choice for individuals with allergies or other sensitivities.

Knitting Machine Compatibility

4.5mm Standard Gauge	No
6.5mm Mid-Gauge	Yes
8mm / 9mm Bulky Gauge	Yes

As a plant-based fiber, cotton yarn has much less give or stretch to it than animal fibers or synthetic options. While some standard gauge machines function just fine with DK weight yarn, I did not want to risk bent needles or other problems due to using a less forgiving yarn at the thicker end of yarn sizes that might work.

I do not recommend this yarn for standard gauge machines.

This yarn functions wonderfully at mid-gauge and above. My machine did not struggle with this yarn at lower tensions on the SilverReed LK-150, but I did notice a slightly harder push due to less elasticity in this yarn than animal-based fibers. This is normal and not unexpected with cotton yarns.

Don’t be surprised if pushing your carriage feels different to pushing a wool or acrylic yarn, but remember never to force the carriage across the needles if it is struggling. That is not the type of resistance I am referring to in this instance.

Cotton yarn also sounds different on the machine to me, producing a slightly deeper rasp as the needles fly through the carriage.

Swatches, Performance, and Blocking

This yarn is wonderfully soft and gentle to the touch. I spent a bit of time rubbing it against my face. Purely for review purposes, of course. This yarn would make a wonderful washcloth in a spa-themed gift basket.

I have hand-knitted with Universal Cotton Supreme before and noticed it tends to shed a bit of fluff as you go. Initially I believed Supreme DK to shed almost double its worsted weight sister, but now I believe that is due to moving through the machine at a much faster rate than it will ever fly through someone’s fingers as they hand knit.

You should dust and maintenance your machine after each project (and I will guiltily admit to not doing this as often as I should), but you definitely want to make sure to brush out the carriage and needle bed after using this yarn. Fluff and yarn shed from any yarn can gunk up a carriage, so it’s best to perform frequent cleaning.

If you’re curious about how I swatch yarn, please read this post.

Mid-gauge SilverReed LK-150 swatch at Tension 5

	Before	After
20 stitches	4″	4.0625″
30 rows	4.5′	4.0625″

Cotton generally shrinks in the wash, but as long as you are working from the gauge of a “finished” or washed and dried swatch, you should not run into problems. (I cannot stress the importance of working from a finished swatch enough!)

I experienced about 10% shrinkage in row-gauge, so I know how much shrinkage I can expect in projects as I wash and dry them.

Pattern Ideas

This yarn is a great choice for spa gift basket washcloths, baby items, and spring or fall sweaters. I think it’d make great tops for summer wear, as well.

This yarn could make lovely kitchen sets for housewarming gifts, but the cotton is so soft that I kind of dislike the idea of using it for dishes when it could be something soft and sweet on the skin.

I’m currently working on Crux by Kindred Red from the Spring 2021 issue of pompom magazine. This is a hand-knitting pattern that translates to the machine with very few modifications.

Final Thoughts

I’m a cotton kind of girl. Most of my favorite yarns turn out to contain at least some cotton, so I’ll get that bias right out in the open. Cotton is a really nice fabric to wear year-round here in Oklahoma.

I appreciate the color options available to Cotton Supreme DK. It would be nicer if it had all the solid colors its worsted weight sister offered, but since the weights are so close, if you are desperate to use a color offered in worsted weight and not DK, you could probably fudge your way along just fine.

The fluff shedding during actual knitting can be a bit annoying, especially if you breathe one into your nose. Sneezing fits aside, it’s hard to find much wrong with this yarn. It’s a good staple cotton to have in your stash, and its easy care makes it a great choice for knitted gifts.

At just under $0.05 a yard, project costs aren’t too bad. You can find a similar cotton in Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Cotton Yarn, a lighter weight worsted yarn that costs around $0.01 per yard when it rotates through their 30% off sale cycle. ILTC doesn’t have the color availability in stores or come anywhere close to Cotton Supreme’s softness, but Hobby Lobby’s version is the closest comparable yarn I’ve used.

If you’re looking for a quality cotton yarn, you’ll find it in Universal Yarn’s Cotton Supreme line. I give this super soft but stable cotton a 4.7/5.

Have you used Universal Cotton Supreme DK before in your machine knitting? What about in your hand knitting or crochet? What kind of projects did you use it for, and what did you think of its performance?

Are there other properties or categories you think I should include in my yarn reviews? What yarn should I review next?

Let me know in the comments!