yarn – ELY Knits

The 2024 Oklahoma Yarn Crawl recently wrapped, and my gosh was it FUN! If you haven’t checked out Part One of my recap, read it first here.

Twelve fiber businesses from across Oklahoma got together to put on the state’s first yarn crawl. Yarn shops, dye works, a working farm, and a mini fiber mill dot the state map, and fiber lovers made the trek to each one during the August 16th to 24th (excluding Sunday) special event.

Each shop had their own special charm and yarns in addition to special events just for the yarn crawl. Some fiber businesses aren’t usually open to the public every day of the week, but they all kept special hours for the crawl.

My friend Susan and I had five of our twelve yarn crawl stops stamped, and set off early in the morning to visit our first shop of the day.

We learned our lesson trying to hit five stores in one day, so we broke up the remaining seven yarn crawl locations into two days— Thursday and Friday,August 22 & 23, 2024.

Each shop we visited was wonderful, and I hope I can convey something special about each one, as they all have their own unique charms and strengths. Oklahoma has a widespread and vibrant fiber community, and the yarn crawl really showcased that.

The Oklahoma Yarn Crawl website had a handy link to a Google Maps list all of the stops on the crawl.

It was a two and a half hour drive to our first shop of the day, the westernmost in the crawl

Cozy Corner Knits – Enid

I’m fairly familiar with the western part of the state because I have family there. It’s full of farms, oil wells, and wind turbines, but that’s about it. I used to think there wasn’t much else worth visiting in that part of the state.

Cozy Corner Knits is such a welcome addition to that part of the state.

The shop is easy to find if you ignore Google and trust your eyes and common sense while driving. Maps had us take an odd detour through a really cute neighborhood before telling us to turn the opposite direction from the shop we could see right there just across the street.

That wasn’t the shop’s fault at all, so consider calling ahead for directions to any shop if your map app has your route doing silly things.

Cozy Corner Knits is very neatly laid out with a knitting area near the front window and nice displays guiding you back to the classroom area at the rear of the shop.

Susan and I had such a fun time chatting with the owner, her husband, and another customer that it was after 1:00 before we knew it, and we needed to move on to our next stop.

I had briefly considered not visiting Cozy Corner Knits because of the drive out to Enid, so I’m glad Susan convinced me that we absolutely needed to see all of the shops to experience our first yarn crawl to the fullest.

I stuffed some yarn with subtle sparkle from Feederbrook Farm and some gorgeous orange Emma’s Yarn Super Silky into my yarn crawl tote, and we were off to the next one.

You can learn more about Cozy Corner Knits at their Instagram or Facebook pages.

It was about an hour’s drive to our second stop, Susan’s favorite of the trip,

Oklahoma Mini Mill – Guthrie

Oklahoma Mini Mill (OMM) isn’t usually open to the public for walk-ins since they’re a working mill and conduct most of their business online, but one of the owners gladly gave us a tour after she stamped our card. We got to feel some amazing fibers at different stages of processing. It was really interesting to be able to feel the different lanolin contents of wool as the cleaning and fluffing (industry standard term, I’m sure) progressed.

I’ve seen a friend hand process llama fiber before but never really paid attention to this part of the yarn process before, so this visit was very educational and interesting. We even got to touch some amazingly soft bison fiber that costs around $30-35 an OUNCE, and I think that’s the cost before processing.

Oklahoma Mini Mill mainly focuses on processing fleeces for hand spinners, so they process fibers until they are ready to be spun but don’t do the actual spinning. Customers send their fibers to be cleaned and blended into fiber batts. They can even add in special things like this angelina sparkle.

Another neat factoid about OMM: They don’t waste any wool! Pieces that aren’t suitable for processing and spinning are saved and used as insulation.

I didn’t purchase anything from OMM while we were there during the yarn crawl. Most of their business is actually online through Etsy, which I’ll link below.

Oklahoma Mini Mill also vends at the Fiber Christmas in July show, so there is yet another incentive to attend Fiber Christmas if you haven’t yet!

You can learn more about Oklahoma Mini Mill at their website, Instagram, Facebook, or Etsy pages.

Guthrie had two stops on the yarn crawl. Next up was in historic downtown Guthrie

Sealed with a Kiss – Guthrie

Sealed with a Kiss brought in trunk shows and debuted HowdyDo, a new locally dyed yarn inspired by the women of the Wild West, during the yarn crawl.

We missed their Lunch in the Loft event by a couple hours because I forgot to check ahead with every yarn crawl stop like I meant to. Learn from my mistakes and check each shop ahead while planning!

Sealed with a Kiss had a really nice selection of knitting accessories as well as bags, fashion accessories, and even some non knit garments. It’s a yarn boutique but not just a yarn boutique.

I bought a wonderfully sparkly shawl pin. I just can’t resist sparkles.

You can learn more about Sealed with a Kiss by visiting their website, Instagram, and Facebook pages.

Susan and I got a hotel in Edmond for the night that ended up being less than 10 minutes from our next stop

Kristy’s Fiber Arts -Edmond

Kristy’s Fiber Arts is a dyeworks that features Kristy’s hand dyed yarns with a few other yarns alongside them.

Susan and I grabbed a coffee and waited in the parking for 10AM, the daily yarn crawl start time, but Kristy saw us and another group in our cars and invited us all in early.

We had a great time browsing and chatting, and Kristy shared a little bit about how she names her colorways. A lot depends on who or what she’s thinking about when she dyes. Mine would all end up being named after my chickens or food!

Yarns were organized by weight. I love to see hand dyers working with more than just sock weight yarn. I want those pretty colors and one-of-a-kind skeins in lace and bulky weights, too!

Kristy also stocked pretty macrame cord, so I made note of that for my mom, who does really nice macrame work. It was the most colors of cord I have ever seen in store, so if you like macrame, Kristy’s Fiber Arts is a great stop for it, too!

I bought some orange yarn and a mini skein kit from her at Fiber Christmas in July this year that I really liked, so I was excited to see what I missed that she’d have in store. The green and black yarn made me think of my younger brother, so Merry Christmas to him! I hope he’s not tired of beanies!

You can learn more about Kristy’s Fiber Arts from their website, Instagram, and Facebook pages.

The next stop was also in Edmond-another dyeworks.

A Chick That Knitz – Edmond

A Chick That Knitz used to be a “full blown” yarn shop a few years ago, but they weren’t as able to focus on dyeing yarn as much as they wanted, so they took a step back and opened as a dyeworks with exclusively their own yarn and limited days open to the public.

I’ve followed A Chick That Knitz online for quite a while, and I was excited to see their planned pooling yarns in person. The concept is simple— knit in one stitch, perhaps stockinette or garter stitch, for the main color of the yarn until you come across the color pooling bit (this is the section that isn’t the main color) and perform a special stitch.

It’s simple enough, but because each hand dyed skein is unique, it really enables you to create a one-of-a-kind item.

A Chick That Knitz has much more than just planned pooling yarns, but those were something I had been waiting to see for a long time because they’re how I learned about this way of using planned pooling. I’m in their area a few times a year, but the timing never lined up before to be able to see their space, so I’m glad I finally got to experience it during the yarn crawl.

I bought planned pooling yarn from their website after the yarn crawl ended.

You can learn more about A Chick That Knitz at their website, Instagram, and Facebook pages. Also look at their cool chicken logo!

The cloud ate my pictures from our next stop alongside most of my pictures from A Chick That Knitz, so I’ve linked some of their Instagram posts to show you their space.

MoonDrake Co. – Oklahoma City

When we reached MoonDrake Co. dyeworks in Oklahoma City, it started to hit me that our yarn crawl journey was almost over. The public part of the shop is on the small side but is nicely organized. Wool and dye scents wafted from the back room, and I really enjoyed that. Wool and lanolin smell is so comforting to me.

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A post shared by Moondrake Co. – Rachelle (@moondrakeco)

Because the display area was smaller, it was easy to see the many different types of yarn bases MoonDrake uses in their yarn lines.

I went home with a large skein that was actually two skeins —one of a stubby yarn and one of a cashmere/mohair blend— that were meant to be worked together into the same project. I also purchased a really pretty neon tweed yarn that I am looking forward to working with.

I really wish my photos hadn’t been eaten because the display did a really good job of telling the neon tweed line’s color story. They’re gorgeous, vibrant, and fun.

You can learn more about Moondrake Co. at their website, Instagram, and Facebook pages.

Our final stop on the 2024 Oklahoma Yarn Crawl was

Yarnatopia—Oklahoma City

I’ve been to Yarnatopia a few times over the years, having pleaded with Chris to stop by on the way to or from visiting family. I really enjoy stopping by. The shop is a very nice size and has a really nice Malabrigo yarn wall. I know others appreciated it, too, because it had been picked through by the time we got there, and the yarn crawl had two days left!

I found some really nice “hi-viz” yarn to make a hat for my dad (he always requests a hat for Christmas) and a very nice slub yarn by Emma’s Yarn. (I tried to buy from all different brands but didn’t realize the sock yarn I bought from Cozy Corner Knits was also Emma’s Yarn. Guess that means I need to look into that brand more since I really like what I’ve seen so far!)

I really like the “Yarnatopia” yarn-wrapped letters on the wall, but I don’t think Chris would go for that in our house….

You can learn more about Yarnatopia at their website, Instagram, and Facebook pages.

The End of the Road Trip

We were both pretty tired at the end of the Yarn Crawl and had a two and a half hour drive back to my place. Susan had another hour to go after she dropped me off. I think we’ll attend a few more days of the yarn crawl next year rather than trying to squish everything into three total days. We’ll be able to spend more time at each shop and participate in events that way, too.

Every shop owner I talked to seemed very excited about the results of the yarn crawl for their business, and the crawl still had three days left to go when Susan and I made our way to the central Oklahoma area shops.

Many of the dyers had sold out of colorways and had to tell crawlers when they’d be back in stock. I ended up making some purchases online or through Etsy after the official crawl dates were over to find colors, bases, and fibers I liked the most.

I knew of many of these businesses before the yarn crawl, but I had only managed to visit about half of them before the event. I have family in the western part of the state, and I’m already thinking up alternative routes that would allow me to drop by and see shops again on my way out and back home.

The yarn crawl did a great job showcasing how amazing and varied the Oklahoma fiber community is. I loved seeing each dyer’s different color stories and the variations in each shop’s different brands and specialties.

I had a wonderful time meeting Oklahoma’s fiber talents, and I can’t wait for The Second Annual Oklahoma Yarn Crawl 2025!

Thanks for joining me on this road trip recap of the 2024 Inaugural Oklahoma Yarn Crawl! Have you ever been on a yarn crawl as a customer or as a host? Do you plan your own yarny road trips?

News

The Inaugural Oklahoma Yarn Crawl Part One: The Eastern Shops

September 6, 2024September 5, 2024 elyknits

The 2024 Oklahoma Yarn Crawl recently wrapped, and my gosh was it FUN!

The shops encouraged fiber lovers to visit each one by creating a “passport” that is stamped, clipped, or marked in some way to prove that a crawler visited. People who traveled to each shop were eligible to enter a prize drawing, in this case, for a basket full of fiber goodies worth $600!

(I don’t know about you, but I don’t normally need that much incentive to visit a yarn shop! That was just icing on the cake!)

They also created a special tote bag for the crawl, and each shop offered a free stitch marker for the visit!

My friend Susan and I decided to do our first yarn crawl together. We visited the *five* shops on the Eastern half of the state in one day, which was a mistake…

As fun as it was, it was a lot of driving, and our schedule really limited our ability to appreciate each shop fully. By the time we made it to the fourth shop, we were exhausted, and we had more driving and another shop left to visit.

Next year, we’re definitely splitting the Eastern half of the yarn crawl into two days so we can spend more time at each shop!

Get Stitchin’ – Tulsa

We started out in Tulsa at Get Stitchin’. It’s now Tulsa’s only yarn shop, and it’s the shop I’m most familiar with since I offer machine knitting classes there (when healthy).

Get Stitchin’ frequently has fun events throughout the year for things like Knit in Public Day, Spin-Ins, shop milestones, and more, and the yarn crawl didn’t disappoint. They use their space to showcase small fiber businesses and feature local artists year round, and they brought in even more for the yarn crawl.

I went home with some yarn from Rachel Wolfe Designs and some amazing buttons. Look at that sparkle!

Get Stitchin’ really went all out with meet and greet and fiber artist showcases!
You can learn more about Get Stitchin’ at their website, Instagram, or Facebook pages.

Next up was

Community Fibers – Claremore

Community Fibers is in an office-like building that is divided into different rooms rather than one large retail space. Each turn into a new room reveals more yarn fun and bright displays, and I think they really utilize the layout well.

There is an area where visitors can try out new styles of knitting needles and crochet hooks AND they have a book lending library, not to mention the coziest couches ever to sit and craft in.

Community Fibers worked with Leading Men Fiber Arts and had a build-your-own shawl kit for the yarn crawl that came in both knit and crochet versions.

Hand dyed yarn is my favorite, so I love finding new-to-me dyers, especially in local shops.

I bought some really fun rainbow speckle yarn.

You can learn more about Community Fibers from their website or Instagram.

Susan visited our third stop years ago, but I had never been to

Shepherd’s Cross – Claremore

Shepherd’s Cross is a farm outside of Claremore with a Christian-based missions focus. Their big barn is a shop with items made from artists both local and international with revenue returning to the artist or mission. They have a fiber museum, teaching area, and outdoor areas where you can observe the farm as well as seasonal things like a pumpkin patch.

We had to leave sooner than we’d wanted to be able to make the next two shops by 5PM closing, but Susan and I decided to visit again and make a day of it so we had plenty of time to explore their fiber museum. There was so much more than I expected at Shepherd’s Cross.

I bought some fluffy pencil roving to level up my spinning abilities (hopefully). It was very reasonably priced, so I am not quite as intimidated to use it as other gifted fibers in my stash.

Shepherd’s Cross has a “Sheep to Shawl” Wooly Weekend in April where you can watch the sheep be sheared, see the wool cleaning and carding processes, watch hand spinners making the yarn, and then see different fiber art crafts in action to turn the yarn into a shawl.

I know where I’ll be next April!

You can learn more about Shepherd’s Cross at their website, Instagram, or Facebook pages.

My energy was flagging after three stops, but we had two more to go! Fourth up was a hidden gem in a tiny town

Hometown Yarns & More – Deleware

One of the owners of Hometown Yarns also took machine knitting classes from my mentor Pamela Carrico, so I got a bit of a sneak peek last year while the shop was being set up.

Under construction no more, it’s really cute AND they had shop pets-two rescue kitties and a dog! I love meeting shop animals. They’re adorable and can be a little distracting from the most important thing (yarn!), but oh so snuggly and sweet. (I wish my cat was that well behaved.)

Hometown Yarns & More had so many amazing creative fiber arts showcased. There was rug hooking, oxford punch, knitting, crocheting, weaving, and more that I know I’ve forgotten.

They also dye their own yarns in house and present them at the most reasonable price I’ve ever seen for a hand-dyed yarn. Honestly, I think they’re under-priced at around $16-20 per skein depending on the fiber content. Getting beautiful, one of a kind yarn like that is a heck of a deal.

I bought these gorgeous greens to make an Ambah O’Brien-inspired shawl. They included a soak sample pack for washing and blocking the finished project, too!

You can learn more about Hometown Yarns & More at their website, Instagram, and Facebook pages.

I’ve mentioned this one quite a few times here on the blog. We went to my mentor, Pamela Carrico’s shop, one of my favorite places, for our fifth and final stop on the Eastern half of the Oklahoma Yarn Crawl.

Carrico’s Creative Corner – Bartlesville

The shop is on the smaller side and attached to her house, but the walls are covered in shelving with loads of wonderful cone yarn. Pamela carries handwork yarns, too, as well as the SilverReed LK150 mid gauge knitting machine, which was set up to showcase machine knitting.

Pamela knits samples on her knitting machine so you know what yarns will look like when they’re worked up and lets you know if they’re good for the washer and dryer like they claim or if you need to take special care of them. She can tell you how they feel on the machines and which machine gauge works best with different yarns.

Pamela blends yarn together frequently in her work to create gorgeous, one-of-a-kind pieces. When I started thinking about things made of yarn as fabric like she taught me, I really noticed a change for the better in my knitting. I’ve visited her numerous times since 2018, and I always walk away having learned something new. Even if Carrico’s Creative Corner is small, it’s always a welcoming experience full of wonder and inspiration.

I bought some fun specialty yarns to match yarn in my home stash along with the yarn crawl tote. I’m really excited to play with these and make some fun textures and borders in the future.

You can learn more about Carrico’s Creative Corner by visiting their website, Instagram, Facebook, or Etsy pages. (Some social media handles are named after the design side of business, CMO Designer Knits).

Along the way…

The 2024 Oklahoma Yarn Crawl was the first yarn crawl for my friend Susan, myself, and many yarn and fiber enthusiasts I know. Susan and I ran into some of the same groups of yarn crawlers as we visited different stops. It was really fun to see what they were looking at from each shop and hear what part of the state they were from.

I’m really glad that these Oklahoma fiber businesses got together and hosted this event to show off our community and give us another opportunity to meet others within it. As our Eastern Shop day went on and my fatigue increased, I didn’t take as many pictures as I intended, but I made sure to correct that for the Central and Western Oklahoma shops in next post’s Part Two.

Be sure to check out these awesome shops the next time you’re nearby!

Thanks for joining me on this state-wide stretch of my machine knitting journey! Did you also attend the Inaugural Oklahoma Yarn Crawl? Are you planning on joining the next one? I sure am!

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!

Accessories, Knitting Machines

The EEW Cone Winder- Unboxing and Initial Thoughts

January 26, 2024January 22, 2024 elyknits

If you’re familiar with the Electric Eel Spinning Wheel, you might know that Maurice Ribble of Dreaming Robots, the mind behind the magic, recently released an electric cone winder!

I backed the project on Kickstarter in 2022. I have only backed three or four Kickstarter projects, but I have to say, Dreaming Robots was great about keeping backers in the know about the state of the project and allowing input. I forgot to fill out the address form when it came out, so my winder arrived in December, but that’s all on me! (Facepalm) I paid the Kickstarter backer price of $189 plus shipping. The cone winder now retails at $259 and is in stock as of the time of writing.

each block is ~1 inch for size reference

The winder was packaged securely and nothing was damaged in shipping. I opted for 10 cones with my winder.

The manual is straightforward and comes with a template to show you how to lay out the tension unit and winder unit. I love that. I’m not great at eyeing measurements, and even though my blocking board lays things out by square inches, I can still measure things incorrectly. It’s a skill.

The cones are 27 grams according to my scale, and I like that they come in different colors. It’s fun. They look pretty cool on the inside once they hold yarn, too.

Assembly was straightforward and well laid out in the manual. There are excellent videos and written instructions on how to use the EEW Cone Winder on the Kickstarter page and FAQs on the product page. I avoided watching anything or reading anything but the initial Kickstarter campaign and the user manual before testing the winder for this post.

Initial Test-Winding Yarn from a Hank

I decided to cone up some of my friend Suzy’s yarn, Woolyboogers Felts. She works out of a studio next door to Get Stitchin’ and exclusively sells at craft shows and Get Stitchin’, so she’s just another great reason to stop by if you’re in the Tulsa area.
(You can sign up for one of my classes while you’re there! Standing classes the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays and Saturdays of the month!)

I used knitting machine clamps and the included tension unit clamp to hold the units in place on my counter, and I initially had my yarn swift (this thing) on the counter next to the winder. That meant the yarn was coming down from the swift to the counter level tension unit.

Using speeds 1 and 2 with the loosest, straight tension setting, I wound the 438 yards of sparkly goodness onto the cone. Well, the winder did all of the work. I supervised.

On the lowest settings and loosest tension, it took a few minutes to wind, but I wanted to be cautious learning the winder. I had a couple of issues with feeding into the tension unit from the swift when I had it sitting so much higher than the tension unit intake. It worked much better when I moved the swift to sit on a chair and the yarn intake was more level with the tension unit as it fed yarn in. The yarn winder had plenty of power to wind from the swift, but I found on the lowest tension it had to work a bit harder if the hank on the swift was held too tightly or the yarn was caught underneath itself.

After the slow speed test run with Woolyboogers, I decided to cone up four skeins of Berroco Modern Cotton DK. (I’ll be reviewing it soon, so be on the lookout for that post in the future!)

I wound each skein at a higher speed than the last, with the final at speed setting #5. I was catching a breeze from the swift at that point! I used the higher tension winding setup as shown in the manual for this yarn.

It looks great coned up! The cone has two small holes at the top for you to attach the yarn label and then store in the center of the cone.

I prefer a more tightly wound cone of yarn, especially for fibers like cotton. The looser tension setting is probably more ideal for delicate yarns. I didn’t experience any yarn breakage, and I did “jam” the winder a couple times. More on that in a bit.

Turn up your audio to hear what the EEW Cone Winder sounds like at speed #5 in my Instagram video below. My pictured setup isn’t ideal, but what I had worked just fine!

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A post shared by ELY Knits (@ely.knits)

I wouldn’t say the cone winder is loud, but it definitely isn’t silent. You can hear it working rhythmically, but I didn’t find it unpleasant.

If you’ve wound a lot of yarn into cakes before, you’ll appreciate the electric cone winder doing the hard work for you. Your arms can get tired after a thousand yards, but with the winder, you’re just turning a dial after a little yarn threading. Easy peasy!

Experimenting and User Error

Ah, the aforementioned jam.

The only issues I ran into using the electric cone winder stemmed from user error and experimentation with yarn swift placement for intake through the tension unit.

At one point, I was pulling additional yarn lengths from the swift because the winder seemed to struggle with pulling directly from the swift.

I shouldn’t have been pulling additional yarn out. The winder didn’t need my help. It operated fine, albeit slowly, when I stopped feeding it yarn myself at low settings as well as after I increased the speed dial setting.

While I was pulling that additional yarn from the swift, knots and loops developed in the yarn and happened to hook themselves around the metal guide spiral. The winder kept going for a tiny bit (of course, it is set to ON and rotating) BUT then it stopped.

When I read the FAQs on the product page, I found the motor stopping is by design, and I appreciate that it stopped and didn’t break my yarn!

This is by design. It is bad for the motor to continue trying to spin when it is not spinning. At low power this can happen when it’s trying to spin slowly but there isn’t enough motor to actually spin the drum. In this case the motor will turn itself off until it sees no attempts to spin for 3 seconds. To work around this turn the speed dial to off and then wait three seconds and it will resume normal operations.
from the FAQs at https://www.dreamingrobots.com/eew-cone-winder/

This is one of the reasons why you don’t set the winder and leave it. If something happens, that delay gives you time to fix things.

I’ll say it again: winder does have enough power to be able to pull yarn off of a swift through the tensioner unit, but at low speed settings with looser tension it seemed more likely to knot up or loop around the metal guide spirals on the tension unit, especially if the yarn wasn’t feeding in quite even with the tension unit (that pesky user messing with it…). It may seem counterintuitive, but I didn’t experience the same looping when I upped the tension and the winder speed (and left well enough alone). Pulling extra yarn from the swift to feed into the tension unit just gave the yarn opportunities to form knots and loops and catch on the tensioner.

Yarn placement is important, and getting it right makes your experience with the cone winder much smoother.

Why Buy a Cone Winder

As someone with hand and arm issues, I am so excited to have a way to wind that doesn’t depend on my arms functioning well that day. And, since cones are the most ideal yarn put-up for machine knitting, I can say goodbye to my awkward cake yarn winder. It served me well, but I’m happy to move on, and I won’t miss the occasional loops across the top and bottom that sent my yarn rolling.

At $259, the electric eel cone winder is not cheap. That’s a chunk of change for anyone, but if you want to use hand knitting yarns by machine and your ball winder isn’t cutting it, I think it’s worth the investment, especially if you have years of knitting in front of you, or if you are like me and have issues with your hands, wrists, and arms in general. Cutting out the winding motion lets me use my body’s limited energy to work on actual knitting.

All opinions are honest and my own. Purchases are made with my own money. Links may be affiliate links. If you choose to purchase something using my Amazon affiliate link, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. If you don’t have somewhere local to purchase your machine knitting needs, please consider using my links to support the site!

Thank you for joining me on my machine knitting journey! How do you prepare your yarn for machine knitting? Will you invest in a cone winder? Let me know in the comments!

yarn review

CONE Yarn Review: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport

October 13, 2023October 11, 2023 elyknits

It’s fall, y’all! …well, it is autumn according to the calendar.

Sweater weather hasn’t fully arrived yet in Northeast Oklahoma, but I am here for you with a seasonally appropriate review of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport 100% wool yarn ON CONES!

Before we get into my knitting experience, here are

The Details

Fiber Content	100% Wool
Yardage/Meters	1682 yards / 1598 m
Ounces/Grams	16 oz / (1 lb) / 452 g
Yarn Weight/Size	CYC 2 / Sport
Made In	Mitchell, NE, USA
Availability	BrownSheep.co m, Brick-and-Mortar Local Yarn Shops
Construction	3 plies
Put Up	Cone
Hand Wash	Yes
Machine Wash	NO
Flat Dry	Yes
Machine Dry	NO
MSRP	$55.80
Price Per Yard	$0.03

Additional Info
•This yarn will felt if you do not follow proper care instructions.
•NatureSpun is treated with a moth proofing agent at the time of dyeing that makes the wool “unpalatable to the wool moth larvae.” (See their FAQ page for more details.)
•The main wool breeds used are Corriedale, Rambouillet, and Columbian.
•This construction is available in fingering, sport, worsted, and chunky yarn weights.
•Sport and Fingering are the only options that come in cones.

mid-work on a standard gauge knitting machine

Machine compatibility

4.5mm Standard	Yes
6.5mm Mid-Gauge	Yes
8mm / 9mm Bulky	Yes

Mid to high tensions felt best on a standard gauge machine. Low-mid tensions felt appropriate for the mid-gauge machine. Low tensions are appropriate on a bulky machine unless you plan on using specific techniques that require looser gauge.

(If you’re wondering, I knitted the pictured sweater at Tension 5/5 for the ribbing and Tension 10 for the colorwork.)

What I’m Looking For

I’ve laid out what I’m looking for in a book in recent reviews, but I haven’t really talked about what I want in a yarn. The completely unhelpful answer is “It depends.”

It’s about purpose.

Am I indulging myself in a luxurious, expensive specialty garment, or am I making a jacket I am going to wear every single day? Is the item for someone who will take the time to properly wash it, or is it for a busy new mom who barely has time to think, let alone check the care label on some knitting she got from Auntie Em?

I want to say I’m a bit of a yarn snob because the yarns I end up choosing for personal projects tend to be hand dyed from indie dyers that are specific wool breeds. I want that handmade, one-of-a-kind element to be there from start to finish.

But I can also appreciate acrylic and will argue that has its place in your stash alongside your finest, rarest fibers.

My considerations boil down to
•Will this work on my machine(s)?
•What is its purpose (everyday workhorse vs luxury) and does it meet it?
•How does it feel on my skin?
•Is it easy to care for as a gift?
•What are the color options?
•Is it sustainable/renewable? (This can be difficult to answer depending on the amount of information available)
•How does it block?
•Does it match the claims it makes? (i.e,. “just like silk!”)
•Is this going to be discontinued just because I like it?

I’m kind of kidding with that last one, but I’ll admit I’ve started to stay away from brands that are always introducing new yarns and then discontinuing them after a year. If it’s gone by the time I get to knit with it and I can’t find more, why bother even trying it? That’s a major yarn peeve!

Speaking of yarn peeves, you may not mind these things, but I sure do!

•Knots in low yardage skeins
•Knots in general
•Donut put-up
•Quickly discontinued
•Splitty construction
•Loose/easily lost labels (especially those wrapped but unsecured labels on those dang donuts)

sweater on a wildflower bed of saltmarsh asters

Knitting It Up

I bought this yarn to knit the Sweet and Simple Block Jumper by Kandy Diamond from her new book, Discovering Machine Knitting. (Check out my review here!)

Nature Spun has a great selection of colors. The two colors I used, Autumn Leaves, an olivey chartreuse, and Pomegranate, an autumn red, had very nice depth of color due to a tiny bit of added black. It really made the colors pop.

With more than eighty vibrant colors spun in four different weights, the possibilities are unlimited for creating something beautiful with Nature Spun.
BrownSheep.com

When I think of 100% wool yarns, I think “scratchy,” but that isn’t the case with Nature Spun. It is a bit more textured than a chemically treated superwash wool yarn version, but that is normal.

Nature Spun is pleasantly soft and squishy with a bit of a size bloom in the twist as it comes off of the cone. Brown Sheep Company classifies Nature Spun Sport as a CYC 2 yarn weight, but I wouldn’t call you wrong if you said it was a light DK or CYC 3 weight, as it is on the heavier end of “fingering” weight yarns.

This yarn flowed very nicely through my machines. I didn’t encounter any breakage or splitting, and when I needed to un-knit a few rows due to a punch card mispatterning, it didn’t cling to itself or create fiber halos around the strand of yarn as I unraveled it. It did shed a slight bit of fuzz as it went through the knit carriage, but others wools I have worked with shed the same amount.

I lightly steam blocked the sweater pieces before putting the sweater together. After a bath in some Eucalan, I wet blocked the finished sweater.

The yarn bloomed a tiny bit more after a steam and a soak, but the stitch definition is still nice and clear.

This wool is WARM. Much too warm for Oklahoma in general, but I had to try it on even if it was 82F outside when I finished. If you’re at higher latitudes, this should keep you very warm in the winter.

If you’re picky about your yarn’s sourcing, Brown Sheep Company says it sources its wool from local growers, and the entire process save wool scouring, carding, and combing is done at their Nebraska location. Plus, they are family owned.

Final Thoughts

This yarn is much nicer than I expected it to be, especially as a nonspecific wool blend at $0.03 per yard. Brown Sheep Company’s product listing claims “breathability, resilience, vibrancy, and warmth,” and I haven’t experienced anything to contradict that.

I joked with my husband that we needed to buy a building downtown and open up a yarn shop just so I can get a wholesale account with Brown Sheep Company. I really enjoyed working with this yarn, and I plan to purchase more of it. I personally don’t mind its care requirements, but if you plan to gift an item made from this, make sure your recipient knows how to wash it. It’s basically a one-season/winter only garment yarn in Oklahoma, but I think it’s worth it. I give it a solid

Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport on Cones is a workhorse yarn you’ll want to add to your stash.

Thanks for joining me on my machine knitting journey! I hope you’ve enjoyed my review. What factors do you consider when judging yarns? What do you want to see next on the blog? Let me know in the comments or contact me through my site form.

Disclaimer
I purchased this yarn myself. All opinions are honest and my own.
Amazon product links may be affiliate links. As an affiliate, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you choose to use my link. If you don’t have a local place to support, please consider supporting the site and using my link.

Tips and Tricks

Organizing My Studio: The Main Room

August 11, 2023August 25, 2023 elyknits

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something using one of my links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. If you don’t have a local place to support, please consider using my link as it helps me continue to provide you with quality free content.

We moved to our new place last year, and I have a studio! Yay! It’s a small building around 400 square feet just steps from our garage.

It’s been a dream come true having a large, dedicated machine knitting space and not just a small craft room, but it’s a lot more chaotic than I hoped.

I rushed to move my things in and managed to paint the paneled outer workroom wall before I had a couple surgeries. I’m not fully unpacked yet.

Wall Storage

I painted the paneled outer workroom wall and covered it with 2×4′ pegboard panels.

All of my cone yarn was finally on the wall… until I found some new old stock yarn and brought in nearly a hundred more cones. (Find some tips on how to find cone yarn in this post.) I had to move my hanks to make room for the extra cones, so I needed more pegboard and more hooks.

I ended up using 16×16″ metal pegboard squares for the rest of the pegboard wall so I could work around my thermostat.

If I had to go back, I think I’d opt for using the 16×16″ size for the whole pegboard wall since I had to wait until my husband had time to help me with the large pegboard and I could install the smaller squares myself.

Here’s what I used:

Triton 2 x 4′ Pegboard 4 Count	6″ Pegboard Hooks (better for cones)
Metal 16×16″ Heavy Duty Pegboard – 4 Pack	8″ Pegboard Hooks (better for hanks)

Cube Storage

My wooden cube storage is full of my knitting books, my vintage magazine collection, and my personal yarn, so, you guessed it, I needed some more storage after finding more vintage patterns.

I opted for a wire mesh cube set that I could reconfigure as needed since I have been rearranging machines and yarn every few months to test layouts. It currently sits under a window, so it was nice to be able to work around the frame.

I had to quickly drag the wire cube stack out of the way after an HVAC condensation issue, and surprisingly it stayed together! I didn’t expect that. I wouldn’t suggest moving it like that under normal circumstances, but I wanted to make sure nothing dripped on my yarn.

I think I bought my oldest wooden cube storage unit at Target, but they only come in the 6 cube option there. This one has options from 3-12 cubes, even though I chose to stick with 6 cube units. I have four of them lining a wall now.

What I used

Wood Cube Storage

Wire Cube Storage

More Work to Do

The studio building was built in the late 1970s or early 1980s, but it is very well insulated. The HVAC has a couple of issues that we discovered after a severe storm-related, days long power outage, some windows need replaced, and some of the lighting fixtures have gone out with no replacement bulbs to be found. I’m using my seed-starting lights as a temporary fix so I can see to knit.

The floor is bare concrete in the main room for one glued down piece of red carpet, and the workroom is tile on top of concrete. I’d like to put in padded flooring eventually.

Oh, and I still have to finish unpacking and organizing my books….

I don’t feel great about how things look in my studio right now, and I really miss my small craft room at our old house sometimes. It had such a cute aesthetic and I really felt creative in that space.

I have to remind myself that I curated the old craft room over the course of the years we spent in that house.

One year I did the walls. Another year I added more storage. The pegboard closet wall came close to the end.

I did all of the organizing in this post gradually over the year or so we’ve been in this house. That’s not bad progress for a busy year at all!

I’ll continue tweaking and optimizing as my budget and time allow. Slow progress is better than no progress!

I hope sharing the slow progress on my studio gave you some inspiration or encouraged you in your own organization progress. If you choose to try out some of the products that I linked, thank you, and please let me known what you think!

I’d love to see pictures of how you utilize your space.

Thanks for reading and joining me on my machine knitting journey!

Tips and Tricks

Finding Cone Yarn

June 27, 2023 elyknits

Knitting machines can use a range of yarn from all kinds of put-ups like we saw in my last post, but the easiest and best put-up for machine knitting is cone yarn. Cones don’t need extra preparation before use, have more yardage in general, and often feature unique textures or colors that you might not find in hand knitting yarns.

If cone yarn is so great, why is it harder to find?

In the USA, machine knitting isn’t as common as it once was. While the hobby is growing again, it’s kind of seen as a niche within a much more popular one or even as “cheating” at hand knitting. Yarns made and wound on cones specifically for machine knitting aren’t really a thing here anymore.

On the retail side, cones are larger and more difficult to display compared to other put-ups. Most shops don’t have the shelf space to dedicate to a few 1-2lb cones that would otherwise be filled with 10-15 skeins or hanks. Many hand knitting or crochet projects don’t need the thousands of yards that can come on a cone. Additionally, shipping cones generally costs more for the number of products you get than other, smaller put-ups.

The downsides of retail shouldn’t keep you from using cone yarn in your machine knitting.

Let me butter you up a bit, reader. If you’re a machine knitter, you already work harder to find your materials, parts, and resources than other yarncrafters have to because of that niche! A little work to find cone yarn is nothing to you, right?

Finding Cones Locally

I’m a big believer in shopping at local small businesses whenever possible.

So please,

Check Your Local Yarn Shop

Maybe they have cone yarn and you missed it! It’s easy to get distracted among the beautiful colors and textures in a yarn haven. Trust me, I understand.

If your local yarn shop doesn’t stock cone yarn, ask them about it!

Most shops are happy to accept special orders.
**Please keep in mind that many distributors have a minimum dollar amount to place an order for new accounts, so it may take your LYS time to reach that amount depending on their size. Pay up front and work with your local shop so you both benefit! Convert your yarn friends so more of you need cones! (No downsides to that one, right?)

Get Stitchin’, the shop where I teach lessons, recently became an Ashford dealer. Now they have 0.5lb Ashford cotton yarn cones alongside their Ashford spinning wheels and looms! Those gorgeous yarns work wonderfully on 4.5mm standard knitting machines. The owner is happy to order other yarns in, too. I just have to ask!

Oh, speaking of looms,

Ask the Weavers!

Ask your weaving friends or your region’s weaving guild where they source their coned yarns. Many of them will use hand yarns, but those who work with finer yarns will often use cones. (If you don’t have any weaving friends yet, try to make some! Weavers are fun!)

Chat with the Regulars

I live in rural Oklahoma. Most people probably think of Native Americans and buffalo when they think of the state. They definitely don’t think of yarn.

That doesn’t mean hand or machine knitting doesn’t exist here, it just means I had to look a little harder than someone in a big coastal city or European town might’ve had to.

As some of you know, I used to work at a yarn shop in the suburbs that focused on hand knitting and crochet. When my hands started to deteriorate (I talked about it in this post), I had to start looking for other yarn craft options.

I saw Addi circular machines online, but I had never heard of a flat bed knitting machine. I mentioned my machine research once at the old yarn shop with the other regulars, and wouldn’t you know, one told me about the Fiber Christmas In July festival, a wonderful local fiber festival, and a vendor there who specializes in machine knitting!

Who knows how long it would’ve taken me to figure things out if I hadn’t stuck around and chatted with the yarn shop regulars?!

My teacher and mentor Pamela Carrico is the fiber artist specializing in machine knitting that customer told me about. Her shop has both hand knitting yarns and machine knitting cone yarns! She has new old stock vintage yarns as well as quality acrylic 2/24 yarns that she sells by the pound, which is really helpful if you want to do a colorwork project but you don’t want to pay for pounds of yarn colors you may only use once.

Asking around helped me find an instructor and materials in one place!

Things worked out wonderfully for me, but what if you don’t have a local yarn shop or yarn community? Making your own is always an option, as is joining an online one.

If you don’t have a local yarn shop, please consider finding a small business online and supporting it before you turn to a big box store. You’re more likely to find someone who can really help you find what you need at a small specialty shop, too!

Call (Yes, Call) Other Yarn Shops

I have the Millenial Aversion to Phone Calls. If you’re not a close friend or family, I much prefer text or email, so I understand there can be some discomfort in this tip.

But remember, many machine knitting shops have been in business for decades, meaning they have operated without texts and emails for a long time, so a phone call is going to be your best option, especially as they take care of things in store. Don’t forget to leave a message if you need to. Save the shop’s contact information so you know they aren’t spam when they call you back. (Yes, you’ll have to answer the phone, too!)

At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a list of shops that I know stock machine knitting cone yarn in the USA. If you know of more, let me know in the comments!

Some of these shops don’t have cone yarn listed on their websites but can tell you what they have when you call and ask. Many have “dead stock,” or discontinued cone yarns that are still perfect for knitting. They just aren’t made anymore.

Online Marketplace Listings

If you weren’t able to find anything with info from your LYS or yarn friends, try using Google, Craigslist, and Facebook searches for “<your location> cone yarn” or “<your location> machine knitting.” Don’t forget to check Facebook Groups that may meet locally or regionally, either!

Cone yarn is often listed in large lots from estate or garage sales. Since it takes up so much room, many people are happy to meet you somewhere and give you the yarn for an extremely low price or even free. I’ve found yarn like this several times. It’s worth checking regularly.

Set a search alert using machine knitting and cone yarn terms so you’ll know when something near you pops up. When you pick up your yarn, ask the seller about their source or where they learned about machine knitting and cone yarn.

If your local search doesn’t pan out, try some of these smaller businesses online:

Cone Yarn Stockists

Carrico’s Creative Corner	https://www.cmodesignerknits.com/	Cone Yarn by the Lb, old stock, and more!
Knitcraft	https://knitcraft.com/	SilverReed Importer
The Knit Knack Shop	https://knitknackshop.com/	Tamm Yarns
Peter Patchis Yarns	http://peterpatchisyarns.com/	Email list of Specials
The Yarn Depot	https://yarndepot.orderpromos.com/	LARGE cones
Rocking Horse Farm	https://www.rockinghorsefarmknitshop.com/	Machine Knitting Camp
Get Stitchin’	https://getstitchin.com/	Ashford Dealer
Ashford Yarns	https://www.ashford.co.nz/	Find local dealer!
WEBS Yarn Store	https://www.yarn.com/	Valley Cone Yarns
YARN ITALY	https://www.etsy.com/shop/YARNITALY	Great Variety
Silk City Fibers	https://www.silkcityfibers.com/	“Wholesale” price
Paradise Fibers	https://paradisefibers.com/collections/coned-yarn	Free Shipping after $150 Lower 48
The Woolery	https://woolery.com/	Weaving Yarns

Have you tried machine knitting with cone yarn yet? Were you able to source it locally? What are you planning to make? Let me know below in the comments!

Disclosures:

I teach hand and machine knitting classes at Get Stitchin’ in Tulsa, OK. I’m not paid to promote the shop, but things that benefit the shop often benefit me as people may purchase my work from the shop or sign up for one of my classes!

Carrico’s Creative Corner is my mentor’s shop. I’m not paid to promote her shop, but I happily mention it to support her and her work.

Shops listed are provided for informational and educational purposes and are not affiliated with me.

Thanks for joining me on my machine knitting journey! I hope you learned something useful today.

logo created by the lovely Mimolette Monster

Seminar

Spring Seminar Coming Soon! April 1, 2023

March 14, 2023September 18, 2023 elyknits

That’s right! It’s nearly time for our next seminar!

Hand and machine knitters, you won’t want to miss this!

We’re learning how to design a custom fit knitted sweater!

Attendees will learn measurement tips and tricks to accommodate various body type needs and draw a body block schematic based off of their own measurements.

We’ll discuss ease—what it is, what it means for fit, and how you may not actually wear the “size” you think you do because of it.

That’s not all! We’ll talk about how material choice affects garment fit and design considerations you should consider when adding elements to your sweater.

Hope to see you there on April 1, 2023 from 10:00AM – 4:00PM at Get Stitchin’ in Tulsa, OK.

Visit Get Stitchin’s website to sign up today!

https://www.getstitchin.com/machine-knitting-seminar

News

What a year!

December 24, 2021December 21, 2021 elyknits

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year, everyone!

I hope you’re spending the end of the year how you want, where you want, with whomever you want.

From launching ELY Knits as a site to attending my first in person market in years, a lot of things have happened this year. I didn’t accomplish everything that I wanted to, but I was able to do some unexpected things like team up with a local store to become a machine dealer and team up with some local fiber artists to make some exciting projects for 2022.

I’m looking forward to next year. If you’d like to see specific techniques or yarns, as always, drop your suggestions in the comments below or send me a note through the contact page.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join me on this machine knitting journey.

Good luck on your last minute knitting, and may you always win at yarn chicken.

yarn review

Yarn Review: Lion Brand Touch of Yak

November 12, 2021November 11, 2021 elyknits

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

Lion Brand Touch of Yak

Touch of Yak in Water Lily

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.

Touch of Yak in Waterlily in a warm light
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.

Touch of Yak in Water Lily wound into a cake

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!