Summer is just around the corner and I'm not one to put down my knitting for the season. I go into withdrawals from knitting after an hour usually! And I tend to knit with all fibers all year long. However it is nice to have garments knit with fibers that can be worn on a warm summer day. I'm in Newfoundland so I am a very happy knitter that can wear warm garments even in the summer months!
After discovering a few precious fibers that are great to wear on a warm day, my "summer collection" is growing. One yarn that I adore and is fantastic for summer knits is Biscotte's Latte Yarn. This is such a lovely yarn with beautiful drape for feminine and flowy garmets. I wrote about that yarn in THIS blog.
Recently I've been introduced to a BEAUTIFUL new fiber added to Biscotte's amazing collection of yarns; Alga Marina. This yarn is made with Seacell which is Sea Silk and is definitely the most luxurious yarn I've ever knit with. There are 378 yards; 346 meters at 115 grams giving you a gauge of approximately 22 to 24 stitches per 4 inches on 3.5 - 4.5mm needles. This fiber in this weight category was like reaching in a pot and pulling out a pile of gold!! I was beyond excited!
If knitting with silk is something you've done plenty of times then I'm sure you already know how wonderful it is. If you haven't, I want to share some of the yummy details on this yarn so you won't hesitate to grab a few skeins and knit something absolutely fabulous for yourself!
Silk is hydroscopic, which means it has the ability to keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I would wear a garment knit with Alga Marina anytime of the year but summer knits in particular are very fitting for this fiber in my opinion. It is shiny, impeccably soft and smooth and it drapes like no other! I recently knit a new design with Alga Marina and let me tell you, lace loves it!! Here is a little sneak peek;)
This is a flowy, feminine, summer tee that I designed and you can see the drape just by looking at the photo! Wearing this tee was so light and airy that it honestly felt like I wasn't wearing anything at all. It's truly amazing!
In saying all of these wonderful things, I feel it's also important to know a couple of other important details, not to turn anyone away but so that when you do get the opportunity to knit with it, you will have the best experience possible. Silk is an unforgiving fiber meaning that a disruption in stitches is very easily detected. Sometimes our tension varies from either being tired or laying down your knitting in the middle of a row or just knitting from one day to the next. We are not machines, we are human! And this is normally what I love about hand knit garments. But we still want our knits to look really good! You can easily remedy this issue by manipulating the stitches yourself if you see a loose stitch or 2. Normally blocking remedies everything like magic but not as much with silk. Another thing I found when swatching was that short rows, for example, are visible and the interruption in stitches can easily be detected. I didn't find blocking helped with this issue.
So, if you are like me and you buy yarn because you just have to have it even when you don't have a project in mind, I suggest finding a pattern that will truly showcase the beauty of the yarn. Very simple silhouettes is what you will want to look for. If you have the pattern and just need to purchase the yarn, I cannot even begin to recommend Alga Marina enough!
Being the luckiest gal in the world, I received 4 unbelievably beautiful colors in the new Louise Robert Collection in Alga Marina! I will be designing 4 (possibly more) designs with this base that will be FOR this yarn meaning it will only have details to show how beautiful this yarn really is because I truly believe the pattern choice is very important when knitting with silk.
So, will be you knitting with Alga Marina this summer??
