Linen Drape, A Mini-Review

Well goodness me! Based on your reactions, anyone would think my last post was a joke, instead of the Terribly Serious Piece Of Journalism that it actually was. But thank you for all the acryla-love. Maisie says hi.

(It turns out that acrylas can get addictive. You know that phenomenon where people tell a lie so consistently that they start to believe it themselves? Meanwhile, thank you again to Jo Ray for making this gorgeous beast.)

Anyway, enough about the serious matter of acryla-farming. Let’s get on to the light-hearted stuff. Like this:-

This is a new cowl that I’ve designed, and there’s a pattern coming shortly, in case you’re interested. If you follow my Instagram and Facebook pages, then you’ll have seen this already.

The yarn is a shiny new release from Stylecraft, known as Linen Drape. It’s a DK-weight yarn, 30% linen and 70% viscose. The balls may look small, but they weigh 100g (3.5oz), because this beast is dense and heavy:-

And yes, the name is apt, because this yarn certainly has marvellous drape, which is perfect for the right project (and completely terrible for the wrong project).

There are eight colours, most of which work well together.

My pattern for this cowl will be published soon, but meanwhile, let’s have a teeny-weeny mini-review of the yarn. (Disclaimer: I don’t have to pay for Stylecraft yarns, so you can’t trust my shallow, corrupt, opinions even slightly, OK?)

I decided to design a cowl because I knew that in this yarn, it would feel like a fibrous hug, draped around my shoulders. And the stitch definition is good, which is fine for colourwork:-

Knitting (or crocheting) this stuff feels – not surprisingly – similar to working with cotton, but this yarn is denser, heavier, than your average cotton yarn. And just like cotton yarns, it comprises lots of plies that have precisely zero intention of clinging together if they can possibly help it. So you’ll need to knit/hook carefully, to avoid splitting your yarn.

In my heart I’m a wool-addict, but I do like this yarn. The colours in particular are fresh and interesting – I hope that they’ll expand the range at some point soon. Meanwhile, I’d better get on with writing up this pattern…