Saturday 14 January 2012

Yarn Review: "Baby Camel", Makalu Yarns

This is the first time that I have knitted with camel yarn, and I ordered it for the novelty as much as anything else. I remember when I first started knitting and I went to the Harrogate 'Knitting and Stitching Show', and someone patiently explained to me that their yarn was from a farm of rabbits in Africa... I just didn't really believe them... yarn comes from sheep right?! Ha ha, young fool that I was! Now, I find myself enjoying an increasingly geekish interest in where the yarn comes from and the very different product that is available as a result.

I ordered the yarn from an online store based in Canada, I refer you to their website for a short piece of research about camel yarn in general, here. I had no problems with delivery to the UK although probably not the cheapest way to buy an already fairly costly yarn. However, I have not come across a UK stockist thus far.

The yarn is soft but with a density that creates a textile that still looks quite structured. The yarn is made up of short hairs which create a light fuzz - not to the extent of mohair - but it produces a nice 'fill' between the stitches. I had no issues with splitting. There is enough drape there to produce a garment but I think the sellers, Irene and Mr Sheep, are right in showing this with a poncho, I think it is better suited to a slightly more structured outer garment, then a cardigan or similar.

This yarn is best described as sport weight, or a light DK. The band states that it has a gauge of 22st/30 rows = 4". Additionally, I experimented with different needle sizes and found that:
  • Knitted on 2.25mm: gauge of 32st/48rows = 4"
  • Knitted on 3.25mm: gauge of 26st/36rows = 4"

In my opinion it looked at it's best when knitted on 3.25mm.

The yarn only comes in the one colour - the natural brown of the camel! However, it makes a great backdrop to a variety of colours, it would be nice to play on the camel theme and use reds, turquoises, metallics in the design - it also looked very good with the orange beads on my stitch markers!

I used my single ball to produce a pair of baby 'Moc-A-Soc', a pattern by Bekah Knits. I am very happy with the result. The white 'soc' is King Cole Merino Blend 4-ply. :)


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