I have never used Drops Alpaca for the main body of a sweater. Usually I use small amounts of it in fair isle and intarsia with other drops fingering yarns like Nord and Flora. I knit vintage sweaters for myself and I love the huge choice of muted shades Drops Alpaca offers for such a budget friendly yarn. I can no longer justify buying the rowan felted tweeds and Jamiesons & Smith since I live in Europe and due to Brexit the cost of British yarns with shipping and customs costs has exploded; so i have to box clever with my spending and Drops suits my needs perfectly as it's widely available online. Finally I agree with other comments below about not being sure about the stretchability for an overall garment as it feels very taut when I knit it, but I prefer this handling to the jamiesons & rowans yarns that often broke.
I love alpaca! I find it to be some of the softest and warmest fiber ♥️ As far as a recommendation for review - I’d love Harrisville Designs Nightshade yarn - I’m making a sweater with it right now, and would enjoy hearing your thoughts on it :)
I want to knit a sweater with this yarn... and I want to pair it up with Drops Kid Silk. Have you personally worked with this pair before? If so, how was it? So many people talk about how Alpaca stretches. I figured if I pair it with Drops Kid Silk, it should be okay, right?
We have not worked with their Kid Silk *yet* but we hope to soon! Yes your thoughts are correct! By pairing a stretchier yarn (like Alpaca) with a silk, wool or yes a mohair (depending on how much of a halo or fuzz you want your project to have), it should help keep your projects shape better!:)
Good if you knit it tightly, like fairisle , or if you want a loose knit then pair it with mohair to avoid pills .Otherwise crochet it and its perfectly lovely longterm. I have three crochet sweaters, fairisle mittens and boot toppers and I use it for the cuffs of socks. Ive made a few lace scarves and shawls.and a hat pairing it with drops mohair, oh, and a crocheted bla nket. Zero issues except some underarn pilling which is the easy to pull off kind This I dont find very often, it takes several wears. This is great yarn and the colours are to die for. Ive used alpaca three times the price from local stores and Id say that was only a tiny bit better for the pilling factor , and no better in any other way. Daisy and karisma will pill immediately and with every wear. Like others have said, this yarn should not be knitted loosely .
I just went and looked again at my alpaca items. The blanket looks no different thsn it did new, four years ago. So do my crocheted sweaters. Only one jumper vets underarm pills and thst the one I wear as a slob around the house constantly; i slept in it a couple of times . The fairisles have zero pills or fluffing.
Wow! This is so helpful! Thank you for sharing! I agree, using this yarn at a larger gauge will probably also increase the amount of stretch that your finished project will experience.
@@UntwistedThreads I think stockinette in any gauge will stretch out. Its the nature of plain alpaca yarn, its not elastic. Use Nord for plain stockinette, its alpaca with nylon. Its hard to tell the difference, I have to count the plies or see how easily it snaps in order to tell the difference. You cant use any thing for everything.And its wrong to judge a fish because he cant climb trees.
@@UntwistedThreads mohair is kinda stiff and not very elastic though. Pure sheep wool would probably be better if you want a really elastic yarn, but adding a wool-mohair blend would still be better than pure alpaca.
I’m kinda surprised you didn’t talk about how alpaca has no memory/stretches really bad. Would love to see how a garment holds up over time!
Yes!
You're exactly right! And for this reason, I highly recommend making a decent sized swatch to see how much it will stretch/grow out!
See.my comments.
I have never used Drops Alpaca for the main body of a sweater. Usually I use small amounts of it in fair isle and intarsia with other drops fingering yarns like Nord and Flora. I knit vintage sweaters for myself and I love the huge choice of muted shades Drops Alpaca offers for such a budget friendly yarn.
I can no longer justify buying the rowan felted tweeds and Jamiesons & Smith since I live in Europe and due to Brexit the cost of British yarns with shipping and customs costs has exploded; so i have to box clever with my spending and Drops suits my needs perfectly as it's widely available online.
Finally I agree with other comments below about not being sure about the stretchability for an overall garment as it feels very taut when I knit it, but I prefer this handling to the jamiesons & rowans yarns that often broke.
Thank you for sharing Nathalie! I am so happy to hear that you enjoy using Drops yarns! I agree, I think they're a great option:)
I love alpaca! I find it to be some of the softest and warmest fiber ♥️
As far as a recommendation for review - I’d love Harrisville Designs Nightshade yarn - I’m making a sweater with it right now, and would enjoy hearing your thoughts on it :)
I agree! I love how soft it can be! And thank you for the recommendation! We will absolutely add that to our list!
I want to knit a sweater with this yarn... and I want to pair it up with Drops Kid Silk. Have you personally worked with this pair before? If so, how was it? So many people talk about how Alpaca stretches. I figured if I pair it with Drops Kid Silk, it should be okay, right?
We have not worked with their Kid Silk *yet* but we hope to soon! Yes your thoughts are correct! By pairing a stretchier yarn (like Alpaca) with a silk, wool or yes a mohair (depending on how much of a halo or fuzz you want your project to have), it should help keep your projects shape better!:)
@@UntwistedThreads - thank you for your reply. I appreciate it.
Good if you knit it tightly, like fairisle , or if you want a loose knit then pair it with mohair to avoid pills .Otherwise crochet it and its perfectly lovely longterm. I have three crochet sweaters, fairisle mittens and boot toppers and I use it for the cuffs of socks. Ive made a few lace scarves and shawls.and a hat pairing it with drops mohair, oh, and a crocheted bla nket.
Zero issues except some underarn pilling which is the easy to pull off kind This I dont find very often, it takes several wears. This is great yarn and the colours are to die for.
Ive used alpaca three times the price from local stores and Id say that was only a tiny bit better for the pilling factor , and no better in any other way.
Daisy and karisma will pill immediately and with every wear.
Like others have said, this yarn should not be knitted loosely .
I just went and looked again at my alpaca items. The blanket looks no different thsn it did new, four years ago. So do my crocheted sweaters. Only one jumper vets underarm pills and thst the one I wear as a slob around the house constantly; i slept in it a couple of times . The fairisles have zero pills or fluffing.
Wow! This is so helpful! Thank you for sharing! I agree, using this yarn at a larger gauge will probably also increase the amount of stretch that your finished project will experience.
Wow, sounds like it could last! That is so great to hear!
@@UntwistedThreads I think stockinette in any gauge will stretch out. Its the nature of plain alpaca yarn, its not elastic. Use Nord for plain stockinette, its alpaca with nylon. Its hard to tell the difference, I have to count the plies or see how easily it snaps in order to tell the difference.
You cant use any thing for everything.And its wrong to judge a fish because he cant climb trees.
I don‘t know why but for me it is really itchy. But nice video :)
Thank you Lotti! Alpaca can unfortunately be itchy for some, especially in the warmer weather.
Thanks for another Drops yarn ❣️ would you like to try Alize yarns and Italian yarns?
Yes that is a great suggestion! Adding it to our list!:)
Can you add another yarn so it will have memory and stretch out of shape?
You can !
You absolutely can! A common pairing that I have heard is of course using a mohair in addition to this yarn.
@@UntwistedThreads mohair is kinda stiff and not very elastic though. Pure sheep wool would probably be better if you want a really elastic yarn, but adding a wool-mohair blend would still be better than pure alpaca.
❤ i would like you to do spincyle yarns sport weight and zauberball starke 6 sport compare both please
Thank you for the recommendation, Ruth! We will add it to our list!:)
My jumper made from this yarn, pills big balls a lot. I have shaved it many times.
I am so sorry to hear that! :(
Sorry not stretch out of shape.