As part of our ongoing attempt to make it easier for people to choose the right yarn for them we are writing reviews of each of our yarns. Today we are going to look at Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran. We will give you some basic information about it as well as let you know what we think it is like to knot with.
The Alpaca Silk Aran Yarn
The Alpaca Silk Aran yarn is made up of 80% Alpaca and 20% silk. This means that it is very soft but also has a lovely sheen to it that comes from the addition of silk. The Alpaca in this yarn makes it very warm and with 20 colours you have great choice. It is a very heavy yarn with a 50g ball being only 65m in length. The tension of the yarn is pretty much that of a standard Aran weight being 18 stitches and 24 rows on 5mm (US 8) needles.
Knitting with Alpaca Silk Aran
This is another yarn that to me at first glance does not look that impressive, but it does make lovely garments so give it a chance. The big question is what is it like to knit with? Well there are both ups and downs to this yarn. Firstly let me say that I loved knitting with it and have produced myself a scarf that I think I will wear all winter as it is lovely and warm. However on the downside this is a very fluffy yarn and that is no exaggeration. When I was knitting with it I had the garment on my lap and I was covered in bits of yarn. I could literally rub my jeans and get lumps of the yarn in my hand which was not great.
It is also worth mentioning that it does not go very far. I created a cabled scarf for myself and had to use over 10 balls of yarn. This makes it a very expensive yarn to knit with and I would recommend it for smaller garments like scarves and hats rather that very large bulky sweaters. Having said that though, if you were to make a sweater out of this yarn it would look amazing and would keep you so warm you wouldn