This week on the blog, we’re focusing on The Fibre Co. Road to China Light. We’re talking you around the swatch, the fabric and recommending a few of our favourite projects to work up in our Road to China Light blend.
If you’re a fan of The Fibre Co. we’d like to bet you have a skein or two of Road to China Light in your stash. It’s just so irresistibly soft, we know it begs to be whisked home after a squeeze at your local yarn store. With that in mind, team member Alex has been swatching with the luxury sport yarn to help you get to grips with Road to China Light.
Road to China Light is a beautiful yarn for knitting delightfully warm and soft accessories. Nothing beats the comfort of pulling on a pair of wrist warmers or a slouchy hat knit in Road to China Light when the days are short, dark and cold. Whilst it can also be used to create really special, light, warm garments I love the idea of using Road to China Light to add a little luxury to my everyday, with 2-3 skein accessories.
Getting to Know the Fabric
Let’s meet Road to China Light, a decadent sport weight yarn which blends baby alpaca, silk, camel and cashmere to create a luxurious knit fabric for your most precious hand knits. This yarn goes back to the early days of The Fibre Co., when our founder Daphne owned a small mill in Maine. Years of fibre exploration at the carding machine, hand blending raw fleeces led to the pursuit of the perfect yarn made from truly luxurious fibres.
The resulting Road to China blend creates a knit fabric with a soft halo but enough definition to explore subtle textures and shifting patterns. Road to China Light is the hank we reach for when we want to create something truly special.
Let’s Swatch!
Road to China Light can be gently washed by hand so I left these swatches in a sink filled with cool water and a capful of Soak to relax. Using the 3.25mm needles recommended I got 24 stitch per 4” which is an ever so slightly looser gauge than the recommended 26sts per 4”.
A pleasure to knit with, Road to China Light glides effortlessly between the needles which I know our speed knitters really appreciate. It’s also not a splitty yarn and will withstand some frogging if your project goes awry, which is always a plus.
The fabric has the most wonderful handle. It’s light and has the drape and movement you’d expect for a blend with cashmere and silk. I was really impressed with how beautifully the yarn blocked. The stitches are very even and my stockinette swatch has a very neat, finished appearance.
I could see myself knitting a simple cropped cardi in a classic shape to wear over dresses, which would be timeless and truly special to knit and wear in such a beautiful yarn. I can tell the fabric will pill in high friction areas like under the arms having added a little friction to the swatch but like most yarns, once the pills have been removed a few times that should subside.
I found the lace knit with Road to China Light opened up beautifully when blocked, holding its shape and definition with the softest of halos. It’s a really versatile luxury yarn that would work well for a variety of knit designs. As you can see above, it also creates beautiful soft cables and textures.
Many designers have had fun playing with texture and lace when using Road to China Light in their shawl designs. The variety of stitch patterns that work with the yarn combined with the tactile nature and kitten softness of Road to China Light makes for a very special shawl or wrap design indeed.
Patterns Using The Fibre Co. Road to China Light:
Most knitters find it impossible to put Road to China Light down after that first squeeze of the hank, but what to do with this sumptuous yarn once you’ve bought it home from the fibre festival or LYS? Well, here are a few of our favourites but dive into Pinterest or our Road to China blend yarn bundle on Raverly for more ideas.
Foundations Accessories by The Fibre Co.
Canopy Shawl by Melody Hoffmann
Armadale Shawl by Melanie Berg
Water Lily Crochet Shawl by Lisa Naskrent
Charlotte Light Cardigan by Carrie Bostick Hoge
Peck on the Cheek Hat by Libby Jonson
We know many of you love Road to China Light as much as we do as we’ve seen some beautiful projects on Ravelry, Instagram and Facebook. Join the community and share your knits on social media using the hashtags #madewiththefibreco and #thefibreco so we can see what you’ve been making.