Bulky knits deserve a good chunky yarn. In the depths of Winter, we just need warm and soft accessories that keep us warm. With that in mind, team member Alex has been swatching with our bulkiest offering from The Fibre Co., Tundra, to help you get to grips with this quick to knit yarn.
“As the cold nights draw in and Christmas fast approaches your thoughts, like ours, are probably turning to bulky hand knits.
Let me introduce Tundra. This is our 2-ply bulky weight blend of soft baby alpaca, bouncy merino and shiny silk. The generous 100 gram hanks are perfect for creating warm and lofty single skein accessories, or just a few skeins allow the creation of delightfully warm and soft garments.
Tundra has a warmth and kitten softness to it that is pretty much irresistible once you’ve had a squeeze. The silk adds drape and shine creating luxurious projects that should be well received by even the fussiest of recipients. It takes cables and textured stitches beautifully which is where Tundra really shines. There is little fuzz with this yarn so cables really pop and the gorgeous stitch definition when working up textured stitches makes Tundra an excellent choice for cabled or textured hats and cowls. Stockinette and simple lace patterns work up nicely too and your garter rows will have plenty of loft and bounce to make a tactile springy fabric you will love.
When knitting with the Tundra yarn you’ll find the stitches flow effortlessly between metal needles. Although the yarn has a lovely drape and soft handle it is not so supple or delicate that dropped stitches can’t be easily picked up. The bulky yarn has enough structure that I found stitches held their shape even when dropped. If things don’t go quite to plan when following a pattern you’ll be pleased to hear that Tundra will happily withstand some frogging and re-knitting. This makes it an excellent choice for beginner projects.
Tundra 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. The darker swatches released a little colour when I squeezed the excess water from them which might be something to note if you were going to knit them into colour work with a very light colour. And as with several yarns from The Fibre Co., we recommend alternating hanks as you work to give an overall blended appearance due to subtle colour variances.
We’d love for you to try Tundra for yourself as there is nothing quite like holding these luxurious, cosy skeins in your own two hands. We are holding another knit-a-long using this yarn to knit patterns from The Nordlandda Collection and we’d love for you to join us. There will be more details soon but why not get ready and choose your pattern and yarn ready for the kal kick off on 21st December.
Designer Rachel C. Brown has kindly offered a code for you to get 3 for 2 on patterns from The Nordlandda Collection. Just enter code ‘northland17’ at checkout.”
Pinterest fans you can find our Nordlandda inspiration board here.