Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Regia Hand-dye Effect Yarn Review


I picked up a few skeins of Regia Hand-Dye Effect yarn in Germany last year, and this week I finally sat down and cranked out a few pairs of socks.

All I can say is I wish my suitcase were larger, my wallet bigger, and my foresight better.

The yarn is lightly spun and plied with a thin, black thread I thought the CSM would not like.  Was I ever wrong.

This stuff went through the CSM like a hot knife through butter.  And the colours?
They are beyond beautiful.  This yarn is super-soft and fluffy on the skein, and when it's knit up, the fabric takes on a surprisingly coarse, almost scruffy feel.  I soaked the socks in Eucalan, dried them near the wood stove, and once dry, they soften up immensely.  The socks are very fluid and mold nicely to the foot.

Surprisingly, each skein weighed in at about 100g.  I started each sock with a 3:1 mock-rib on the 72 needle cylinder, knit 38 rows, replaced the missing needles and hung the purl bump from the neighbouring needle on each empty one to prevent the little hole that would result, and knit 2 rows before hanging my hem.  Then I knit 75 rows, turned my heel, knit 70 rows for the foot, and turned my toe.  I have about 4g of wool left from each skein, so I probably could have eked out a few more rows, but I don't live that dangerously...

Speaking of living dangerously, little Popina does:
Here she is in the kitchen, sitting serenely beneath Victoria whose innards are about to receive a bit of a tune-up.  I am going to have her cams brazed and reshaped, because she's a bit clunky.  Without needles, she's as smooth as can be, but once I have needles in and start to knit, she feels a bit...well...clunky.  I oiled her liberally, cranked out tube after tube, yet I don't feel she's at her best.  Since I took her apart, cleaned her, and put her back together again, I observed the uneven wear on her cams first-hand and think the extra work and expense will be worth the trouble.  So we'll be taking a trip to the machinist's workshop in the next few weeks, and I'll report back if my impressions are correct.

In the interim, I leave you with another view of Sockhenge:

12 comments:

Shepherd's Loft said...

Ann, They're beautiful! Can you buy that yarn near you? Were they all from 2 skeins of yarn? So Cool!

Shim Farm said...

Hi Linda! Thanks for your compliment! I can get the Regia Hand-Dye effect yarn here in Montreal without a problem, but the price is a bit steep when I compare it to what I paid in Euros. Each 100g skein made one pair of socks. I love the colours! Next time I'm in Germany, I'll be sure to pack a spare bag just for sock wool.

EL said...

Your socks are beautiful.

Shim Farm said...

Thanks EL. The wool made it easy. I could just have keep crankin' and crankin' and crankin'. I *think* you might know the feeling! Thanks for stopping by!

Sallie Abbott said...

Wow! Thanks so much for the great review, which has convinced me to buy this yarn. I had found only one disappointing review by someone who didn't like it much.

The yarn is on sale now for $10.49 USD ($10.01 CAD?) at yarn.com, where I've been salivating over the colors and using forceps to open my wallet. I think the sale goes till May 1, 2011, but yarn.com might not have all the colors that your review shows.

Your review shows so much better what can be done with it and tells me everything I need to know. Thanks!

Shim Farm said...

You're welcome, Sally. I was really impressed with this yarn. I've never been disappointed with any Regia products, mind you, but this one stood head and shoulders above the rest. Your kind comments are appreciated.

Alexandra said...

Wow! Just beautiful! I love this yarn too...

Shim Farm said...

Vielen Dank für Ihre netten Kommentare. Man kann viele schönere Socken wolle in Europa kaufen. Ihr seit ja verwöhnt!

Alexandra said...

Hi Ann,
vielen Dank für deinen Kommentar in meinem Blog! :-) Ich bin froh, wenn ich hier deutsch kommentieren kann, da mein Englisch nicht gerade sehr gut ist...
Ja wir sind verwöhnt...ich weiss. Wenn du möchtest, kann ich dir Wolle nach Kanada schicken...
Liebe Grüsse aus der Schweiz - Alexandra

Shim Farm said...

Hallo nochmals, Alexandra! Ja, hier kann Mann auf Deutsch schreiben, alles kein thema! Ich ferstehe Deutsch, es ist meine Muttersprache, aber meine Rechtschreibung musste ich viel mehr Üben. Mann vergisst so viel, wenn Mann eine Sprache nicht übt. Ich werde mir einn bisschen mühe machen! Wir fliegen fast jedes Jahr nach Deutschland, so kann ich mir den Koffer voller Wolle stopfen. Es gibt fast jede sorte Sockenwolle hier, aber eben viel teurer. Vielen Dank für den virtueller Besuch und das nette Angebot! MFG Ann

Anime said...

The price here in Australia is $22 ... Found some on clearance for $11 + postage ($8) :-/ your socks looks great though, but what do you use to knit your socks?

Shim Farm said...

Hi Anime, these socks were knit on a circular sock machine, or CSM.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...