Berroco Yarn Tasting: New Yarns for Fall 2020

This week I participated in a virtual Berroco yarn tasting! It was my first and it was a wonderful experience. I can’t wait to tell you about all the yarn!

The yarn tasting was hosted by Margaux Hufnagel of Berroco in cooperation with my local yarn shop, Yarn Cloud. Before the event, I ordered the fall yarn tasting kit on my shop’s website. A few days later, I picked up in person at my local yarn shop.

The virtual yarn tasting was held on Zoom and lasted about an hour. During the tasting, Margaux showed full skeins of each yarn in multiple colorways and discussed their fiber content, weight, and feel. She also was able to speak a bit about the inspirations for the yarns being released this fall. While she spoke about each yarn, we followed along at home with our own mini skeins.

Then there were door prizes! They included pattern books and kits. After the yarn tasting, the prizes were raffled off.

The Menu

The kit came with 6 mini balls of yarn, each around 15 to 20 grams. The colorways were random!

Here’s the menu with the colorways I received attached.

The Yarns

Tiramisu

The first thing I noticed about Tiramisu was that it was two yarns in one! There is one super fine strand alongside a fluffier and thicker yarn.

During the yarn tasting, Margaux mentioned that the inspiration was carrying mohair alongside another yarn to add halo to bulk. I think they nailed it! Because the colors do not perfectly match, the effect holds.

The colorway I received was Tartufo, which shifts beautifully between reds and ruddy browns. It almost looks green in some places!

Tiramisu is light worsted and self-striping.

Fiber: 38% wool, 28% acrylic, 23% super kid mohair, 11% silk

Gauge: 18 – 20 stitches x 24 – 26 rows = 4″ x 4″

Needles: US #7 – 8

Ball: 137 yards/50 grams

Mochi

I adore chainette yarns. They like baby i-cord and their hollow cores allow for bulk without true weight. Mochi is no exception. I love it!

One curious thing about Mochi is that it has so much fluff, it may fool you into thinking it is delicate. It almost looks like roving that is pulled and ready to spin. It’s much stronger, though, and looking a bit closer lets you see the detail of each chainette round.

Margaux noted that while Mochi has a halo, it also has great stitch definition.

Mochi is heavy worsted and gently speckled. The pictured baby ball is in Vanilla.

Fiber: 37% baby alpaca, 35% nylon, 26% wool, 2% other

Gauge: 16 stitches x 24 rows = 4″ x 4″

Needles: US #9

Ball: 191 yards/50 grams

Artesia

Artesia is a soft, super-fluffy yarn that works up beautifully. Larger needles leave room for the significant halo created by the mohair and alpaca blend. I was surprised by the strength of this thin yarn, which held its own when worked with thicker, wool yarns.

The skeins are huge! You’ll have 475 yards in each, which can accommodate many projects without the need to alternate skeins. (Because Artesia is hand-dyed, you may find some variation between hanks.)

Artesia is variegated and chunky. Camellia is the sample colorway I was given.

Fiber: 40% alpaca, 40% mohair, 20% nylon

Gauge: 16 stitches x 24 rows = 4″ x 4″

Needles: US #9 – 10.5

Hank: 475 yards/100 grams

Aerial

Light and angelic, Aerial is a stunning yarn with an ethereal look. The silk adds a bit of gloss while the mohair provides a broad halo.

I worked Aerial on US #10 needles and the result was an open, lacy fabric with a broad halo. I’d be most likely to use it held with another yarn than on its own, but I could see how it would make stunning shawls.

Aerial is a lace-weight yarn available in 18 solid colors. Pictured in Tea Rose.

Fiber: 65% super kid mohair, 35% silk

Gauge: 18 – 24 stitches x 26 – 40 rows = 4″ x 4″

Needles: US #2 – 6

Ball: 284 yards/25 grams

Millefiori Light Luxe

The first yarn that caught my eye in the bag of mini balls was Millefiori Light Luxe. That shouldn’t be a surprise, considering its sparkle and shine!

The glint of this yarn adds a luxurious look, even when only a couple rows are used. When I ran it between my fingers, I noticed that the sparkle isn’t scratchy like other yarns can be.

Millefiori Light Luxe is a self-striping, DK yarn. I used Ultramarine.

Fiber: 50% acrylic, 43% wool, 6% nylon, 1% other

Gauge: 24 stitches x 32 rows = 4″ x 4″

Needles: US #5

Ball: 350 yards/100 grams

Lanas

Lanas was the beauty I overlooked in the bunch. Referred to as a workhorse yarn, this 100% wool is a blend from multiple South American breeds.

The thing that surprised me the most about this yarn is how pure and simple it is. When I think of knitting with wool, this is the type of yarn that comes to mind. I gave the yarn a tug between my fingers to test its strength, then ran it over my tension finger. It was strong, but did not irritate my finger like some wool can.

During the yarn tasting, Margaux mentioned that it also felts well. She held up a felted square and I was shocked! Though the yarn was white (Snow Day), it was impossible to see where any stitches had been. It felted completely.

Lanas is a worsted-weight, single-color yarn available in 75 colorways. Pictured in Lake.

Fiber: 100% wool

Gauge: 18 – 20 stitches x 24 – 26 rows = 4″ x 4″

Needles: US #7 – 8

Ball: 219 yards/100 grams

What to Make

Our yarn tasting kit included a pattern for a cowl. It was beautiful, but it had a very high neckline. I opted to create a simple broken seed stitch cowl instead.