Yarn Tasting Follow-Up: Felting Lanas Yarn
Last week I participated in a virtual yarn tasting. It was wonderful! I gushed about the yarns, including a classic 100% wool yarn called Lanas. I was particularly enthralled by its ability to felt cleanly and completely and wanted to try felting Lanas yarn myself.
Felting Lanas Yarn
During the yarn tasting, I was shocked by the complete felting of a sample knitted square. This Berroco yarn was called Lanas and the colorway, Snow Day, made the cleanness of the felting even more impressive.
Because this tasting was on Zoom, I wondered if resolution had anything to do with the outcome. I decided to use what was left of my baby ball of Lanas yarn to knit a swatch and felt it to see for myself!
I knit half of this swatch in garter stitch, then switched to Stockinette stitch. Because I had both in one swatch, I maximized the information I could get out of the tiny amount of yarn.
I hand-felted with hot water and a tad of soap. I’ve felted a couple projects before, but it’s important to note I don’t consider myself an expert.
Yarn: Berroco Lanas in Lake
Here are the swatches before and after felting.
As you can see, the width was most affected by the felting process. There was shrinkage of 1/4″ to 1″, depending on the stitch used.
Garter stitch saw significantly more shrinkage in width. The difference was similar in height.
The overall result was a good one. It felted true and with more practice (or felting by machine), I’m sure I could have achieved as beautiful a swatch as we were shown at the yarn tasting!
The Verdict
Yes, it felts beautifully!
While you can barely see any difference in this photo, you could feel the garter stitch bumps. I would use Stockinette if felting for a finished project.
The Yarn
Lanas
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
2 Comments
Paula
I’m confused by your conclusion– your photos show the complete opposite. Your ruler is hard to read in the photos, especially since you didn’t set it at the 0 mark on the edge, but it’s clear that the swatch barely shrunk at all in width in stockinette, and only shrunk enough in garter to end up even with the stockinette. Lengthwise, the whole piece shrunk about 1.5cm.
Holly
Hi Paula — Thanks for your feedback!
The rulers are there for reference, much like you may place a quarter in a photo so someone understands the size. The rulers can’t be placed perfectly on any of the edges because knitted fabric isn’t always flat; it has bumps, it curls at the ends, etc. As I mentioned, the Stockinette section felted best. If you look closely, you’ll see that the change in length is entirely in that section of the swatch. (It’s hard to see, but it’s near the 7cm mark. The width gives it away.)
I’m sorry the photos weren’t more helpful to you. There are plenty of other feltable yarns out there. I hope you’ll find one that’s perfect for your next project. Take care!