Normally I’m a protein fiber gal, all the way. Sit me in a pile of wool, alpaca, mohair and yak and I’m a happy camper. In fact, I frequently avoid plant fibers because they just…don’t act like wool. The lack of halo, heather, and sproing are all things I typically struggle with when knitting with plant fibers. Every now and then, though, I’ll run across a plant-based yarn that really impresses me—that does all the things plant fibers are best at, and does them so well I forget about being grumpy that they aren’t wool. And I might actually find I love working with plant fibers after all. With that, ta, ta, ta, ta…
It’s time to review SweetGeorgia Yarns Flaxen Silk DK!
Flaxen Silk DK is a relative newcomer to SweetGeorgia Yarns’ lineup of hand-dyed yarns; it’s the bigger-but-younger sibling of Flaxen Silk Fine, their linen/silk fingering weight yarn, which has been around for some time. As with most of their yarns (all of them, actually, except their beloved Tough Love Sock), the name is self-explanatory. Flaxen Silk DK is a DK-weight yarn, 65% silk and 35% linen.
Linen isn’t terribly common in the world of hand-dyed yarns; this is at least partly because linen doesn’t respond to the acid dyes that are typically used by today’s hand dyers. Silk, however, will happily eat up acid dye. Since Flaxen Silk DK is predominantly made of silk, it takes color nicely; however, because of the 35% linen content, only 65% of the fiber in the yarn actually takes the dye. This is why SweetGeorgia’s colors have a softer look on Flaxen Silk DK as opposed to their wool-based yarns. I personally love both looks—the skeins in this review are in their Slate colorway; having compared them with Tough Love Sock (wool/nylon) in Slate, I’d say that while the Tough Love Sock has incredible depth of color, I find the almost stonewashed look of Flaxen Silk DK delightful as well.
One quality of this yarn that’s noticeable right away is its solidity. Both linen and silk are sleek, drapey fibers rather than lush, springy ones; there’s very little air trapped in the yarn as a result, and the fibers don’t stretch at all. This means that the yarn feels firm in the hands as you knit with it, and the resulting fabric doesn’t have a lot of give to it, unless you knit it on larger than usual needles. I chose US 6 needles to knit my Á Chloris sample, which gave me a fabric without gaps, but as you can see from the photos it’s still quite fluid and not rigid. And lace in this yarn…it’s really something else:
It’s a bit slippery to work with (silk, go figure) but the linen helps to give it some grip; still, I’d personally stick with wood needles for this as opposed to metal.
Before moving on, a couple of remarks on color. First, I did find some color rubbing off on my fingers as I knit, particularly with one of the skeins that was just slightly darker than the others in the dye lot. I’ve never had this happen with SweetGeorgia yarn before, so I’m guessing that it was excess color that didn’t take to the linen. I haven’t seen any dye come out since washing the shawl, either. Still, an important note, especially if you’re eyeing a dark or jewel tone.
Second, as I mentioned above, I did find some color variation even though all my skeins were from the same dye lot. Again, I’ve always found SweetGeorgia yarns to be remarkably consistent, so I’m chalking it up to the linen. (See the picture below.) I alternated skeins and didn’t have a problem after that.
Because of the plant fiber, I didn’t do my usual washing ritual (shocking, yes…especially if you’ve been reading a lot of these yarn reviews). Instead of warm water with wool wash, I soaked my shawl in plain cool water for about 45 minutes. I wanted to make sure the fabric was good and saturated. After that I proceeded to block as usual; mats, pins, wires—the works.
The minute I unpinned the shawl I knew it was going to be one of my favorites.
The washing, even in plain water, softened the yarn tremendously. It still has the inherent structure of linen but is now much slinkier. The shawl is huge but it can be bundled up easily without bunching. Blocking didn’t change the lace much, other than to straighten it out a bit; it was quite open and loose already. The finished fabric has an elegant matte look to it; it’s also heavy enough to stay on the shoulders, but not nearly as warm as the same shawl would be if made from wool. Now I’m really itching to see how this yarn will perform in a garment; not to mention wanting to give its lightweight counterpart, Flaxen Silk Fine, a whirl.
So do I love plant fibers now? I’m getting there. I love this particular yarn, that’s for sure…
SweetGeorgia Yarns Flaxen Silk DK is available here. The skein pictured in this review was sent to me by SweetGeorgia Yarns as part of their yarn support program.
My Á Chloris shawl, featured in this review, is available as an individual pattern download from Ravelry and Lovecrafts, and as part of my ebook Mélodies, a collection of lace shawls inspired by French art song. More details available here.
P.S.: I made another shawl using a leftover skein with US 7 needles—Monarda by Jen Lucas (Ravelry link). I’ve included these pictures to show just how fluid the finished fabric is…it was a windy day.
