I look at two variegated yarns from Ice Yarns. 5 ply Lorena Color and 8 ply Lorena Batik. Click on the images for the links to 6 free patterns.
Lorena Color
Details
Lorena Color is a 5ply cotton/acrylic blend Turkish yarn.
- It comes in 100g balls with 280m per ball.
- 50% cotton, 50% acrylic.
- A 3-4 mm hook or needles are recommended.
- Gauge is 32 rows by 24 stitches to 10cm x 10cm.
- Ice Yarns have 9 variegated shades available, 7 of which can be purchased in my online store.
- The label recommends a warm machine wash.
- It is labelled as a number 2 weight yarn which is equivalent to a 5ply or sport weight.
My Observations
- Lorena Color is a lovely, soft yarn.
- The construction of the yarn has quite a tight twist.
- The variegated colour pattern in this yarn is a regular change of one colour of approx 25cm, then the next approx 37cm, then 25cm and then 37cm and so on.
- Very nice to crochet with and not hard on the hands.
- There’s a little bit of stretch to the yarn which I believe is due to the addition of acrylic and the tight twist of the yarn.
- I didn’t find the yarn splitting at all.
Lorena Batik
Details
Lorena Batik is an 8ply cotton/acrylic blend Turkish yarn.
- It comes in 50g balls with 115m per ball.
- 50% cotton, 50% acrylic.
- A 4-5 mm hook or needles are recommended.
- Gauge is 24 rows by 18 stitches to 10cm x 10cm.
- Ice Yarns have 11 variegated shades available. Five of these can be purchased in my online store.
- The label recommends a warm machine wash.
- It is labelled as a number 3 weight yarn which is equivalent to a 8ply or double knit.
My Observations
- Lorena Batik is quite a soft cotton.
- The twist on this yarn is quite a bit looser than the ‘Lorena Color’ which leads to a softer drape.
- The variegated colour change in this yarn is quite long compared to the ‘Lorena Color’ and fades in nicely to the next colour.
- Very nice to crochet with and not hard on the hands.
- There doesn’t seem to be much stretch, more similar to a full cotton.
- Because of the looser twist there can be a little splitting going on, but I found if I slowed it down a bit I didn’t have this issue.
- I love the finish on this yarn. Even though it is not mercerised, it has a lovely bit of sheen to it. The below pictures may give you a bit of an idea.
