Noro Silk Garden Solo

Noro, a Japanese yarn company, is known for rustic texture and fabulous self-striping colourway but they also produce some solid coloursways. Laughing Hens asked if I was interested in trying the new Silk Garden Sock Solo and of course I said yes. Earlier this year I had two designs published using Silk Garden Sock (see below) so I'm familiar with this yarn and I was curious what the solid colours would look like. I love the rich blue colour I've been trying out but the other colours in the range look gorgeous too.

Silk Garden Sock Solo is a rustic yarn with an uneven, slubby texture which I really like but if you prefer smooth, even yarns then this isn't for you. There are a few things you ought to keep in mind when choosing which project to use this yarn for. Although it's called 'Sock' it's thicker than most of the other sock yarns on the market. A 100g ball has 300m (400m is average for sock yarns). This means that it's slightly thicker than most sock yarns.

First, I knitted up a swatch in stocking stitch with a few rows of garter stitch. The texture of this yarn works perfectly with both garter stitch and stocking stitch, creating an interesting, rustic fabric. The yarn has good drape and is a blend of 40% wool 25% silk, 25% polyamide and 10% mohair. It is a single ply yarn and hand wash only. Because of this, I wouldn't personally use it for socks but it's perfect for garments, shawls and other accessories.

I also knitted a simple lace swatch. I used 4mm needles and could probably have used bigger needles to get a more open look to the lace. This yarn is suited for simple lace patterns. Lace patterns that have too much detail will get lost in the texture of the yarn. I designed two shawls in the regular Silk Garden Sock which were published earlier in the year. 

The Assymetric Lace Shawl was published in the Noro Silk Garden: The 20th Anniversary Collection which is a beautiful book. 

I also designed the Hybrid Triangular Shawl for the Noro Sping/Summer 2016, issue 8 magazine. This shawl in particular would look a lot better in the Solo colourways as the solid colours would show the lace off better. The stripes do obscure the lace pattern in the original shawl.

I've really enjoyed knitting with this yarn and I would love to use it in a project. You can purchase the yarn and see all the colourways in the range from Laughing Hens. If you're a Noro fan you'll love these new solid colours and if you're new to Noro, Silk Garden Sock Solo is a good yarn to start with.

Laughing Hens provided the yarn for this review but all the views expressed are my honest opinions and I was not paid to do this review. 

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