I have some lovely, lovely yarn for you. Recently, the fine folks at Aslan Trends contacted me and wanted to know if I was interested in reviewing their Royal Alpaca yarn and hosting a giveaway on my blog. Of course I was! I received two skeins of Royal Alpaca and began swatching one of the skeins; the other is for one of you.
First, the nitty gritty details (from the ball band):
Fiber Composition: 100% Royal Alpaca Wool (19-19.5 microns, for those of you who might want those details)
Put Up: Approx. 220 yards/200 meters; 100 g/3.5 oz
Gauge: 5 sts/in on US 6-8/4-5 mm needles
Care: Hand wash in cold water using mild soap, lay flat to dry.
I started swatching in plain old stockinette stitch. Oh, how I enjoyed knitting with this yarn. The yarn is soft, without being too delicate (You know what I mean. So soft that it pills if you look at it wrong.), and does not have a tendency to split.
Sweet, simple stockinette.
After stockinette, I played around with some lace.
Lace looks really good in this yarn. I would stay away from super small stitch patterns, but larger lace motifs would look great!
Lastly, I swatched a rib and cable pattern.
Ooh, look at those pretty cables!
This was my first time knitting with Royal Alpaca, and I was impressed. It is a yarn that shows off stitches nicely and is a pleasure to knit.
I have a skein for you to try, too. All of my swatches were knit with the color, Sable, but the skein I have for you is Crimson.
There are loads of super patterns that you could knit with one skein of Royal Alpaca. I think all of these are fantastic: Beau Cloche by Natalie Larson, Debaser by Meghan Jackson, Maize by tincanknits, A Loved Thing by Caitlin ffrench, or Ferryboat Mitts by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.
To win this skein of Crimson, leave a comment and let me know what you would knit with one skein of Royal Alpaca. Is it something I mentioned above or some other little pretty item? I will close the comments at 10 am (EST) April 4th and will choose a winner by random then.
Ooooo…that’s lovely. Definitely something lacy…I think I’d design a lacy little cowl for it.
I’ve been wanting to do a cloche for a while. This might be the perfect opportunity.
A nice warm scarf would be wonderful.
I would love to win so I can make the Summerflies shawlette for my daughter with it!
I would make a lovely lacy cowl or a hat with cables because your swatches look so awesome.
i would knit either a lacy hat or a lacy cowl with one skein of Asian Trends Royal Alpaca. I love the Crimson color.
I love that color and the yarn looks like it would be so nice to knit with! I think I would knit a hat out of that yarn.
After seeing your cabled swatch, it would definitely have to be something with cables. They look great in that yarn! I’m thinking a small, cabled pillow to dress up my bed.
I would make a hat, I love red, how beautiful
I would make an Old Flames Scarf with the skein of Crimson Royal Alpaca. It is a pattern I have wanted to try and the alpaca would make it heaven to knit. Thanks for the the giveaway!
strawberrykid on ravelry
Thanks for the giveaway. I’d knit a cowl for my wool-sensitive, but alpaca-loving friend.
I would Knit a hat, yeah I know I am boring but it’s the only thing I can ware Alpaca and not break out in horrid itching and I am a selfish knitter.
I love the drape of Alpaca…I would have to knit a scarf or neck wrap
Hmmm, I would have to choose between ‘Scopes’ by Keladry B or ‘Melofors’ by Susan James. (Both hats I found on Ravelry)Lovely yarn!
I would make something that would go against my skin because it looks so soft – a cowl or scarf I think.
A cowl would be great in this yarn
Grove Mittens. The pattern would look lovely in that red (which matches the accent color on my jacket)
the crimson color is so beautiful and I think it would be lovely as “A Loved Thing” on top of my head 🙂
Wow, the cables look awesome in that yarn! I was originally thinking some kind of cowl, but I prefer hats to show off cables! I am thinking Hermione’s Hat (you know the one), I think it would be beautiful in crimson on me 😉
I love the lush softness of alpaca! I’m guilty of knitting for others and rarely for myself. If I won your skein of crimson, I’d knit a scarf just for me!
Oooh, that Crimson looks yummy! I would definitely be using it to knit myself some short legwarmers/boot cuffs for the Autumn or Winter to come. Or perhaps fingerless mittens. Or rather those pair of legwarmers….
But then again… since the yarn looks so sensitive and alpaca in general is a favorite of mine for being so silky smooth… I think I would end up knitting a pair of soft and delicate arm warmers 😉
I’d have to feel the yarn before I decided for sure which one, but I’d knit either a hot or mittens. Maybe the Vancouver Fog fingerless mittens?
This would be the perfect scarf for my niece. She has been asking me to knit one for her.
I like the Debaser pattern you shared – I would probably make that if I won 🙂
Thanks! I think I’d make a cabled winter hat that was long enough to cover my ears.
The color and fiber are wonderful, so I’d want to have it near my face, draped around my neck.The pattern I would choose is ‘ZuZu’s Petals’, a clean lace, V-shape cowl which is ideal to show off the yarn and which can be draped to style or to wrap and snuggle up in.