This video series reviews Holst Supersoft yarn, a popular fingering weight wool yarn with many knitters and crocheters – for good reason. It has a beautiful wide range of colours, featuring many shade variations of your favourite hues. It’s fantastic for knitting stranded colourwork projects, including Fair Isle and intarsia knitting techniques. Moreover, it has an affordable price for a pure wool yarn.
I had lots of questions about Holst Garn Supersoft before I started knitting with it – like, why is it so much cheaper than many other wools from larger yarn companies? Is there a catch? Well, Holst Supersoft is sold with the spinning oil left in it, which requires the knitter to do some additional processing before the project is totally finished. This is commonly found in yarns sold for machine knitting or weaving, rather than hand knitting, which may be sold on a cone rather than wound off into smaller balls. Holst Supersoft is one example of such an affordable 100% wool yarn.
Working with Holst Supersoft is similar to many other wool yarns which contain spinning oil. You’ll ultimately have to wash this oil out of your finished piece of knitting, which causes the gauge of your work to change.
I’ve now completed several sweaters, accessories and other knitting and crochet projects using Holst Supersoft, and can speak to its qualities, advantages and disadvantages more fully. Find my review of Holst Supersoft yarn, plus more guidance and tips, in this 3-part video series.
The video tutorials demonstrate how to work with Holst Supersoft, and everything you need to know about the process of washing out the spinning oil and excess dye.
The methods shown are also applicable to other brands of yarn which are sold coned and oiled. You can buy these from some hand knitting suppliers, such as Jamieson & Smith. You can also find oiled, coned yarns from yarn wholesalers or weaving suppliers, although they might not be labelled by weight in the same way as hand-knitting yarns.
NB: the videos and this post is completely unsponsored by any of the companies mentioned; all materials were purchased by me!
PART 1: Q&A
This video is a Q&A discussing what Holst Supersoft yarn is, and what makes it unique. The video covers:
- What is Holst SuperSoft yarn
- Why is it good to knit with
- Is it REALLY super soft?
- What makes it so cheap
- 2 methods to wash out the spinning oil
- Where and how to wash out the spinning oil
PART 2: SWATCH DEMONSTRATION
This video demonstrates the process of washing out spinning oil by hand, with a comparison of 2 swatches knitted at different gauges. The swatches are Stocking Stitch knitted in the round, using Holst Supersoft in Venetian Red held double. The video shows:
- 2 swatches using 2 needle sizes, knitting Holst Supersoft held double
- Fabric characteristics & gauge before washing
- Washing out the spinning oil and excess dye
- Drying the swatches
- Comparing fabric characteristics & gauge after washing
- Analysing the best uses of the knitted fabrics achieved
PART 3: MACHINE WASHING THE FINISHED OBJECT
This video answers further questions following on from Parts 1 & 2, and demonstrates how a full sweater changes after washing in the machine. This video covers:
- Further advice about swatching and knitting with yarn held double
- Information about the properties of stockinette and ribbed fabric
- How to prepare hand-knits for machine washing
- How to wash and dry hand-knitted garments
- The difference between the garment before and after washing
HAPPY KNITTING!
I hope that you’ve found these videos helpful. If you wish to leave a comment, click through to watch the individual videos on YouTube.
