Last week, designer Kristen TenDyke described in detail the construction of her Homa Sweater, designed in Berroco Remix®. Kristen talked about why she chose to use Remix for this sweater, and had previously written a review about Remix on her website. I had not yet knit with Remix, so I figured that today, to coincide with the announcement of our giveaway winner, I’d take a look at this recycled fiber yarn!
Remix is a favorite yarn amongst the Berroco Design Team. Donna Yacino will talk at length about why it’s her absolute favorite—and then she gets everyone else to knit with it, too! Donna loves everything about the yarn—how soft it feels when it’s knit up, the great range of color choices, even the way it smells!
Remix is made up of 100% recycled fibers, meaning that it’s a blend of nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk, and linen—a combination that yields a sturdy yet soft yarn. Garments and high-quality commercially knit fabric panels left over from the ready-to-wear industry are collected from across Europe and sorted by fiber, then color. Because these pieces are pre-dyed, there is no need to dye them again, which saves water and prevents water pollution. Instead, colors are created by carefully blending garnetted fibers. Garnetted fiber is the result of shredding old textiles to make a new, fleece-like fiber that is ready to be spun into a new yarn.
In addition to being an eco-friendly yarn, Remix comes in twenty colors, and because of the fiber make-up, it has a slightly tweedy effect. It’s a worsted weight yarn that’s machine washable, making it perfect for children’s garments, and since there’s no animal-fiber in the mix, Remix is a great choice for anyone with wool sensitivities. Remix also has really generous yardage—216 yards (200 meters) to a 100 gram ball. It’s got so much yardage to the ball that it doesn’t fit in my yarn bowl!
Remix is also really nice to knit with! It’s a four ply yarn with a smooth twist. I knit my swatch on the recommended size 8 needles and the resulting fabric is lightweight and soft, like worn-in jeans. I worked a moss stitch pattern, just to give my knitting a little bit of extra interest, but I could see Remix working really nicely in a chunky lace pattern.
If you’re looking for reasons to knit with Remix, we have 36 knitting patterns for this yarn, including Astilbe, Tiran, and Cassia.
Merna is the lucky winner of the Homa Pattern, so she can knit that using Remix! Merna said:
Probably olive or eggplant, but the lace looks great in buttercup, especially over a white tee.
Congratulations Merna! I hope you enjoy knitting your copy of Homa.
Homa is available for purchase from Ravelry, and you can locate the yarn store closest to you that sells Berroco Remix using our Store Locator. Happy knitting!
-AP
Silk is produced by silkworms and they are often killed in the process as once they leave their cocoons it is harder to get good fibers for spinning. For something that isn’t vegan, saying it isn’t an animal fiber is a bit of a stretch. It is true that it doesn’t come from a woolly animal that you can hug, but that doesn’t automatically mean it isn’t an animal fiber, nor that anyone can’t have a sensitivity to it – silk has been known as both an allergen and an asthma trigger.
Thanks for the post. It is a great yarn. I would love if you would make Remix without the silk, then it would be a vegan yarn. A rustic, tweedy yarn like Remix is greatly needed by vegan knitters.