This week we’re taking a look at Berroco Gusto®, a thick-and-thin yarn that can suit a variety of knitting needs. This bulky weight yarn comes in bold variegated tones as well as soft, sophisticated neutrals, perfect for any project.
Gusto is a blend of 45% wool, 45% acrylic, and 10% rayon. The synthetic fibers help the yarn keep its shape, as it goes in and out of being tightly spun to barely twisted at all, which accounts for it’s thick-and-thin construction. When knit up, this yarn creates a pebbled texture—I knit my swatch on the recommended size 10 needles.
The curved edge at the bottom is a natural occurrence of the thick-and-thin yarn in garter stitch—the number of stitches and my tension meant that the thin parts stacked on top of each other, then the thick parts stacked on top of each other, yielding a rippling effect. The top edge is more straight—at that point either my gauge had changed or the yarn had gotten offset due to the stockinette stitch portion.
Gusto comes in 19 colors, nine of which are semi-solid shades, and ten of which are more variegated, such as the Lapis color I used for my swatch. This is one of the variegated shades that are more muted.
The patterns we have designed for Berroco Gusto show off the yarn in both the multi-color shades and also the semi-solids. Tucana, Caelum, and Comfrey (a free knitting pattern) show how nice Gusto can be in the semi-solids.
Last year’s collection shows off more of the fun that you can have knitting with Berroco Gusto. Wild Violets, Forest Floor, and Wood Lily (a free scarf pattern that would make a great super scarf) let the colorful yarn do all the work in these cheerful pieces.
Which would you choose—the bold and the bright shades of Berroco Gusto, or the soft and subtle? Let us know in the comments!
I think this yarn really needs the colors to bring the garments to full expression. The colors draw attention, just enough to then make people explore the actual character of the item.
I think it would help if you put a “favorite” button on a design so I can find it quickly later.
Hi Cee,
If you’re a Ravelry user, you can favorite patterns there and even tag them for efficiently finding them again later. Our website doesn’t currently have the capability of adding a “favoriting” feature to the patterns, unfortunately.
I purchased this yarn. I plan to make a knitted jacket. Can’t wait to start.
Has this Berroco GUSTO Yarn been discontinued? It is so wonderful ~ & I have been looking for it.