Kid Merino is a stock yarn in the Crystal Palace stable of yarns. Kind of a bread and butter sort of a yarn. CPY’s description reads, “Crystal Palace Kid Merino is a lace weight, fingering weight blend of Kid Mohair, Merino wool and microfiber Nylon and can be knit in a variety of ways: as a lace weight fingering yarn, doubled at a DK-worsted gauge or use it as a knit-along yarn with any other yarn to add softness and texture.”

I have used it in quite a number of projects and have always been pleased. Hold it with a wool yarn and felt it for a touch of fuzz and color. Two strands together make a wonderful sock yarn. Use it by itself on size 8 for an ethereal looking scarf or shawl.

It comes in 12 solid colors and 32 prints. The prints are slightly more money but well worth it. CPY has coordinated Kid Merino colors with other yarns such as Red Cinnamon in KM and Merino 5. Or Rainbow Trout in KM, Monaco and Mini Mochi.

CPY pattern support on this yarn is extensive and includes socks, shawls, scarves, hats, cowls, fingerless gloves … Many of the patterns only require one 240 yard skein making these projects under $10. Great secret sister or stocking stuffer gifts.

All in all, Kid Merino is a favorite yarn to knit or crochet. Everyone’s stash should include several of your favorite colors.

4 new colors of Kid Merino

Cuddles

Fiber Content: 100% microfiber acrylic

Yardage: 98 yards on a 50 gr skein

Suggested gauge is 3.5-4 st per inch on a size 9-10needle

Yarn Review: A ‘bread and butter’ yarn, a perfect base for sweaters, hats, jackets, afghans. To quote Crystal Palace:

Cuddles has a wonderfully soft feel and will knit up quickly for all kinds of projects:
baby, afghans, scarves, hats and more.
It is hand or machine wash and dry – on delicate, cool settings.

It is a heavy worsted weight acrylic that can be machine washed a dried. It is super easy to work with. No splitting, and it slid across my bamboo needles like a dream. I got 3.75 st per inch on a size 9 needle so I may have knit a little loose compared CPY’s gauge.

The ‘problem’ with this yarn? Too many possibilities. So far in my head I have a boxy jacket for one grand baby and  blanket for another. I can also see this as a baby photo prop green frog or dragon hat. It comes in 23 solid colors and 9 prints. The scan shows it in the purple prism. It is also available in the frog juniper green in my store listings. More will come in the next CPY shipment.

Cuddles has moderate pattern support as this is a brand new yarn for Crystal Palace. My favorite is the tri cornered hat: http://straw.com/cpy/patterns/baby-child/cuddles-TriHat.html I will also be inventing some patterns and will post them when they are finished. So much yarn so little time. *heavy sigh*

Sharon

Yardage: 134 yards on a 50 gr skein

Suggested gauge is 5-6 st per inch on a size 6-7 needle

Yarn Review: This is a novelty yarn especially suited for scarves and shawl because of it’s draping abilities. To quote Crystal Palace:

Aria has a unique structure – it is two alternating yarns in one ball,
changing every few yards from a nubbly mochi slow stripe wool wrapped
with a fine thread to a soft chenille printed in colors to coordinate with the wool portion.
The effect is a changing color and texture with lovely effects.
Knit it alone or combine with other yarns, especially Mochi Plus.

It is a single ply yarn with alternating sections of a rayon chenille and a wool boucle. I thought there would be more body and memory to this yarn because of the wool content. This was not the case.  The infinity scarf shown was knit on size 10.5 needles using 152 stitches. It was knit in the round with one twist before joining. The pattern consists of 4 rows of garter stitch in Aria and 2 rows of garter stitch in an alternate yarn  … Merino 5, Panda DK, Cotton Twirl. The sample scarf was knit using handspun alpaca wool blend. I carried the yarn up the back instead of breaking it off every time I changed colors. The finished scarf turned out better than anticipated.

All in all, this yarn is a great choice for color and texture. It would make especially great fringe in fringed photo prop blanket or excellent tassels.

Presently, there are two colors available in my store listings. More colors may be found at http://straw.com/cpy/yarns/aria_card.html. I will be happy to order a special color for a special project.

Moonshine by Crystal Palace Fiber Content: 73% nylon, 10% kid mohair, 9% wool, 8% metalic

Yardage: 135 yards on a 50 gr skein

Suggested gauge is 4.5 st per inch on a size 7 needle

Yarn Review: This is a novelty yarn especially suited for scarves and shawl because of it’s draping abilities. It is essentially a 2 ply yarn: one of a kid merino lace weight and the other is of a nylon ribbon with texture and silver metallic. One of the concerns on knitting this yarn was that it would split easily due to the ply. That was not the case whether knit on size 8 or size 11 needles. The yarn is show knit on size 10.5 needles using a drop stitch to show off the silver bumps of texture. Work it with 20 stitches and it only requires one skein of yarn.  (Free pattern available upon request.) Worked on size 8, the silver bumps stand out from the slight haze … a very elegant effect. It is a medium skill yarn due to the  difficulty in ripping it out . The mohair/wool in this yarn is minimal and does not feel scratchy on a bare neck.

All in all, this yarn is a great choice for color and texture. Presently, there are two colors available in my store listings. More colors may be found at www.straw.com under yarn cards/moonshine. I will be happy to order a special color for a special project.