Darn Good Yarn is a company dedicated to making the planet a little brighter through its manufacture and sale of quality recycled fiber and otherwise eco-friendly yarns. The company's recycled silk is made from the extra silk left over from sari production, so it's really a new fiber and a recycled fiber all in one.
Nicole of Darn Good Yarn tells me the fiber is handspun in Nepal, providing jobs and income for women who might not otherwise be able to provide for their families.
Specifications
- Content: 100 percent silk
- Yarn weight: I called it a light based on wraps per inch, but the company calls it worsted
- Gauge: Ball band does not specify (though website says 3 to 4 stitches per inch on size 8 to 10 US needles); I got 18 stitches and 26 rows per 4 inches on size 5 US (3.75 mm) knitting needles
- Yardage: about 90 yards per 100 gram ball
- Color availability: 6 blends
- Color used in swatch: strong/dark primary colors
- Care instructions: hand wash in cool water
Knitting
Darn Good Yarn's silk, like other recycled silk yarn, comes in various colors that are randomly distributed through the ball, making for a fun and colorful knitting experience.
Based on my guess of what size needles I should used given the wraps per inch of the yarn, I ended up using a needle significantly smaller than what the manufacturer called for. That made the knitting probably a little stiffer than it normally would have been, though I usually find working with recycled silk a little rough.
These yarns also tend to shed fiber a bit as you go, but I didn't have a big problem with that with this particular yarn.
This yarn quickly knit up into a nice firm fabric with little curl in Stockinette Stitch. The bold, dark jewel tones of the yarn I samples were lovely to work with (I actually have worked with other recycled silk in a similar color palette) and I could imagine a lot of projects using this yarn.
When I washed the yarn in preparation for blocking, I left it in a sink of lukewarm water. When I returned the water was quite blue from dye being released. When I rolled my swatch in a towel to pull off the excess water, it left a bit of blue and red dye on the towel. But this didn't seem to affect the colors in the yarn itself, it's just something to be aware of when you wash the yarn.
The fabric opened up a bit and got a little more drapey after being washed, though it is still somewhat stiff.
Uses for Darn Good Yarn Recycled Silk
Recycled silk always makes me think of accessories like bags and funky, airy scarves. This yarn would be perfect for a cool evening bag, a fancy headband, or any other bit of bling you'd like to bring to your life.
It's particularly well suited to one-ball projects because there are no dye lots since it's a recycled product, but the variation in colors can make bigger projects really interesting as well.
Bottom Line
Recycled silk is always colorful and fun to work with, and Darn Good Yarn's product is no exception. Knowing that it comes from a company that's working to make the lives of women on the other side of the world better makes it even more attractive.
In addition to the silk yarn, Nicole tells me Darn Good Yarn is starting an initiative known as NEPAL: Nurture, Empower, Promote a Life, which will focus on teaching women in western Nepal craft techniques. The products will then be available for sale in the Darn Good Yarn shop.
