Plymouth Galway may not be as well-known as some of the other basic wool yarns put out by the big yarn companies, but it's a yarn that shouldn't be overlooked by people who want a nice, simple, hardworking wool yarn at a decent price.
Galway isn't fancy, but combining colors or textures in the right way could certainly make a dramatic project. It's also a good choice for those everyday items that need to be made well, wear well and feel good against the skin from day one.
Specifications
- Content: 100 percent wool
- Yarn weight: Medium
- Gauge: Ball band says 5 stitches per inch on size 8 U.S. knitting needles; I got 17.5 stitches and 23.5 rows per 4 inches (about 4 stitches and 6 rows per inch) on size 8 needles.
- Yardage: 210 yards per 100 gram skein
- Color availability: 80 solids, 30 heathers and 24 multis
- Color used in swatch: 44 (red)
- Care instructions: Hand wash, dry flat; no bleach, light iron if needed.
Knitting
Plymouth Galway is a great general purpose knitting yarn that could become another go-to yarn for people who do a lot of knitting with medium weight wool. The huge range of colors and multis means you can use colors alone or separately and easily incorporate stripes or other colorwork into your projects.
The yarn is quite easy to work with, with no splitting that I encountered. It produces almost universally uniform stitches that have good definition. There is a little curl in Stockinette Stitch that is not resolved by blocking.
To the hand, the yarn is relatively soft, squishy and plush, though when rubbed on the skin there may be the slightest hint of a scratch to sensitive types. It is reluctant to take up water when being washed, but once it has surrendered it opens up slightly.
This yarn is also a great choice for felting, making a nice, solid fabric with little stitch definition in a short ammount of time.
Uses for Plymouth Galway
Whatever you like to knit with wool yarn, you could use Plymouth Galway to make it. From warm winter sweaters and afghans to felted toys and home decor items, this yarn would be a good choice for a wide range of projects.
The large color selection and good stitch definition means you can throw in colorwork, cables or other textured knitting easily and always have a project that looks great in the end.
Bottom Line
Plymouth Galway retails for about $6, a pretty good price for just over 200 yards of yarn. Because it can be used for regular knitting or knitting and felting project,s you'll probably want to keep a little in your stash for those small projects that inevitably come up, or buy enough for a sweater for the winter.
Either way, I think you'll be happy with the results you get from this hard-working wool, sure to become a favored basic in your collection.
