What is Alpakka Folgetrad?

Have you heard of Alpakka Folgetrad?

It's a (relatively) new offering from Sandnes Garn, and it has been made specifically to be a companion strand in your knitting, and an alternative to lace-weight silk mohair.

This is a great option for people who have sensitive skin, and therefore don't like (or can't stand) the feeling of mohair against their skin. Mohair is typically "rougher" than mohair. 

It also provides an alternative to the fluffy look that you get with silk mohair, so you can choose the final look and feel of your project - and could be an especially nice option for colourwork projects where you want a little more definition between colours.

Silk mohair typically comes in 25g balls and runs at approximately 200-225m per ball. With Tynn Silk Mohair coming in at 212m.

Alpakka Folgetrad comes in 50g balls, and 400m. So, for many projects you will only need one ball of Alpakka Folgetrad per two balls of silk mohair, making it an economical choice too.

However, note that two balls of Tynn Silk Mohair comes to 424m, compared to 400m for one ball of Alpakka Folgetrad, so exercise some caution and do a little math before deciding how many balls to get for your project. A good tip is to also look at the meterage required of the "main" yarn, usually a fingering weight or dk weight yarn, and take that into consideration too when looking for an indication of the total meterage required. Or consider if it will matter if your project is a couple of cm shorter than the pattern suggests.

 Folgetrad is a Norwegian word that means companion thread. So it is specifically built to be used in conjunction with another strand of yarn, and therefore it doesn't have a set gauge or recommended needle size.

One small downside to Alpakka Folgetrad is that it is only available in a limited colour palate, however core colours are available, and the offering does seem to be expanding, so watch this space.

The cover photo shows Alpakka Folgetrad in shade Lys Gramerlet (1042) held with Tynn Peer Gynt in shade Naturmerlet (2641), and the crisp finish shows off cables beautifully.