How to Knit With Eri Silk Yarn?

Did you know that you can knit with Silk?  

If not, then it's better you start now! But before I share some tips about knitting with Eri Silk, let's talk about the wonder of Eri Silk and its pros and cons. 

Eri Silk is my favorite fiber. It's so gloriously soft, smooth, and has a sheen. Not to mention that it has a beautiful drape and is deceptively strong. 

Ok, let's play a game of word association. I say, "silk," you may say, “silk", "satin", "fancy". We bet you don't say” “warm" or “woolly." Why? Because its not synonymous with these qualities – warm and woolly – with silk, right? Eri silk fiber is different. So different that it surprises everyone. The feel of Eri silk is one of our favorites. When you weave it or knit, your finished product will have the most appealing drape. The fall of the fabric will catch the eye of a passer-by. 

Introducing our Eri Silk Knitting Yarn to our Home spinners

When we first started knitting with Eri silk, we have no idea what yarn weight knitters prefer, or which yarn is suitable for knitting. Our only focus was to be the first company to knit with Eri silk because its rustic elegance, texture, and drape are very enticing, and I know any maker will fall for that look. 

With extensive research, we realized that knitters prefer a fingering and DK weight yarn for knitting and crochet.  

Our women spinners for generations have been used to spinning only a lace weight yarn. When we came along and introduced fingering, DK, and worsted weights, you can guess what happened next. It was a total mess—a struggle for many of our home spinners.  

Those who did not give up and learned to spin DK benefitted because Muezart was ready to buy all that they had to offer – it was an assured market for them.  

The next step for us was to find buyers for hand-spun Eri silk yarn. We added DK Eri silk knitting yarn to our Store and very soon got we started getting orders.  

Then we knew we made the right choice of including Knitter's yarn in our Store! 

Steps To Knit with Silk- Eri Silk

If knitting with silk yarn is something you've done plenty of times, then I'm sure you already know how wonderful it is. If you haven't, I want to share some of the details on this yarn, so you won't hesitate to grab a few skeins and knit something fabulous for yourself! 

Eri Silk is prized for its durability, strength, and warmth - as well as its ability to take in color beautifully. Knitting with Eri silk yarn can be a challenge, but don't let it scare you! With the proper instruction and a few tips, you can begin working with  gorgeous silk-yarn knitting patterns. 

Tip 1: Prevent Snags While Stitching 

Silk is very strong yet can be fragile. If your hands are rough from gardening or have long nails, put on non-greasy lotion before you knit. Silk yarn can get caught on everything so make sure your hands and nails are smooth.  

Tip 2: Watch Your Tension 

Try and keep an even tension as the lack of elasticity means that Eri silk is not forgiving on the look of your finished fabric if your tension varies as you knit. There will be some improvement after blocking.  

Tip 3: Choosing Your Needle 

Our Eri Silk yarn has a woolly effect, looks like cotton but feels silky (naturally) so it’s important to select the appropriate needles.

When working with our handspun Eri silk knitting yarn which are soft or fuzzy silk yarns, use a metal or aluminum needle for best results. 

Our mill spun Eri silk yarns that are similar to manmade yarn can be crocheted using needles that are less slippery, i.e., plastic or wooden needles. 

Tip 4: Protect the Fibers 

Like I mentioned on the first tip - silk gets caught on any rough surface - so use a yarn bowl or another improvisation to prevent your yarn from getting tangled. Moreover, when you don't use the yarn, store them in a cloth bag or basket. 

Tip 5: Block your Eri Silk Yarn project

If you mess up and have irregularities while knitting, not to worry good, blocking job can help to fix it. Silk holds its shape particularly well after blocking! 
Blocking is the process of wetting or steaming your final pieces of knitting to set the finished size and even out the stitches. You could use any flat surface to block your garments, just be sure that your knitted piece lies flat and fully dries so that its shape sets.  

Tip 6: Caring for Silk 

To prolong the life of a pure silk hand knit, it should be washed with special care. You can read all about caring and how to wash Eri Silk fabric here. 

I hope some of these tips will help you before you choose to work with Eri Silk. We also have a free PDF Knitting Pattern that you can download to help you kickstart your project with Eri Silk Knitting yarn.  
 
If you share your finished projects with us, we will feature them on our site.