Knitting with rayon

#1

I was at a fiber arts show recently and saw the most beautiful shawls woven of rayon yarns/threads. Has anyone knitted with rayon, and do you have any suggestions for types of rayon? I began looking at yarn sites, and just got more and more confused.
Thanks for any recommendations or advice! Marian

#2

Was the yarn you saw a ribbon yarn? I am making a jacket out of Calypso yarn from DBNY. If this is what you mean, I can tell you it is very hard to kinit because there is no “give” to the ribbon -but you are right- when it’s finished it really is beautiful.

#3

I have knitted with tencel before, which is a sub category of rayon, and although it is beautiful, it was NOT my favorite thing to knit with. I was looking for silk when I bought it, and the cones of tencel were next to the cones of silk in my LYS, looked similar in sheen and visual qualities, but were available in MANY more colors…so I bought a couple. I agree that they knit up beautifully, but the yarn just doesn’t have as nice of a feel when you knit with it, and the ones I bought definitely have very very little give, as Ellieblue stated.

#4

I’ve wondered about rayon myself because I have a store-bought rayon turtleneck that I really enjoy wearing.

If you’d like to try rayon without too much of a commitment, WEBS (yarn.com) is having a sale on Jaeger Roma at $4.99 a ball. It is 63% Viscose/22% Nylon/15% Angora. Viscose is the most common form of rayon.

Or Smileys Yarns has Jaeger Roma for $1.99 a ball, but their minimum order is $50 with $12.95 flat shipping rate.

On Ravelry, Jaeger Roma currently has 4.25 out of 5 stars from 73 voters and seems popular.

#5

I have made several sweaters and tops using various types of rayon and am happy with them. I think that you could either find a particular yarn that you love and then find a pattern that would work with it, or find a pattern that you like and match it up with a rayon or blend yarn.
My favorite top is a henley style short sleeve made with a rayon boucle in sport weight made to knit up like a terry cloth. I’ve worn that shirt for almost 20 years now. Just through it in the wash and dryer, fold and put away.

#6

Yes i have knitted sweaters with rayon they are really good but they shrinks when washed, I have seen this my self and also read that on some blog as well about rayon shrinking.