A Study of Rauma Yarns: Colorwork Swatches in Gammelserie & Finullgarn
As many knitters know, one of the strengths of “woolly wool” is using it in colorwork. The wooly fibers tend to grab each other more than a merino or a superwash yarn, so the resulting fabric is more consistent, clear, and meshed together into a cohesive fabric.
After knitting swatches of our four Rauma yarns for two previous blog posts, the first post discussing Gammelserie and Finullgarn and the second post discussing Strikkegarn and Vams, the next logical step was to knit swatches in colorwork! This is a common use for Rauma yarns historically, in Norwegian-style sweaters, Selbu mittens, and warm socks, so I wanted to explore them for myself.
Gammelserie is the thinnest and tightest twist of the four Rauma yarns that The Woolly Thistle carries. It is frequently used in colorwork socks and mittens, especially with detailed, fine-gauge designs.
I knit Gammelserie in Color 403 (very light heathered grey) and Color 476 (deep olive green) on a US 2 (2.75mm) needle and got a gauge of 32 stitches and 37 rows to 4 inches. Because of that tight gauge, I could knit a very detailed pattern over a small distance but the fabric didn’t feel too stiff or inflexible. The fabric feels pleasantly thin even with the floats behind and it would be comfortable for socks.
Gammelserie would be ideal for any colorwork project that you want to be thin, durable, and finely patterned. Socks come immediately to mind, but also maybe a lightweight T-shirt?
Finullgarn has similar yardage to Gammelserie, but it is noticeable squishier and thicker. With the looser twist, it tends to not be quite as durable as Gammelserie, but it has a loftier feel ideal for mid-weight garments.
I knit Finullgarn in Color 400 (white) and Color 459 (navy blue). Using a US 4 (3.5mm) needle, I got 25 stitches and 29 rows over 4 inches. The fabric is a little thicker than the Gammelserie fabric, but also has a little more gentle fuzz. It created a detailed, crisp colorwork motif and feels like it would be a little warmer than Gammelserie.
This Finullgarn fabric would be great for mittens and is often used in Selbu-style mitten patterns. It is also commonly used in many Scandinavian-style all-over colorwork sweaters. As many of you know, it is also used in the Tapestry Cowl to great success!
10 Comments -
Kim Tregilgas • -
Ann T. Gilchrist • -
Monica Cortada • -
Nancy Airikka • -
Rebecca •
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This is so helpful – I also buy from TWT online and I get stumped once in awhile. I come back to this site again & again b/c of the great information on your yarns.
Thank you!!
Thank you for doing this research. I do not know much about these Norwegian brands and since I shop your shop online and cannot feel and sniff the yarn it is hard to guess their weight and see the type of twist. Plus, since you include what these yarns would be good for in projects I will be likely to try them. Very helpful indeed! I cannot wait to hear about the next two yarns! Keep up the great work. When I was a beginner knitter I bought all the wrong yarn for projects because I didn’t know and was too lazy to research until it got costly. Great idea! Put little blurbs on all the new yarns I think your sales will increase. Thank You!
Hi Kelsey,
Nice blog post! It’s nice to see that you are also a color knitter. I’m still very appreciative of the help you gave me while scrounging colors for my Fair Isle sweater. It’s coming along nicely.
Monica
Hi, This is excellent comparison between two yarns.
Currently I’m test knitting pair of colourwork socks and I’m using Gammelserie – I’m getting beautiful stitch, motif definition using 3.00 mm dpn’s.
Really liked this series of blog posts comparing & contrasting Rauma yarns! Would be very interested in another series investigating other families of yarns….J&S?