A Study of Rauma Yarns: Colorwork Swatches in Strikkegarn and Vams
Strikkegarn
After Gammelserie and Finullgarn, Strikkegarn is thicker still. I love the roundness of this yarn but was a little concerned that the strong stitch definition would prevent the fabric from meshing together as much as the others. I was pleasantly surprised!
I knit Strikkegarn in Color 100 (white) and Color 185 (deep forest/teal green) on a US 6 needle and got a gauge of 21 stitches and 24 rows over 4inches. Despite being thicker and rounder than the previous two yarns, Strikkegarn created an even, well-defined colorwork fabric. The motif can’t be as detailed as when you use a thinner yarn, but I think you can get nice detail with this yarn.
In colorwork, I’d love to make a cardigan with Strikkegarn. It would be weighty enough for a solid sweater (I like a little heft in my sweaters!), but not so warm that it would be uncomfortable indoors. It would also make a solid hat or mittens, and would be both durable and water-resistant if knit at an even tighter gauge than I knit it.
Vams
Colorwork in Vams highlights its loft and squishiness. It feels completely different from Strikkegarn and meshes the fabric together even more than Finullgarn did.
I knit Vams in Color 003 (very light grey) and Color 404 (dark blue) on a US 9. My swatch has a gauge of 18 stitches and 20 rows over 4 inches. I think this is the most cohesive fabric of any of the four yarns and has the fluffiest feel to it. Even in colorwork, it feels fleecy, more akin to roving than to spun yarn. For that reason, the motif appears a little fuzzier around the edges than the crisp motif in Strikkegarn.
Vams in colorwork would make the coziest winter hat. Generally, with the gauge I got, I would feel comfortable substituting Vams into a lot of colorwork patterns that call for Lettlopi (but always swatch!) and expect to get a fluffier fabric than Lettlopi can be.
Conclusion? Over all four yarns, I found that knitting with Rauma I was more relaxed with my needles because the yarn takes care of itself – even if you drop stitches, they stay put! This can be great for people with arthritis or just trying to avoid hand fatigue when knitting colorwork. Also, these yarns knit similarly to the Shetland yarns we carry, but with Strikkegarn and Vams you can knit thicker (and quicker) projects.
